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 January 15-31, 2025.
International Media Reports
New York Times, USA, January 21
Alex Travelli identifies several factors for the recent slowdown in India’s economy, taking place at a time when the economy was “supposed to speed up”. With the stock market and the rupee “falling fast against the dollar”, the Indian economy has slowed to around 5-6 percent annual growth from the projected 8 percent. Travelli points to analysis that cites foreign investment leaving India as a major factor. Economist Arvind Subramanian, Peterson Institute for International Economics (Washington), says depressed employment is driving down demand. Chief economic adviser in Narendra Modi’s first term, Subramanian says that the government is “stale, and bereft” of ideas for tackling the key problems of how to boost long-term growth and address employment. The state of India’s economy, writes Travelli, is in sharp contrast to a year ago, when its leaders were declaring India to be the world’s fastest-growing major economy. Travelli notes that “an invigorated India” could have become “an economic workhorse to power the rest of the world”.
The Guardian, UK, January 21
Hannah Ellis-Peterson reports that the Indian government has identified 18,000 undocumented Indian migrants, in collaboration with US authorities, for deportation from the US to appease US President Donald Trump. It is reported that 18,000 undocumented Indians have been identified so far, with the total number much higher. The Pew Research Center estimates there are 725,000 undocumented Indians in the US, “making them the third largest group after those from Mexico and El Salvador”. Ellis-Peterson writes that the Indian government is looking to protect the status of skilled Indian migrants to the US.
NRI Affairs, Australia, January 25
NRI Affairs shares the trend of sharply increased violence against Christians in India in 2024, based on a report by the United Christian Forum (UCF). There were 834 incidents of targeted persecution in 2024, marking a rise from 734 cases in 2023. The data reveals that “more than two Christians are targeted daily”. The form of the attacks includes “destruction of churches, disruption of prayer meetings, harassment of believers, ostracization, limited access to community resources as well as false allegations and criminal cases, particularly involving fabricated conversion charges”. Marginalised communities have been disproportionately targeted in the attacks – across 73 incidents recorded in December 2024, 25 involved Scheduled Tribes, 14 involved Dalits, and 9 specifically targeted women. Prime Minister Modi’s response has been called “inadequate”. The mounting attacks “reflects a broader trend of increasing communal tensions” with anti-Christian attacks “sharply increasing since the BJP came to power in 2014”.
The Guardian, UK, January 27
Rajeev Syal writes about a report, commissioned by British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper in August 2024 that “for the first time, identifies Hindu nationalist extremism, and Hindutva, as ideologies of concern”, after the Leicester communal violence of 2022. The report states that Hindu nationalist extremism “advocates for Hindu supremacy and seeks to transform India into an ethno-religious Hindu state”. It draws links between misogyny and “extremist right-wing ideology”. It points to lingering tensions between Hindus and Muslims in the UK and says “right-wing extremist narratives (particularly around immigration and policing) are in some cases ‘leaking’ into mainstream debates”. The report was leaked and its findings have not yet been signed off by Ministers.
Indian diaspora and civil society organisations
Rutgers University announced its response to the University Task Force on Caste Discrimination on January 13 providing for “protections against caste discrimination” at Rutgers. After examining the issue, the Task Force recommended in its report (published earlier) that Rutgers forbids caste-based discrimination, by naming and defining caste. While commending the task force, the University’s policy announcement differed in stating that caste is covered by “protected class categories” which include “race, religion, ethnicity, ancestry, and national origin” and that the University’s existing Policy Prohibiting Discrimination and Harassment, thereby, does not need amendments. It added that “questions related to caste discrimination” will be included in a survey regularly conducted by the Office of University Equity and Inclusion, and the data that emerges will be used to develop training. The Ambedkar King Study Circle issued a statement with other members of the US-based coalition Savera, appreciating the University’s move as “a significant step toward unleashing the potential of the caste-oppressed community”. Some concerns have also been raised. For instance, Pranay Somayajula of Hindus for Human Rights said, “This decision, while a step forward, leaves gaps in addressing the root causes of caste discrimination. Explicitly naming caste would have sent a clearer message of commitment to equity.”
South Asian Diaspora Action Collective (SADAC) and CERAS (South Asia Forum), supported by twenty other groups, organised a rally – “Speak-out! On India’s Republic Day: Expose the Unholy Alliance between Hindutva and Zionism” – on January 23 in Montreal. Speaking at the rally, Students for Palestine’s Honour and Resistance (SPHR) – McGill University emphasised these parallels: “Central to the Hindutva project is the manufacturing of a false Indian history … Zionism, too, relies on rewriting history, particularly through erasing Palestinian identity and their deep-rooted connection to the land. … rooted in the West, we recognise our duty in challenging the colonial projects of Zionism and Hindutva”. Academics For Palestine noted, “[O]ur struggles are connected too. The fight for Palestinian liberation is tied to the fight against Hindutva fascism, and both are part of the larger battle to resist authoritarianism, censorship, and the weaponisation of “safety” to justify repression”.
The UK-based Stop JCB Demolitions Campaign launched a report on January 24 (the eve of India’s Republic Day) titled, “Stop JCB’s Bulldozer Genocide: a report on human rights violations in Palestine, India and Kashmir”. Jointly published by groups involved in the Campaign, including the South Asia Solidarity Group, South Asia Justice Campaign, Nijjor Manush, and South Asians for Palestine, the report highlights the role of JCB, a British bulldozer manufacturer, in enabling illegal home demolitions in India, Palestine and Kashmir. Speakers at the launch included people from communities whose homes have been demolished in India and Palestine. Peter Frankental, Amnesty International, underlined the importance of the Campaign, noting that “companies won’t change their behaviour unless they’re required to, or unless they suffer a huge reputational damage which devalues their brand”. The involved groups announced that “a complaint would be filed with the UK National Contact Point, under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct” alleging JCB UK’s failure to address the human rights impact of the use of its machinery in “punitive demolitions” in India and for “advancing settlement expansion in occupied Palestine”.
Read the previous roundup here.
