It doesn’t matter your religion, language, nation or other status; you have the same basic rights as everyone else. Customs, national constitutions and international treaties all protect these basic human rights. The General Assembly sets out fundamental rights and freedoms, as do other United Nations bodies. It was declared in the United Nations Declaration of Rights and Freedoms 217A that “everyone has the right to enjoy the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration without distinction of any kind”, such as race or color.
Human rights are included in the constitution of almost every country. The constitution of India, in its preamble, proclaims that the country is a sovereign socialist republic with a secular foundation. Many of these violations have been going on for decades, and the most notable and exposed to the global community include freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and the protection of minorities. Sadly, this is just a piece of paper that India has not bothered to put into action since 1947. There is no security for minorities under attack from extremist leaders and adherents of doctrine of Hindutva – they are rather humiliated.
Human Rights Watch recently released a study titled “2022” in which it revealed the true face of India to the global community. According to the research, India’s BJP-led government has harassed journalists, activists, businessmen, artists and poets for their critical opinions. The current government has enacted laws and policies that target minorities, especially Muslims in India. After India unilaterally revoked Articles 35A and 370, the state of Jammu and Kashmir was blocked and blocked. However, political and indigenous movements in Kashmir continue to spiral out of control.
Extrajudicial executions carried out by Indian security services were also noted in the study. In the first three months of 2021, there were 143 deaths in police custody and 104 allegations of extrajudicial executions, according to the National Human Rights Commission.
Other minorities in India, including the Christian minority, are persecuted. Hindu mob attacked and destroyed a church in the state of Uttarakhand in October 2021. In Chhattisgarh, an assault on a church was reported in a manner similar to this. Many Indian states have changed their laws to prevent forced religious conversion, but the Indian government has taken no action to ban it. Women and girls are more at risk, especially those from underrepresented groups.
The United States is also concerned about human rights abuses in India, as this statement shows. Antony Blinken remarked that “we are seeing the escalation of human rights abuses by the government” during a joint press conference with Lloyd Austin, India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh. Anti-Muslim campaigns in India have increased recently, with Muslim women being targeted for wearing the hijab in schools, minorities being lynched for selling meat and even Muslim businessmen being attacked.
A number of UN-appointed independent human rights experts have expressed concern over the deterioration of human rights in India. Speaking at a seminar in Delhi with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Human Rights Watch Nordic Director Mns Molander spoke about the illegal demolition of Muslim properties in Jahangirpuri. European leaders should raise the human rights issue with Prime Minister Modi, he said. Such illegal demolitions of mostly Muslim properties are commonplace in India, as he pointed out.
International law and United Nations agreements have been repeatedly flouted by the government, and minorities have been denied basic human rights. As a result, the people of Kashmir have been denied their most basic right to freedom.
The 2022 report by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Nordic Director of Human Rights Watch, and Human Rights Watch reveals that the international community is aware of the steadily deteriorating human rights situation in India. An impartial investigation supervised by foreign organizations should be accepted by the Indian government as well as the results of a study by Human Rights Watch.
The author holds an M.Phil from National Defense University and is a freelance writer and can be contacted at [email protected]
