A United Nations official has condemned India’s failure to protect its Muslim minority following a terrorist attack in Kashmir, as a new report documents a systematic wave of hate crimes across the country.
Professor Nicolas Levrat, UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, told a US Congressional briefing that “India is not living up to its international commitment” to protect religious minorities from violence and discrimination.
The criticism comes as the Association for Protection of Civil Rights documented 184 hate incidents against Muslims in just over two weeks following the April 22 terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir, which killed 26 tourists. The incidents affected at least 316 victims across 19 Indian states, including hate speech, mob assaults, mosque vandalism and killings.
“The state has a duty to protect its citizens. The state has a duty to allow everyone to live in safety,” Professor Levrat said. “Very obviously the state is not properly protecting Muslims in India and as far as we can see there are incendiary narratives being brought up by the authorities even at the highest level.”
Professor Levrat, who was appointed to his UN role in October 2023, noted that India has ratified international treaties that guarantee freedom of religion and prohibit discrimination. He said Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which India has signed, states that “no one shall be subject to coercion which would impair his freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice.”
Government accused of fanning hatred
Senior Supreme Court advocate Prashant Bhushan, who has led landmark legal battles in India, said the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was deliberately exploiting the terror attack for political gain.
“Their politics in India today depends almost entirely on fermenting hatred against Muslims and against Christians against minorities,” Bhushan said. “Immediately after this Pahalgam terrorist attack there was no attempt made by the Indian government to find out who the real terrorists were… but immediately the focus was shifted to bashing Pakistan and bashing Indian Muslims.”
Bhushan noted that according to the report, “almost all the instances of hate crimes in India are in BJP ruled states – 43 in UP, 24 in Maharashtra, 24 in Uttarakhand, 20 in Madhya Pradesh all BJP ruled and those in the opposition ruled states are very very few and far between.”
He described how Prime Minister Narendra Modi “instead of going to Pahalgam he straight went to Bihar where the next domestic election is going to be held in India and used the attack in his political rallies to garner support for the government.”
‘Laboratories of violence’
Suchitra Vijayan, Executive Director of The Polis Project and author of acclaimed books on modern India, described the violence as part of a coordinated blueprint rather than spontaneous reactions.
“What we are seeing are laboratories of violence perfected and created in various places across the country which are being replicated,” she said. “This is systematic. This is state-backed… a state as powerful as the Indian state if there is any form of violence especially in the nature of this it is happening because the state hasn’t stepped in to put an end to it.”
Vijayan highlighted the scale and coordination of the violence, noting how “one instance was used to mobilise and create and subsequently create 184 different incidents across 19 Indian states over a period of just 6 days.”
She also drew attention to ongoing demolitions in Kashmir, saying “it’s been over a month and I think at this point in time if my numbers are correct we’ve had over 2,000 houses in Kashmir demolished as a part of the illegal demolition drive.”
Academic freedom under threat
Professor Apoorvanand, a prominent Indian academic and human rights advocate, warned of a broader campaign to silence Muslim voices, particularly intellectuals and academics.
He detailed the case of Professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad from Ashoka University, who was arrested for Facebook posts criticising war-mongering after the government’s military response to the Kashmir attack.
“Muslims are now being asked not to speak. So they are being silenced,” Professor Apoorvanand said. “Muslims speaking or speaking Muslims or thinking Muslims become a very dangerous thing in the present day India.”
He also raised concerns about the “Hindutvaisation of all organs of the state of India which include police bureaucracy and now even the army and the judiciary.”
International pressure limited
When asked whether international pressure was having any effect on India, Professor Levrat was blunt in his assessment.
“Unfortunately there are less and less countries that are responsive and feel accountable as regard human rights bodies,” he said. “India is a very difficult country to work with… it’s very difficult to go anywhere.”
The briefing was co-sponsored by multiple human rights organisations including Genocide Watch, World Without Genocide, Hindus for Human Rights, The Humanism Project Australia, and the Indian-American Muslim Council.
About the speakers:
Professor Nicolas Levrat was appointed UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues in October 2023. He has spent decades researching minority rights and has served as professor of international and European law at the University of Geneva since 2001, with over 150 publications to his name.
Prashant Bhushan is a senior advocate of the Supreme Court of India who has led landmark legal battles including the 2G Spectrum case and successfully challenged the electoral bonds scheme in 2024. He is known for his fearless advocacy against corruption and for judicial independence.
Suchitra Vijayan is Executive Director of The Polis Project and chair of the International Human Rights Committee of the New York City Bar Association. She is author of “Midnight’s Borders: A People’s History of Modern India” and “How Long Can the Moon Be Caged: Voices of Indian Political Prisoners.”
Professor Apoorvanand is a prominent Indian academic and human rights advocate whose critical essays appear in major Hindi journals and Indian newspapers. His sharp critique of the Indian government has led to restrictions on his travel, including being denied permission for a recent US speaking engagement.
