Qaisar Mansoor
Soon after Modi was elected as the Prime Minister of India, he gave a conciliatory speech trying to reassure Muslims. But hate crime against Muslims soared; data shows that some 90% of religious hate crimes in the last decade have occurred since Modi came to power.
In year 2021 the government of India adopted laws and polices that discriminated against religious minorities, especially Christians, Sikhs and Muslims. This, coupled with vilification of Christians and Muslims by some BJP leaders and Police failure to take action against BJP supporters who commit violence, emboldened Hindu nationalist groups to attack minorities and government critics with impunity.
Hindu mobs beat up Christians and Muslims, often working class men, with impunity while pro-BJP supporters filed baseless complains against critics, especially religious minorities. In September 2021, the National Crime Records Bureau reported that 50,291 cases of crimes against Dalits were reported in 2020, an increase of 9.4 percent over the previous year. Crimes against tribal communities also increased by 9.3%, at 8,272 cases.
Despite India’s blatant refusal to abide by UN charters and open defiance to its obligation to international community, India was well received in Western world and regarded as an important ally. The European parliament remained the only EU body that raised concerns on human rights in India, including a recommendation adopted in April 2021. India has a dual faced foreign policy based on self-interest, totally deviating from the popular beliefs of democratic values it preaches at international canvas.
The hypocrisy of Indian secular and democratic values has been pointed and criticized by HRW in its 2022 report. The Neo-Nazi policies of BJP/ RSS have resulted into the most brutal, multifaceted and structured/ systematic HRVs (IIOJK and mainland India) of the present era. The idea of Hindu Rashtra and ideology of Hindutva have transformed India into a genocidal state. Currently India maintains almost 1 million troops in Kashmir, making it the most militarized zone in the world, which have been involved in crimes against humanity. Indian Security Forces operate with impunity in IIOJK. The draconian security laws, e.g. Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act 1978, The Arm Forces Special Powers Act 1990, Prevention of Terrorism Act 2002, give extraordinary powers to Indian security personal to kill unarmed civilians.
These infamous laws encourage the use of lethal forces in IIOJK against innocent people. US and its allies have failed to press India to resolve Kashmir dispute because of strategic convergence of Indo-Western interests. US deems India as a crucial player in its China-containment strategy.
Hence, India acts with impunity in IIOJK and the region. UN must not become a tool in the hands of great powers; instead, it must go back to its primary responsibility as mentioned in the UN charter. The political coercion and ethnic divide may result in wide spread civil war in IIOJK and India. India is at the verge of implosion and may destabilize the complete region if not checked. India Must be forced to fulfill its international obligations, turning a blind eye merely due to Indian market leverage may yield catastrophic result.
