Panel of Independent International Experts

The news that much of the disinformation about the unfolding conflict in the Middle East, characterised by anti-Muslim hatred, was being generated by social media accounts based in India, came as no surprise to those of us concerned about a clear and growing trend of anti-minority rhetoric and abuses taking place within India itself.

Upon closer look at the X accounts spreading falsified videos and reports about the conflict in Gaza, many of these were found to have been spreading anti-Muslim hate within India, well before recent events. What we are witnessing is the export of a domestic agenda to spread hate based on religious grounds.

In our different capacities as human rights experts, we have led efforts to investigate serious human rights violations in multiple countries, to contribute to efforts to secure justice for victims and survivors of those violations. In June 2022, we published a report on the increasingly serious human rights violations we were noticing against Muslim communities in India. We found credible evidence to suggest that a range of human rights enshrined in international law may have been violated. These included incitement to discrimination, hostility and violence, arbitrary deprivation of life, arbitrary detention, torture, gender-based violence, and discriminatory laws and practices, among others.     

There is a clear pattern of human rights abuses taking place against religious and ethnic minorities in India, mostly Muslims and Christians, and a lack of accountability for those committing abuses. Much of this is spearheaded by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) party, its supporters and Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself, whose nationalist “Hindutva” agenda favours a Hindu nationalist state. In political speeches and on social media (where the BJP’s “IT Cell” is actively driving disinformation and Islamophobia), even senior BJP officials freely espouse hatred and incite violence towards minorities with impunity. Victims have little recourse to justice due to intimidation and structural failures in the judicial system.

A recent and chilling example of how this nationalist agenda is stoking religious and ethnic tensions was in the Indian state of Manipur. Manipur has a diverse ethnic composition, with the predominantly Hindu Meiteis comprising about 53% of the population, followed by the Naga tribes (24%) and Kuki tribes (16%), who are predominantly Christian. Since 2017, Manipur has been governed by the BJP and has shown political and legal favour to the Hindu Meitei community, stoking tensions with the Kuki community. Ethnic violence began on 3 May 2023 and has resulted in, besides scores of killings, thousands of mostly Kukis being displaced as well as thousands of homes and hundreds of churches being burnt down, in addition to the loss of farmland, crops and livelihoods. The violence has included horrific acts of sexual violence, torture and murder against Kukis, perpetrated by armed non-state actors, allegedly in collusion with Manipur Police personnel in some instances. A statement issued in September by over 15 United Nations Experts highlighted that about 160 persons, mostly ethnically Kuki, had reportedly been killed and over 300 were injured in the ongoing conflict. It also called attention to the slow and inadequate response of the Indian authorities to investigating the alleged crimes, holding perpetrators to account, and providing justice to victims.

The gross human rights violations committed in Manipur and many other places in India, and the lack of action from the Indian government to stop the violence and provide speedy justice, demonstrates the real need for pressure from the international community on India.

It should be of the greatest concern to global powers that the largest democracy in the world is swiftly becoming, besides authoritarian in the way it is targeting freedoms and dissent, a driving force of disinformation and incitement to violence against minorities, contrary to the very principles of democratic governance. In the run up to India’s national elections in April 2024, it is extremely likely that incitement, hate speech and attacks against minorities will only grow, demanding urgent reaction from the international community. Sanctions on individual perpetrators or institutions which have committed human rights abuses are one such tool in the diplomatic toolkit, especially since avenues for international accountability are limited, given India’s refusal to ratify relevant UN treaties or to be party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.  When in December 2021 the US Treasury imposed sanctions on Bangladesh’s Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), an elite paramilitary force with a record of human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings, there was a notable drop in abuses committed by RAB. It is an effective deterrent mechanism through which to hold up democratic and human rights standards, and one that should be applied in the context of India to send a clear message that violations against religious and ethnic minorities will not be tolerated.