Oct. 7 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The NGO Human Right Watch (HRW) has pointed out this Friday that the Indian authorities use more and more arbitrary and abusive punishments against Muslims who are considered to have broken the law, for which it has urged the Indian Government to take “immediate measures “.
Specifically, the organization has detailed that in the states governed by the Hindu nationalist party, the Indian People’s Party (BJP), the authorities have demolished Muslim homes and properties without legal authorization and, more recently, publicly flogged Muslim men accused of disturbing supposedly a Hindu festival.
“Authorities in several Indian states are committing acts of violence against Muslims as a kind of summary punishment,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
“Officials who blatantly ignore the rule of law are sending a message to the public that Muslims can be discriminated against and targeted,” added Ganguly.
As HRW has learned, on October 4, 2022, in Kheda district, Gujarat state, police arrested 13 people for allegedly throwing stones at a ceremonial dance during a Hindu festival.
After that, a police officer dressed in civilian clothes and carrying a gun began beating several Muslim men with sticks while other officers held the men against a power pole, as shown in videos collected by the organization.
Two days earlier, on October 2, in Mandsaur district, Madhya Pradesh state, police filed a case of attempted murder and rioting against 19 Muslim men accused of throwing stones at a Hindu event and arrested seven of them. Two days later, without any legal authorization, the authorities demolished the houses of three of the men, claiming that they had been built illegally.
“The authorities attempted to justify the demolitions by claiming that the structures were illegal, but their actions and statements indicated that the destruction was intended as collective punishment for Muslims, holding them responsible for violence during communal clashes,” the organization said.
Following several of these demolitions, the UN Special Rapporteurs wrote to the Government of India expressing concern that some of these evictions had been carried out as a form of collective and arbitrary punishment against Muslim minority and low-income communities for their alleged involvement in intercommunity violence.
“Summary demolitions of homes and structures in Muslim communities have exacerbated the vulnerability of women, children, the elderly and people with disabilities who live there,” HRW said.
“The Indian authorities are increasingly acting as if summary punishment has become state policy,” Ganguly said.
“If the Indian government does not take immediate action to roll back discriminatory laws, policies and actions targeting minorities, the rule of law will be replaced by bulldozers and sticks,” he added.
