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Rights watchdog accuses Modi government of stifling dissent, red-flags UP encounters and deaths in the Sterlite protests that rocked TN.

New Delhi: The Modi government has failed to avert or “credibly investigate” human rights abuses such as mob attacks last year, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said.

“The government failed to prevent or credibly investigate growing mob attacks on religious minorities, marginalised communities, and critics of the government — often carried out by groups claiming to support the government,” the rights watchdog said in its World Report 2019 released Thursday.

The report adds that “mob violence by extremist Hindu groups affiliated to the ruling BJP against minority communities, especially Muslims”, took the life of eight people as of November.

It goes on to affirm that “some senior BJP leaders publicly supported perpetrators of such crimes, made inflammatory speeches against minority communities, and promoted Hindu supremacy and ultra-nationalism, which encouraged further violence”.

The NGO has also accused the Modi government of stifling dissent. “In 2018, the government led by the BJP harassed and at times prosecuted activists, lawyers, human rights defenders, and journalists for criticizing authorities,” the report says.

The report marks the body’s 29th annual assessment of human rights practices in 90 countries across the world and is for 2018.

Also read: Bulandshahr main accused calls himself ‘King of Hindugiri’, is proud to incite violence

Violence by non-state actors, Bukhari killing

Under a section “Impunity for Security Forces”, the HRW report has also discussed how non-state actors, mainly militants in Jammu and Kashmir, had on several occasions indulged in grisly violence including the November incident where the Hizbul Mujahideen released a video of the murder of a 17-year-old boy.

The report also cites the example of the killing of eminent Kashmiri journalist Shujaat Bukhari, who was gunned down by unknown armed men in June last year.

It has also flagged the Sterlite Copper plant mass protests in Tamil Nadu, which left 13 people dead in May, concluding that police did not follow operating procedures for crowd control.

The report has also called for police reform in Uttar Pradesh over the spate of encounter killings in the state. “The killings in Uttar Pradesh highlighted the lack of accountability for police abuses and the need for police reforms,” it says.

Attack on freedom of expression

The report has cited several examples of when the government charged people with sedition.

“Journalists faced increasing pressure to self-censor due to the threat of legal action, smear campaigns and threats on social media, and even threats of physical attacks,” it said.

Reiterating its reporting of the rampant internet shutdowns in 2017 in its World Report 2018, the 2019 report said that “state governments resorted to blanket internet shutdowns either to prevent violence and social unrest or to respond to an ongoing law and order problem”.

According to its statistics, the Indian government had imposed 121 shutdowns by November, 52 out of which were in Jammu and Kashmir alone and 30 in Rajasthan.

“Authorities continued to use laws on sedition, defamation, and counterterrorism to crack down on dissent,” the report said.

The HRW report also discussed the government’s crackdown on civil society and freedom of association. “Authorities increasingly used the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act to target civil rights activists and human rights defenders,” it said.

It cited examples of how activists, lawyers and writers were arrested and interrogated by the Maharashtra police, who accused them of being complicit in the violence at Bhima-Koregaon and having links to a banned Maoist organisation.

Also read: Bhima-Koregaon arrests: ‘Activists pushed Maoism, sought arms, waged war against state’

Women’s and children’s rights

The body also condemned the continuing violence against women in the country.

It states that the worldwide #MeToo movement, which also swept across India, “highlighted the failures of due process, lack of mental health services and support for survivors, and the urgent need to fully implement the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act of 2013”.

On children’s rights, it said: “Child labour, child trafficking, and poor access to education for children from socially and economically marginalized communities remained serious concerns throughout India.”

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