HRW says India normalized anti-minority abuses

NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — India’s Hindu supremacist Bharatiya Janata Party–led government has increasingly targeted religious minorities, suppressed dissent and weakened democratic institutions, according to Human Rights Watch in its World Report 2026 released on Tuesday.

The 529-page report says Indian authorities in 2025 vilified religious minorities and expelled hundreds of Bengali-speaking Muslims and Rohingya refugees by labeling them “illegal immigrants,” while also cracking down on journalists, activists and critics of the government.

Human Rights Watch said these actions were accompanied by pressure on media outlets to self-censor, enabling abuses by state officials and supporters of the ruling BJP.

“The Indian government has normalized violence against religious minorities, marginalized groups, and critics through discriminatory policies, hate speech, and politically motivated prosecutions,” Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in the report. She added that instead of strengthening India’s global human rights standing, the BJP government had “undermined it.”

The report situates India within a broader global context of democratic backsliding but identifies the country as a major democracy where state power has increasingly been used to marginalize minorities and silence opposition.

In an introductory essay, Human Rights Watch Executive Director Philippe Bolopion warned that the global human rights system faces unprecedented strain, calling the pushback against authoritarianism “the challenge of a generation.”

The HRW documented a sharp rise in hate speech and attacks against Muslims, frequently linked to Hindutva groups aligned with or emboldened by the ruling party’s ideology.

The report said authorities continued to carry out unlawful demolitions of Muslim homes and properties, often justifying the actions by claiming structures were illegal, linked to alleged militants, or occupied by undocumented residents. Such actions, the report noted, violated a Supreme Court ruling limiting the use of demolitions as punitive measures.

The report also highlighted the government’s response to dissent following Operation Sindoor, launched after the April Pahalgam attack. The HRW said authorities temporarily blocked independent media outlets and commentators, arrested individuals over social media posts, and filed cases against academics and satirists, moves it described as part of a broader effort to stifle criticism.

In India’s northern region of Ladakh, the report said police killed four people in September after protests demanding greater autonomy escalated into violence. Authorities shut down mobile internet services and arrested educator and climate activist Sonam Wangchuk under the National Security Act, a move Human Rights Watch described as politically motivated.

The watchdog said several activists and students continued to be held in jail without trial under counterterrorism laws that it described as abusive. It said authorities routinely relied on foreign funding regulations, counterterrorism provisions and financial investigations to harass civil society organizations and prosecute political opponents.

The HRW also raised concerns over the integrity of India’s electoral process, citing allegations from opposition politicians and rights groups of bias within the Election Commission, voter fraud and inconsistencies in electoral rolls.

The report urged Indian authorities to end discriminatory policies, stop the use of hate speech and incitement against Muslims, Christians and other religious minorities, and ensure accountability for abuses committed by state actors. It called on the government to drop politically motivated charges against activists and critics and to halt the use of security laws to silence peaceful dissent.