New Delhi: “Obstacles” faced by opposition parties in India, failure of the Indian government to quell ethnic conflict in Manipur and allegations surrounding the killing of separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar — these are among the “serious human rights issues” in India flagged by the US department of state in its annual human rights assessment published Monday.
The US state department highlighted “significant human right abuses” seen in Manipur after the outbreak of ethnic conflict between the Kuki-Zo tribals and the Meitei community in May 2023. The state department noted there have been reports of “armed conflict, sexual violence” in addition to “destruction of homes, businesses and places of worship” in the state.
Violence erupted in the northeast state last May following a rally held by Kuki-Zos to protest a Manipur High Court directive that extended tribal privileges to the Hindu-dominated Meitei community.
The US state department claims the conflict resulted in the killing of 175 people and the displacement of over 60,000.
The US state department published its annual human rights assessment on Monday, which covered systemic accounts of human rights “records” across nearly 200 countries, according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“The report that we’re putting out today presents a factual, systematic account of human rights records across nearly 200 countries and territories. Each one is held to the same standard – developed and developing countries, competitors, as well as allies and partners,” Blinken remarked during its launch.
The report does not catalogue every incident of human rights abuse or violation throughout the year, nor does it “reach legal conclusions”, emphasised Robert S. Gilchrist Monday, the senior bureau official for democracy, human rights and labour.
“What it does, uniquely, is present for each country a credible, carefully vetted report that provides the world with a clear window into the human rights conditions in every corner of the globe,” Gilchrist added.
The study, however, makes no mention of the alleged failed plot to assassinate US citizen Gurpatwant Singh Pannun — an incident under investigation by its authorities.
One Indian citizen, Nikhil Gupta, has been awaiting extradition to the US after being detained by Czech authorities in June last year for the plot to kill Pannun, a designated terrorist in India.
Rahul Gandhi disqualification
The report noted that elections in India were “reported to be free and fair”, while highlighting incidents of “obstacles” faced by members of the opposition last year. The case it mentioned was the conviction of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The Supreme Court had stayed the conviction in August last year.
“While there were no restrictions placed on the formation of political parties or on individuals of any community from participating in the election process, there were obstacles reported by members of opposition political parties, including reprisals for criticism of government officials or policies, disinformation attacks, and inability to use social media freely for campaigning,” the report said.
As a part of the political participation in India, the report raised the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha, after being “convicted and sentenced” to two years of prison by a court in Gujarat for defamation.
It added: “The conviction, if applied, would have disqualified Gandhi from holding any public office and made him ineligible to contest the 2024 general elections, which the opposition noted was an attempt by the BJP to prevent ‘the leading face of the opposition’ and the Congress Party from freely participating in the electoral process.”
‘BBC raided by Indian IT dept’
On the freedom of the press and other media, the report said, “Media organisations and individual journalists expressing views critical of the government were sometimes subjected to arrest, threats or intimidation.”
It added: “On February 14 (2023), the Income Tax Department conducted a 60-hour search of the BBC’s Delhi and Mumbai offices. The search came shortly after the January release of a BBC documentary that alleged Prime Minister Narendra Modi played a role as then Chief Minister of Gujarat during the 2002 riots in the state.”
The report also cited news organisations to underscore that the government “selectively enforced” financial regulations governing media companies, especially on those that were critical of the government.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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Maulik: The report is about India not West Bank.
most of it true, but the report should also mention the extra judicial killing of Palestinians in west bank. If the report fails to do so, then as always, one cannot trust the Americans to be honest.
They see what they want to see. They start with opinions and as usual only find what they want to find.