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US panel on religious freedom flags India as ‘country of particular concern’ for third time

US panel on religious freedom flags India as ‘country of particular concern’ for third time

‘Religious Freedom Worsened’: US Body Names India as ‘Country of Particular Concern’

26/04/2022

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

This is the third consecutive year when United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has designated India as such.
… The latest report, in a section devoted to India, has accused the Narendra Modi government of muzzling dissenting voices, misusing UAPA and sedition laws, allowing illegal arrests of rights’ activists, carrying out violent attacks against Muslims and Christians and creating “hurdles” for NGOs to receive funds from abroad for charity work.
It has also prominently discussed the arrest and custodial death of Father Stan Swamy.
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US panel on religious freedom flags India as ‘country of particular concern’ for third time in a row

25/04/2022

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

Other countries recommended for this designation by the USCIRF in its annual report are Pakistan, China, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, among others.
… “The UAPA and sedition law have been invoked to create an increasing climate of intimidation and fear in an effort to silence anyone speaking out against the government,” it said.
The report specifically mentioned the treatment meted out to 84-year-old Stan Swamy, a Jesuit priest who was arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case.
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US Departments 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: India

US Departments 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: India

US Department’s 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: India

13/04/2022

US Department of State / by Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor

… Significant human rights issues included credible reports of: unlawful and arbitrary killings, including extrajudicial killings by the government or its agents; torture and cases of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by police and prison officials; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention by government authorities; political prisoners or detainees; arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; restrictions on free expression and media, including violence, threats of violence, or unjustified arrests or prosecutions against journalists …
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US government report says Indian Muslims are vulnerable to communal violence, discrimination

13/04/2022

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The report also flagged extrajudicial killings and arbitrary arrests and detentions by government authorities.
… The report specifically mentioned the treatment meted out to 84-year-old Stan Swamy, a Jesuit priest who was arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case. The case pertains to caste violence in a village near Pune in 2018. Sixteen people were arrested for allegedly plotting the violence.
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The Bhima Koregaon Arrests and the Resistance in India

The Bhima Koregaon Arrests and the Resistance in India

Monthly Review / by Saroj Giri

It often happens: A murder takes place, an utterly foul one. But there is little outcry, no lasting sense of wrong in public memory. Deep down, everyone is aware of the gross violation that has taken place in their midst. Everyone is affected and silently appalled that there is no redress, no justice. Yet normal life and routine democracy continues—at the expense of a deep scar in the inner recess of society, unseen and perhaps illegible, best described as a void. Like an abyss that stares back, will this void come to haunt everyone later, in some possibly unrecognizable form?
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‘Corporate is supporting communal agenda’: Sudha Bharadwaj

‘Corporate is supporting communal agenda’: Sudha Bharadwaj


hindi | 48:02min | 2022

By Satya Hindi

Was the corporate world the reason for the arrest of Sudha Bharadwaj, a social worker who fought for the underprivileged? Was there a conspiracy to implicate him in the Bhima Koregaon case? How was her experience during his three years in prison? How does she view the current times for socio-economic movements? Does she expect times to change? Dr. Mukesh Kumar talking to Sudha Bhardwaj.
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India added to human rights watchlist as government blocks funding of NGOs and keeps activists behind bars

India added to human rights watchlist as government blocks funding of NGOs and keeps activists behind bars

By CIVICUS

● Government raids offices of NGOs and blocks foreign funding
● Journalists and activists targeted by Pegasus Spyware
● Activists in detention under draconian laws

India is currently rated Repressed by the CIVICUS Monitor. There are a total of 49 countries in the world with this rating (see all). This rating is typically given to countries where civic space is heavily contested by power holders, who impose a combination of legal and practical constraints on the full enjoyment of fundamental rights (see full description of ratings).

Read CIVICUS Press Release

Download India Country Research Brief

The Security Playbook Used To Erode Democracy In Modi’s India & How The Tide Might Turn

The Security Playbook Used To Erode Democracy In Modi’s India & How The Tide Might Turn

article 14 / by Shamik Bag

By using security laws, deploying surveillance technology, and leveraging potent national interest narratives, Narendra Modi’s Hindu-first government has targeted critics and eroded the rule of law in India—often in violation of the Constitution, using legal loopholes and grey areas. Through the lens of the notorious Bhima Koregaon case, we investigate these tactics in-depth, and report how citizens are fighting to preserve the world’s largest democracy.
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Modi government’s actions against the Christian minority reveal a deep malaise within our society

Modi government’s actions against the Christian minority reveal a deep malaise within our society

Scroll.in / by Peter Ronald deSouza, The India Forum

Making Christmas Good Governance Day, harassing the Missionaries of Charity and Stan Swamy’s death in custody all go against the idea of decency.
The spate of attacks on churches in some states of India, even during the Christmas season of 2021, is not as disturbing to me as five other actions taken by the current political dispensation…The first is the incarceration and subsequent death of Stan Swamy, while still under custody as an undertrial under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
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India retains ‘partially free’ status for second year in Freedom House’s 2022 report

India retains ‘partially free’ status for second year in Freedom House’s 2022 report

India retains ‘partially free’ status for second year in Freedom House’s 2022 report

04/03/2022

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The report from the US-based NGO attributed BJP government’s ‘discriminatory policies’ and persecution of Muslims for India’s standing in the report.
India was called a “partially free” country for the second year in a row in the 2022 report by the United States non-governmental organisation, Freedom House. India’s was 66th on the “Freedom of the World” rankings – a notch higher from last year’s 67.
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For the second consecutive year, India drops on freedom score

01/03/2022

The Hindu / by Parvathi Benu

The main pointers for the lower rankings include – politicians and journalists surveillance, activist Stan Swamy’s death, and the Lakshmipur Kheri incidents. 
India, for the second consecutive year, continues to not completely free country, according to the findings in the Freedom of the World report.
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Read full report: Freeedom in The World 2022: The Global Expansion of Authoritarian Rule

Pegasus scandal shows how lawless India’s ‘lawful interception’ has become / India’s 2017 Pegasus Deal

Pegasus scandal shows how lawless India’s ‘lawful interception’ has become / India’s 2017 Pegasus Deal

Pegasus scandal shows how lawless India’s ‘lawful interception’ has become

02/02/2022

The Print / by Praveen Swami

Many democracies understand the need for lawful surveillance against serious crimes. Few provide the executive such sweeping powers like India does.
At once unconstitutional, ungenerous and un-English,” raged the London Times in summer of 1844, as the world’s first great surveillance scandal exploded inside the halls of parliament…
Technical evidence suggesting at least some of the Bhima Koregaon case was planted on suspects—using a relatively crude and unsophisticated malware called Netwire—shows what happens when intelligence services operate unregulated and without accountability.
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Transcript: India’s 2017 Pegasus Deal With Israel Involved Top Intel Leaders

02/02/2022

The Wire / by Siddharth Varadarajan

Israeli investigative reporter Ronen Bergman speaks at length about the explosive story he co-authored in the New York Times on the sale of Pegasus spyware around the world, including to India.
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Also read:
● Bhima Koregaon accused and their counsel write to SC’s Pegasus technical committee alleging snooping (The Leaflet/ Jan 2022)
● Leaked Data Shows Surveillance Net in Elgar Parishad Case May Have Crossed a Line (The Wire / July 2021)