(Bangkok) – India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) returned to office for a third term in June 2024, following an election campaign that incited discrimination, hostility, and violence against Muslims and other minorities, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2025. The government was increasingly implicated in attempting to stifle dissent beyond India’s borders, including through canceling critics’ visas and targeting separatist leaders for assassination abroad.
For the 546-page world report, in its 35th edition, Human Rights Watch reviewed human rights practices in more than 100 countries. In much of the world, Executive Director Tirana Hassan writes in her introductory essay, governments cracked down and wrongfully arrested and imprisoned political opponents, activists, and journalists. Armed groups and government forces unlawfully killed civilians, drove many from their homes, and blocked access to humanitarian aid. In many of the more than 70 national elections in 2024, authoritarian leaders gained ground with their discriminatory rhetoric and policies.
“Prime Minister Modi likes to boast of India’s democratic traditions, but it’s become increasingly hard for him to hide his government’s deepening crackdown on minorities and critics,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “A decade of discriminatory policies and repression has weakened the rule of law and has restricted the economic and social rights of marginalized communities.”
- Ethnic violence in the northeast state of Manipur has killed over 250 people and displaced more than 60,000 since May 2023. In September 2024, clashes between armed groups from the predominantly Christian Kuki-Zo community and the mostly Hindu Meitei community reportedly killed at least 11 people.
- Indian authorities have used abusive foreign funding laws such as the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act and the counterterrorism law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, trumped-up financial investigations, and other means to unlawfully attack civil society groups and activists.
- The rape and murder of a 31-year-old doctor in a government hospital in Kolkata in August prompted widespread protests, spotlighting that Indian women remain exposed to violence and other forms of abuse in the workplace, and face severe barriers to justice for sexual violence.
- Canada, the United States, and Pakistan accused Indian intelligence agencies of targeting terrorism suspects and separatist leaders for assassination. In October, Canada’s national police service alleged that Indian state agents committed criminal activity on Canadian soil. The Indian government revoked visa privileges of foreign journalists working in India and foreign citizens of Indian origin who were critical of the government.
Indian authorities should end discriminatory policies against Muslims, Christians, and other religious minorities, and ensure justice for those affected, Human Rights Watch said. They should stop harassing civil society groups, investigate violence by ethnic groups and security forces in Manipur, and work with community leaders to restore security.
