India’s Muslims subjected to ‘summary punishment’: watchdog
FILE- Residents and officials crowd around a bulldozer during a demolition drive in a Muslim-dominated neighborhood in New Delhi, Monday, May 9, 2022. Protests have been erupting in many Indian cities to condemn the demolition of homes and businesses belonging to Muslims, in what critics call a growing pattern of “bulldozer justice” aimed at punishing activists from the minority group. Violence has been increasing against Muslims by Hindu nationalists emboldened by Modi’s regular silence on such attacks since he was elected prime minister in 2014. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File)
An international watchdog has given a warning that violence and discrimination against India’s Muslim community appeared to be becoming a “state policy”.
Muslims in the country are increasingly being subjected to “summary and abusive punishments” by people in positions of power, on charges of wrongdoing, Human Rights Watch said on Friday, according to media reports.
The New York-based advocacy group cited a public flogging of Muslim men by police on Tuesday as the latest example.
Videos circulating online showed a policeman striking the men with a baton as others held them against an electricity pole.
The incident took place in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Modi.
The men were accused of pelting stones during a “garba”, a traditional dance from the western state which is performed for the nine-day Hindu festival of Navaratri.
Police on Friday confirmed the identity of the officer involved and ordered an inquiry into the incident.
Human Rights Watch said the flogging followed a pattern of punishment witnessed across several states with governments headed by Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, including the demolition of homes without prior legal authorisation.
In Madhya Pradesh, authorities Tuesday demolished the homes of three Muslim men arrested over an alleged scuffle with Hindus following a dispute over a garba, claiming that they were built illegally.
At least 19 Muslim men were detained in the state for throwing stones at Hindu revellers. They were charged with attempt to murder and rioting.
“The authorities in several Indian states are carrying out violence against Muslims as a kind of summary punishment,” HRW’s Meenakshi Ganguly said.
Indian opposition parties and rights activists say violence and discrimination against the country’s 200 million Muslims have increased since Modi took office in 2014.- Agencies
