Human rights in India
Human rights in India is an issue complicated by the country's large size and population as well as its diverse culture, despite its status as the world's largest sovereign, secular, socialist democratic republic.
[19] According to a report written by the Institute of Correctional Administration in Punjab, up to 50% of police officers in the country have used physical or mental abuse on prisoners.
[21] A report by the National Campaign Against Torture (NCAT), an international human rights body revealed as many as 1,731 custodial deaths recorded in India in 2019.
[23] Communal conflicts between religious groups (mostly between Hindus and Muslims) have been prevalent in India since around the time of its independence from British rule.
Communal riots took place during the partition of India between Hindus/Sikhs and Muslims where large numbers of people were killed in large-scale violence.
Investigations by various committees appointed both by the government and independent civil societies have found complicity on the part of Indira Gandhi's Congress party.
[25] It is commonly believed that the riots were incited by a threatening speech and an ultimatum targeted towards peaceful anti-CAA protesters by Kapil Mishra, a BJP politician from Delhi.
It is believed to have been incited by the Godhra train burning, where 59 people (who were mostly returning from Ayodhya after a religious celebration at the Babri Masjid demolition site) were burnt to death.
[33] Numerous accounts describe the attacks to be highly coordinated with mobile phones and government issued printouts listing the homes and businesses of Muslims.
Portions of the Gujarati language press meanwhile printed fabricated stories and statements openly calling on Hindus to avenge the Godhra attacks.
[40] Amnesty International says "it is the responsibility of the Indian government to fully enact and apply its legal provisions against discrimination on the basis of caste and descent.
These tribes even today face the consequences of the 'Prevention of Anti-Social Activity Act' (PASA), which only adds to their everyday struggle for existence as most of them live below poverty line.
The National Human Rights Commission and United Nations' anti-discrimination body Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) have asked the government to repeal this law as well, as these former "criminalised" tribes continue to suffer oppression and social ostracization at large and many have been denied SC, ST or OBC status, denying them access to reservations which would elevated their economic and social status.
[51] With the liberalisation starting in the 1990s, private control of media has burgeoned, leading to increasing independence and greater scrutiny of government.
In addition, laws like Prasar Bharati act passed in recent years contribute significantly to reducing the control of the press by the government.
Until the Delhi High Court decriminalised consensual private sexual acts between consenting adults on 2 July 2009,[13] homosexuality was considered criminal as per interpretations of the ambiguous Section 377 of the 150-year-old Indian Penal Code (IPC), a law passed by the British colonial government.
[53] On 6 September 2018, a five judge constitutional bench of the Supreme Court of India, in a landmark judgement, decriminalized homosexuality while extending the ambit of Article 15 to include 'sexual orientation' to prohibit discrimination.
Freedom House stated in their 2013 report on India that journalists in rural areas and regions coping with insurgencies – including Assam – are vulnerable and face pressure from both sides of the conflicts.
[55][56] From 1984 to 1994, the state of Punjab in northern India was engaged in a power struggle between the militant secessionist Khalistan movement and Indian security forces.
[57] The Indian government responded to the escalating Punjab insurgency by launching Operation Blue Star in 1984, storming the Harmandir Sahib, or Golden Temple complex in Amritsar—the center of Sikh religious and spiritual life, where some militant groups had retreated.
[59] According to a Human Rights Watch report, state security forces adopted "increasingly brutal methods to stem the insurgency, including arbitrary arrests, torture, prolonged detention without trial, disappearances and summary killings of civilians and suspected militants".
[57] Militant organizations responded with increased violence aimed at civilians, state security forces, and Sikh political leaders deemed to be negotiating with the government.
[62] There have been claims of extrajudicial killings, disappearances, and torture by the police and army in Kashmir by several human rights organisations, including Amnesty International and HRW.
Indian officials claim that troops need such powers because the army is only deployed when national security is at serious risk from armed combatants.
Human rights organisations have also asked Indian government to repeal[7] the Public Safety Act, since "a detainee may be held in administrative detention for a maximum of two years without a court order.
[74] Even though there is formal recognition of rights within the constitution, Muslim women experience gender inequalities in practice within the sphere of personal law.
It was informed that the human rights framework towards multiculturalism should be a remedy when addressing clearly biased provisions and practices towards Muslim women in Islamic legal community.
[80] Muslim women are often discriminated against due to their lower achievements within the sphere of education, employment and their general economic position.
