New Delhi : Failure of the Indian government to resolve the ethnic conflict in Manipur, allegations surrounding the killing of the Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, killing of journalists, are some of the serious human rights abuses in India pointed out by the US state department in its annual human rights report.
Published on Monday, the US state department in its 2023 country reports on human rights practices noted that the outbreak of ethnic conflict between the Kuki and Meitei ethnic groups during the year in India’s northeastern state of Manipur resulted in significant human rights abuses.
Commenting on the development, Suhas Chakma, Director, Rights and Risks Analysis group said, "The human rights report released by the US relating to the situation in Manipur is a reflection of the actual situation in Manipur. If in a given situation like Manipur, riots continue for 9 months and the state fails to initiate action to prevent or to bring the violence to an end, it's natural that governments all over the world will express concerns and the Americans are not the one. Whenever this kind of human rights situation comes up, India also expresses it's own concerns, including for instance in Gaza".
"The Govt of India instead of just giving usual response to the US saying 'do not interfere in our internal affairs, the centre should take measures so that nobody gets an opportunity to speak up on India's human rights records", Chakma opined.
The US state department claimed that more than 60,000 were displaced between May 3 and November 15 due to the conflict in Manipur. According to the report, activists and journalists reported armed conflict, rapes, and assaults in addition to the destruction of homes, businesses, and places of worship.
The US state department in its report highlighted that the government deployed security forces, implemented daily curfews, and internet shutdowns in response to the violence.
"The Supreme Court criticized the failure of the central government and the Manipur state government to halt the violence and appointed officials to investigate incidents of violence and to ensure the delivery of humanitarian assistance and the rebuilding of homes and places of worship", the state department report mentioned.
The report also noted that elections in India were reported to be free and fair, while highlighting incidents of “obstacles” faced by members of the opposition last year. The case it mentioned was the conviction of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The Supreme Court had stayed the conviction in August last year.
“While there were no restrictions placed on the formation of political parties or on individuals of any community from participating in the election process, there were obstacles reported by members of opposition political parties, including reprisals for criticism of government officials or policies, disinformation attacks, and inability to use social media freely for campaigning,” the report said.
As a part of the political participation in India, the annual report pointed out the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha, after being convicted and sentenced to two years of prison by a court in Gujarat for defamation.
It added, “The conviction, if applied, would have disqualified Gandhi from holding any public office and made him ineligible to contest the 2024 general elections, which the opposition noted was an attempt by the BJP to prevent ‘the leading face of the opposition’ and the Congress Party from freely participating in the electoral process.
On the freedom of the press and other media, the report said, “Media organisations and individual journalists expressing views critical of the government were sometimes subjected to arrest, threats or intimidation.”
“On February 14 (2023), the Income Tax Department conducted a 60-hour search of the BBC’s Delhi and Mumbai offices. The search came shortly after the January release of a BBC documentary that alleged Prime Minister Narendra Modi played a role as then Chief Minister of Gujarat during the 2002 riots in the state", the report added.
The report also cited news organisations to underscore that the government selectively enforced financial regulations governing media companies, especially on those that were critical of the government.
The US state department further pointed out that there were reports the government engaged in transnational repression against journalists, members of diaspora populations , civil society activists and human rights defenders. In this context, it mentioned Canada accusing India involved in the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canadian soil.
"The US state department published its annual human rights assessment on Monday, which covered systemic accounts of human rights “records” across nearly 200 countries", according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“The report that we are putting out today presents a factual, systematic account of human rights records across nearly 200 countries and territories. Each one is held to the same standard – developed and developing countries, competitors, as well as allies and partners,” Blinken stated during its launch.
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