The Narendra Modi government frequently posits India as a ‘Vishwaguru’ or world leader. How the world sees India is often lost in this branding exercise.
Outside India, global voices are monitoring and critiquing human rights violations in India and the rise of Hindutva. We present here fortnightly highlights of what a range of actors – from UN experts and civil society groups to international media and parliamentarians of many countries – are saying about the state of India’s democracy.
Read the fortnightly roundup for October 1-15, 2024.
International media reports
NPR, USA, October 1
Shailaja Paik, a research professor of history at the University of Cincinnati, is one of the 22 persons awarded the 2024 MacArthur Fellowship, informally known as the “genius grant”.
Paik speaks to Kamala Thiagarajan about her journey as a Dalit woman who had to “fight hard to survive” and her work focusing on Dalit women and the “systemic mechanisms of stigmatization and exploitation” they face. Her work highlights how Dalits have been “excluded from education and seeking out knowledge for centuries”, with Dalit women facing the “double discrimination” of caste and gender. Paik says to fight caste prejudice, societies must acknowledge it and “stop pretending there is no caste”.
The fellowship is “a celebration of the enormous contributions of Dalits — their ideas, actions, history and fight for human rights — as much as it is of me as a Dalit woman scholar,” she adds.
The Bloomberg, USA, October 4
Pratik Parija describes the ill-effects of the Modi government’s food policies domestically and globally. India’s stockpile of “decaying rice” is reaching “an estimated record amount”. This follows the government’s move in May 2022 to restrict food exports, including wheat, rice, and sugar. Intended to keep domestic prices low, this instead “roiled international markets and angered farmers adversely affected by falling prices”.
A rice and oil palm farmer says the controls on exports should be “fully” lifted, recounting they have had the effect of slashing prices while his costs have risen, hurting his livelihood. Experts say India’s food security is further compromised by the government’s “bad policy choice” to sell surplus rice to ethanol producers. Since India is the largest exporter of rice and “rice is an essential food staple across the globe”, higher global prices cause “detrimental food security implications” says Shirley Mustafa, an economist at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Nikkei Asia, Japan, October 7
“India likes to see itself as the leader of South Asia,” but its neighbours “have begun to distance themselves”, writes Toru Takahashi.
While Sri Lanka’s leanings are not yet clear, Bangladesh is no longer pro-India, Afghanistan is leaning towards Pakistan and Myanmar, Nepal and Maldives are leaning towards China. “Many pundits attribute India’s predicament to its obsession with competing against China,” Takahashi says. China seems to be outmanoeuvring India through a strategy that “aims to encircle” India “by financing infrastructure projects with potential military applications” in the region.
According to Ryohei Kasai, a visiting associate professor from Japan, “Unlike China, India lacks the bargaining chips it can draw upon in areas such as funding, infrastructure technology, military support and natural resources”. He added “Indian diplomacy is overrated, and its substance will come under increasing scrutiny in the future”. Many experts also attribute the shift away from India to “India’s perceived arrogance in asserting itself as a big brother in the region”.
Inkstick Media, USA, October 8
Nuzhat Khan and Shaba Manzoor chronicle the enduring effects of the Bhopal gas leak, four decades after the “world’s deadliest industrial disaster”. Recalling the leak of “40 tons” of toxic gas in December 1984, Khan and Manzoor describe the continuing “toxic contamination on-site and around the factory” as Bhopal’s “second catastrophe”. They highlight that hazardous waste “still festering” at the factory site is poisoning the surrounding land and water today, impacting the health of the 200,000 residents of the area. A doctor explains that the toxins in the water “affect the brain, liver, kidneys, lungs, and skin”, with serious illness (including cancer) common among residents. Rachna Dhingra, a social activist working for the victims, says the government is turning a blind eye to the contamination spreading due to unlined pits and ponds at the site. The owner in the 1980s, the Union Carbide Corporation, the current owner, the Dow Chemical Company, and the state and central government continue to “sidestep accountability”.
Reuters, UK, October 11
“Nearly two years of elevated food inflation in India is leaving less in the lunch boxes of impoverished children,” write Jatindra Dash, Saurabh Sharma and Ira Dugal. Interviews with 21 school teachers across four states, a dozen families and researchers show that “schools have been forced to scrimp on key ingredients” in the government-funded mid-day meal scheme, covering an “estimated 120 million children” up to class 8.
This is the outcome of the government failing to adjust the budget allocation for the scheme in the face of rising food prices. Dipa Sinha of the ‘Right To Food’ campaign says while the government still provides free grain, “that does not compensate for a cut-back in other nutritious ingredients like vegetables, pulses, milk and eggs due to inadequate budgets”. These critical gaps in the mid-day meal underscore the effect of higher inflation on “nutritional impact” and food security for all Indians. The 2024 “State of Food Security and Nutrition” report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation indicates that “55% of the Indian population was unable to afford a healthy diet as of 2022”.
New York Times, USA, October 13
Anupreeta Das and Hari Kumar feature Ladakhi activist Sonam Wangchuk’s lead in protests seeking renewed autonomy for the region of Ladakh, which in 2019 was brought under the direct control of India’s central government. Over the last month, Wangchuk and his supporters trekked about 500 miles from Leh, the biggest city in Ladakh, to New Delhi where they will protest “until the Indian government agrees to restart talks on the issue”.
In March, the Ministry of Home Affairs officially said it is “committed to provide necessary constitutional safeguards” to Ladakh. The Indian government has not responded to the current protests. Wangchuk got involved out of concern that “haphazard construction, heavy tourism, the sale of mining rights and other actions were destabilizing Ladakh’s natural habitat”. He is currently holding a 28-day fast, which he will halt “if the government agrees to negotiate”.
Washington Post, USA, October 14
Greg Miller and Gerry Shih report that Canadian authorities have identified at least six Indian diplomats serving in Canada who were “directly involved in gathering detailed intelligence on Sikh separatists who were then killed, attacked or threatened by India’s criminal proxies”. The Canadian government ordered these six to leave the country on October 14, including India’s most senior diplomat in Canada and the top consular official in Toronto.
In turn, India announced that it expelled six Canadian diplomats including the High Commissioner and strongly denies the allegations. As the ongoing Canadian investigation into the killing of a Sikh separatist in Canada last year unfolds, Canadian officials say they are beginning to “grasp the magnitude of the covert campaign of violence India has waged against Sikhs” including evidence emerging of “Indian government involvement in home invasions, drive-by shootings, arson and at least one additional killing”.
Parliamentarians and public officials advocate
In a country update on India released this month, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) finds that conditions for religious freedom “worsened” in India in 2024, particularly in the months before, and immediately after, India’s 2024 general elections. The report lists “religious freedom violations” ranging from implementation of “discriminatory legislation” on citizenship and a so-called uniform civil code; the propagation of hate speech against Muslims and other religious minorities which often incite violence; and the repeated use of “bulldozers to demolish Muslim property”.
The USCIRF repeats its long-standing recommendation that the US State department designates India a ‘Country of Particular Concern’, for engaging in “particularly severe religious freedom violations”. It also suggests actions that can be taken to address India’s continuing violations, including issuing targeted sanctions on government officials, “conditioning arms sales” based on improved religious freedom, and “incorporating religious freedom priorities” in bilateral meetings.
Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau addressed a press conference in Ottawa on October 14 in which he reiterated the findings of Canadian police’s ongoing investigation into allegations that Indian government agents may be involved in criminal activity in Canada. Prime Minister Trudeau said the Canadian national police (the RCMP) have “clear and compelling evidence that agents of the Government of India have engaged in, and continue to engage in, activities that pose a significant threat to public safety. This includes clandestine information-gathering techniques, coercive behaviour targeting South Asian Canadians, and involvement in over a dozen threatening and violent acts including murder”.
He said that Indian authorities have refused to aid the investigations even after repeated requests. Canadian officials met Indian officials over the weekend of October 12-13 to share the RCMP’s evidence indicating that “six agents of the Government of India are persons of interest in criminal activities”.
Prime Minister Trudeau stressed that “we will never tolerate the involvement of a foreign government threatening and killing Canadian citizens on Canadian soil, a deeply unacceptable violation of Canada’s sovereignty and international law”.
Experts say
Rasheed Ahmed, Executive Director of the Indian American Muslim Council, writes on October 1 urging US lawmakers to give bipartisan support to a proposed law to address “transnational repression”. If passed, the law would be the Transnational Repression Reporting Act aimed to help “a wide range of U.S. citizens contending with threats” from foreign governments “hostile to public criticism”, including the Indian government. Ahmed underscores his appeal with his personal view. He says that as “the leader of an organization openly critical of the Modi regime and a target of a pro-Modi smear campaign”, he feels “real apprehension” about ever returning to India (his home country), and the “increasingly extreme actions of the Indian state make me concerned for my safety in the United States as well”.
The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (Forum Asia) and Front Line Defenders (FLD), condemn the arrest and call for the immediate release of Ajay Singhal, human rights defender and lawyer, in a statement dated 1 October. Ajay’s work of over three decades spans “labour rights, forced displacement, corporate exploitation of Indigenous communities, militarization, and the rights of religious and caste minorities”. FLD and Forum Asia say these punitive actions may be “direct reprisal” against Ajay’s human rights work. They highlight the “troubling pattern of abuse” against human rights defenders who “raise legitimate concerns about the rights of marginalized communities” and end up “falsely accused” and charged under “draconian counter-terrorism laws”.
In their 2024 annual “Free to Think” report, which documents attacks on higher education, Scholars At Risk (a global network of 665 universities) finds the “most pressing threats” to academic freedom in India stem from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s “efforts to exert political control and impose a Hindu nationalist agenda on universities and university policies limiting student protest”. The report notes that India was rated “completely restricted” in 2023 in the Academic Freedom Index, which is its “lowest score since the mid-1940s.” Tracing the decline over the past decade, India was rated “fully free” in 2013 and by 2022 it was “mostly restricted”. The report includes specific illustrative instances of repression faced by academics, including resignation, denial of entry, disruption and cancelled talks.
Mary Lawlor, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders and José Francisco Cali Tzay, UN Special Rapporteur on the on the rights of Indigenous Peoples publicly released, this month, a joint letter they earlier sent to the Indian government concerning “the arbitrary arrest and detention of woman human rights defender” Suneeta Pottam. The letter is dated August 5 with no response from the government so far. Pottam is an Adivasi human rights defender and has challenged alleged “extrajudicial executions” of civilians by security forces in the state of Chhattisgarh. She was arrested in June 2024 with the police failing to inform her of the grounds of her arrest, The Special Rapporteurs (SRs) expressed their fear that the arrest was “aimed at silencing her criticism of alleged human rights violations committed by the state” and expressed their “most serious concern” of what may be a “pattern of acts of violence” against Indigenous Peoples. They note that she remained in custody as of August 2024. The SRs asked for information on the grounds for her arrest, including “how her arrest was compatible with India’s international human rights obligations”.
Front Line Defenders expresses grave concern on October 9 for the safety in custody of human rights defender and trade union leader Anirudh Rajan. FLD states he was “illegally” arrested on anti-terror charges in Karnataka in September. They describe Rajan’s arrest as “part of a systemic pattern of reprisals against human rights defenders in India, especially those working for the rights of the most vulnerable communities”. FLD calls on authorities in India to immediately release Rajan and drop the criminal proceedings against him.
Poonam Muttreja, Executive Director of the Population Foundation of India and a prominent advocate for women’s health and reproductive rights, in conversation with Milan Vaishnav of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on October 9, debunks “conspiracy theories” on overpopulation and India’s changing religious demographics. Muttreja emphasises several factual trends that counter myths of Muslim population growth. She says while fertility rates may be higher amongst Muslims than Hindus, the gap is rapidly closing. Secondly, Muslim fertility rates have declined more sharply than that of Hindus. She points to “socio-economic backwardness”, not religious identity, as a main cause for differing fertility rates. She adds that policies like a two-child norm or incentivising smaller families do “more harm than good” and “disproportionately” target the most marginalised. Muttreja cautions against misinterpretations suggesting that a “rapidly” growing Muslim population is a “demographic threat” to Hindus as both “misleading” and “dangerous”. Instead, the focus should be on “access to resources” and “equitable development for all.”
In a series of posts on X, Dr. Alice Evans, academician and host of The Great Gender Divergence podcast, responds to arguments in a Financial Times piece on India’s Female Labour Force Participation (FLFP). FT puts forth several factors as causes for India’s low female employment, including the lack of women’s safety, workplace discrimination, domestic caregiving responsibilities, and government subsidies (like cooking gas) resulting in women staying home. Evans argues her core point that India’s FLFP is lower than the global average because “male honour depends on female seclusion”. She points to these notions being linked to restricting women’s mobility, for instance, simply allowing night shifts for women “misses the point”. She says it is not about wealth either as India’s FLFP is lower than “similarly wealthy societies”. She explains the data point that rural FLFP is higher than in cities, due to rural women working close to home under “surveillance”. Evans agrees with the FT’s focus on lack of safety which she says “directly relates” to the “honour-income tradeoff” affecting women’s employment, circling back to South Asian men’s honour. Women’s participation in labour can rise only if this correlation falls.
In the recently released 2024 Global Hunger Index (a tool designed to measure and track levels of hunger), India is ranked 105th out of 127, categorised at a level of hunger considered “serious”. The indicators leading to India’s score are the following -13.7% of India’s population is undernourished, 35.5% of children under five are “stunted” and 18.7% of them are “wasted”, and 2.9% of children die before their fifth birthday. India has the highest child wasting rate, and the 14th-highest child stunting rate, in the GHI.
Indian diaspora and civil society groups
The Sikh Coalition, the Jakara Movement, the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), and the American Sikh Caucus Committee issued a joint press release on October 2, in gratitude to local newspaper the Sacramento Bee for publishing a story recognising the biased tenor against Sikhs in California. The release calls out targeting and equating Sikhs to terrorists and extremists, pointing out that “advocacy groups” may be influencing law enforcement agencies against the community. The groups expressed anger against a representative of the Hindu America Foundation (HAF) insinuating that northern California gurdwaras (Sikh houses of worship) could be connected to organised crime. They called on HAF to issue a “public apology” immediately.
InSAF India published a memorial on October 14 to Professor GN Saibaba following his untimely death on October 12. InSAF described the major toll that the decade-long “brutal and unjust” incarceration exacted on Saibaba’s health, pointing out that he did not survive even a year of “freedom” after being acquitted and released. Saluting Saibaba, InSAF laments that we have lost “a people’s poet and public intellectual”, with some solace that we can take “his words, his teachings and his deeds with us into the future”.
Read the previous roundup here.
