Monthly Overview of India News – August 2025

India in the World 

• On the 4th of August, US President Donald Trump threatened to raise tariffs on Indian goods over India’s continued purchase of Russian oil, accusing Indian oil refiners of prioritizing ‘big profits’. President Trump had already announced 25% tariffs on Indian imports in July, and, on the 6th of August, announced an additional 25% tariff to be imposed on Indian goods from the 27th of August, ‘To deal with the national emergency described in Executive Order 14066’ (relating to Russia’s actions in Ukraine). In response, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs reasserted its position that the additional tariff is “extremely unfortunate” and stated that the US and EU continue to trade with Russia themselves. The Ministry added that “India will take all actions necessary to protect its national interests.” Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, has labelled the 50% tariff “economic blackmail.”  The US and India are seeking to establish a free trade agreement; however, US officials cited India’s protectionist market as well as “geopolitical issues” (including India’s membership of the BRICS and purchases of Russian oil) as the current issues standing in the way of an agreement. 
• Both the EU and US have sanctioned Indian companies for purchasing and exporting Russian oil and supplying Russia with dual use technologies, enabling the Russian government to circumvent sanctions. Despite that, Russian-backed Indian refiner Nayara Energy exported its first shipment of gasoline on the 5th of August.  
• On the 9th of August, just one day after the US imposed a 50% tariff on Indian goods, the Ministry of External Affairs announced that the government ‘welcomes’ a US-Russia summit as it holds ‘the promise of resolving the Ukraine conflict and unlocking opportunities for peace.’  

 Civil society, human rights defenders, and journalists 

• On the 7th of August, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with senior Indian journalists in Jerusalem to answer their questions and sign autographs during a visit that also involved discussions with the Indian ambassador to Israel about expanding bilateral cooperation in security and economic areas. The meeting came as the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and 15 other media and human rights organisations issued a joint letter demanding an end to the forced starvation and killing of journalists in Gaza by Israel. In its joint statement, the CJP said that “the journalistic community and the world bear an immense responsibility to support our colleagues in this noble profession”.  
• On the 21st of August, eighteen opposition political party MPs have have released a statement to the media expressing concern at the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Assam government’s repeated use of a sedition law against the founding editor of The Wire – an Indian independent news website-, its editors, journalists and columnists who have written for it. In the statement they express concern over the harassment by the Assam Police to the journalists, misusing Section 152 of the BNS, a section of the Indian criminal code against acts that endanger India’s sovereignty. “The summons to journalists is a blatant attack on press freedom and democracy itself. The BJP government in Assam is misusing rebranded sedition laws to intimidate independent voices and silence criticism”, part of the statement reads.  
• On the 22nd of August, the Assam police registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Delhi-based journalist Abhisar Sharma under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) over a video in which Sharma mentions critical remarks by high court judge Justice Sanjay Kumar Medhi about Assam’s government’s transfer of tribal land to a private company. In the video, Sharma also accuses Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of using communal hate and violence for political gain. The complaint against Sharma alleges that the video “contained statements ridiculing and denigrating the duly elected Governments of Assam and the Union of India” and the Assam Police in its FIR against Sharma has invoked section 152, charging him of acts “endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity of India”. The incident, which happened days after the Assam Police summoned some of The Wire’s journalists under Section 152, highlights how sedition laws are weaponized to silence criticism and intimidate the press. 
• On the 30th of August Deep Saika, an Indian reporter, was shot in a Naga village in the Senapati district of Manipur. One week before the incident, on the 23rd of August, the reporter was threatened by Nagaland deputy Chief Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Y. Patton for a news report for Hornbill TV in which Saika accused Patton of not having visited Naga villagers while the Assam government was carrying out an eviction drive at the Rengma Forest Reserve, a land which has a boundary dispute case in the Supreme Court. Deep Saika is now in a stable condition. Hornbill TV has issued a statement condemning the attack as “not just an assault on his person but a direct attack on press freedom”.  

 Hate Crimes and Hate Speech against Minorities 

• On the 10th of August in Assam, a state in northeastern India, a Miya Muslim man was allegedly threatened by a group of people who told him to “leave this place” and accused him of not being “a proper Bangladeshi”, despite having shown them his Aadhaar card. Shortly after, the group of people came with a bulldozer and allegedly demolished the maktab, a traditional Islamic elementary school, in which the Muslim man was working. The incident is not an isolated case, but part of a wider pattern of intimidation and displacement, with Miya Muslims being the most affected. The Chief minister of Assam has repeatedly referred to the evicted families as “illegal Bangladeshis” in several posts on X, and these statements have fueled at least 18 incidents across 14 districts. The incidents included celebrations of forced evictions of Muslims, hate speech on social media and public calls for further demolition of settlements belonging to “illegal immigrants”. Many of these attacks were organized or supported by Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJP) leaders and their affiliates as part of a broader rise in evictions across Assam since the BJP came to power in 2016. 
• On the 22nd of August, an independent Indian news website published a report on the growing phenomenon of mass evictions targeting specific groups, such as Muslims and Bengali speakers, with the pretext that the affected individuals are not Indian citizens. The report came days after Sunali, an eight-month pregnant woman, was detained by the Delhi police on suspicion of being “Bangladeshi”, before being allegedly blindfolded and pushed into Bangladesh during the night alongside her husband and eight-year-old son. The family of the woman claims that, even though the couple showed police ID cards, police still handed them over Border Security Forces (BSF) accusing them being “Bangladeshi”.  Since Sunali and her family are undocumented in Bangladesh, they now have to stay in hiding, meaning that Sunali cannot get access to the healthcare she needs as a pregnant woman. Bhadu Sheikh, Sunali’s father, has now filed a case in the High Court. This episode is one of many incidents of harassment against Bengali-speaking Muslim migrant workers that have occurred in India’s states in recent months.  
• On the 28th of August, the BBC published a reportage on 40 Rohingya refugees who were allegedly deported by the Indian government to Myanmar in early May 2025. On the 6th of May, the refugees, who had UNHCR refugee cards and lived in different parts of Delhi, were allegedly taken to their local police stations under the guise of collecting biometric data- process mandated by the Indian government. The next day, after being transferred to the Inderlok Detention Centre, they were flown from Hindon airport, east of Delhi, to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, an Indian territory in the Bay of Bengal. Once there, they were allegedly bound, blindfolded and taken onto a naval vessel, where some were beaten and humiliated. On the 8th of May they were forced into small boats, given life jackets, and told to swim ashore. They later discovered they had been left in Myanmar, where local fishermen found them. Commenting on the news, Thomas Andrews, the UN’s special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, says there is “significant evidence” proving these allegations. On the 17th of May two family members of the refugees filed a petition urging India’s Supreme Court to bring them back to Delhi, to immediately stop similar deportations and to offer compensation to all 40 individuals. India’s Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments on the 29th of September to decide whether Rohingya can be recognized as refugees. 

 Religious Freedoms and Minority Rights 

• On the 2nd of August, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) granted bail to two catholic nuns from Kerala and a tribal man who were initially charged with religious conversions and human trafficking. The three were arrested on the 26th of July at Durg Railway Station in Chhattisgarh, accused of converting and trafficking three tribal women who were travelling with them. According to the allegations, the nuns were accompanying the women to place them in convents in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, for domestic work. The incident escalated when a railway ticket examiner asked the women for their tickets, and the nuns intervened to say that they had them. Shortly after, the examiner informed local members of Bajrang Dal, a Hindu extremist militia organisation, who arrived within minutes and pressured police officers to register a First Information Report (FIR). Despite family members of the three women confirming they were already Christians prior to the incident, the police proceeded with the arrests, backed by Bajrang Dal members who allegedly forced the three tribal women to give false statements against the nuns. The arrests sparked outrage among political and religious leaders in Kerala, who questioned why police acted despite evidence showing no forced conversion or human trafficking had taken place. The case is seen as part of a broader pattern of Hindu extremist organisations weaponising the so called ‘Anti-Conversion Laws’ to target religious minorities.   
• On the 4th of August, the Religious Liberty Commission of the Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFIRLC) released a report in which it documented 334 incidents of systematic targeting against Christians across India between January and July 2025. The incidents are all verified and reflect an “alarming consistency” of targeting Christian communities across 22 states and union territories. Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh emerged as “primary hot spots” not only for the immediate violence, but also for the misuse of laws, including the Anti-Conversion Laws, to intimidate Christians. The report also disclosed 13 cases in which Christian families were denied burial rights, in some cases even on private property.  
• On the 8th of August, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) released a statement, strongly condemning the mob attack against two Catholic priests and a catechist which took place on the 6th of August in Jaleswar, Odisha. One media outlet reported that the mob comprised of nearly 70 Bajrang Dal members, which “stopped, abused, manhandled and falsely accused of religious conversion”. The police failed to intervene and, so far, no FIR had been filed against the perpetrators. The CBCI highlighted in their statement that this attack was not an isolated incident, but part of the increasing violence against Christian minorities in India and defined it as a violation of constitutional rights and human dignity of minorities. 
• On the 10th of August a group of people attending a Sunday prayer at a local pastor’s premises in Bihar were attacked by 30-40 members of the Hindutva militant organisation Bajrang Dal carrying iron rods, sticks and pistols. Bajrang Dal district president Poddar declared that the group found evidence of “conversion activities”. Police are investigating and have identified those involved in the assault, filing charges against them.  
• On the 10th of August, St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai cancelled its annual lecture commemorating Jesuit priest Fr. Stan Swamy, an Adivasi rights activist who was one of the 16 human rights activist and academics arrested by the National Investigating Agency after being accused of being part of a “chilling Maoist conspiracy” to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Swami, who was 84 at the time of his arrest, died in custody due to pre-existing health conditions and Coronavirus. The annual lecture at St Xavier’s College was organised as part of the World Indigenous Day celebrations, but it was cancelled after the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) -a Hindu nationalist student organisation- accused the college’s administration of glorifying a person accused in a “terror case.” The ABVP is a Hindu nationalist student organisation.   

 Internet and Technology 

• On the 6th of August, a review of court filings conducted by the news agency Reuters showed that federal and state agencies ordered X to remove around 1,4000 posts or accounts between March 2024 and June 2025. More than 70% of these removal notices were issued by the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre, which is within the Home Ministry headed by Home Minister Amit Shah. This agency developed the Sahyog Portal, where all social media platforms are supposed to register, but X has not joined defining it as a “censorship portal”. To counter X in court, the government filed a 92-page report drafted by the Cybercrime Unit to show that X is “hosting illegal content”. The unit analysed 300 posts it deemed unlawful, including misinformation, hoaxes, and child sexual-abuse material.  In the June 24th filing, X said some of the blocking orders issued by officials “target content involving satire or criticism of the ruling government, and show a pattern of abuse of authority to suppress free speech”. The government’s decision to allow police and all central and state agencies to issue takedown notices for “any information which is prohibited under any law” is seen as a direct threat to free speech and ability to dissent, two rights expected to flourish in a democracy.  

 Political Parties    

• On the 1st of August, the Election Commission of India (ECI) published the draft voter list after conducting a ‘Special Intensive Revision’ (SIR) ahead of the Bihar state elections. The draft list excluded 6.5 million voters due to their death, permanent relocation or replication of their name in the electoral list. The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation submitted a complaint after finding legitimate voters’ names being removed “without any reason”. The party also stated that “Voters from disadvantaged economic backgrounds are mainly in the list of names which were deleted.” Similarly, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, mainly based in Bihar, submitted a complaint to the Chief Election Officer, alleging that many deceased voters’ names were in the list whilst genuine voters had been removed.  
• On the 7th of August, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi held a press briefing, in which he alleged that the Election Commission of India (ECI) ‘colluded with the BJP to win the Maharashtra elections’ and to ‘steal elections’ in one Karnataka constituency during the 2024 Indian general election. Gandhi raised multiple allegations including duplicate votes, invalid or fake addresses, an unusually larger number of voters registered at the same residence and misuse of the new voter registration form. On the 8th of August, Gandhi released a video in which he questions the neutrality of the ECI, and reiterates the claim of a ‘vote chori’ or ‘vote theft’, adding that, during multiple state elections both the Congress Party and INDIA opposition bloc found that the results did not reflect the ‘public mood’ on the ground. Priyanka Gandhi, leader of the Indian National Congress Party, supported her brother’s claims, adding that ‘there’s been massive foul play.’ The BJP responded to the claims by accusing Gandhi of ‘selected outrage’ for only questioning the ECI in elections they lost. In response to the allegations, on the 8th of August the ECI challenged Gandhi to submit his ‘vote theft’ claims under oath or ‘stop misleading the public.’  
• On the 11th of August, the leader of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Tejashwi Yadav, claimed that the Deputy Chief Ministry of Bihar, Vijay Kumar Sinha, holds two voter cards and is registered to vote in two constituencies. Hours later, the Election Commission of India served a notice to the Deputy Chief Minister, seeking to understand why he has two IDs. Bihar, which is currently led by the BJP government, is headed to the polls in October or November, with many viewing the upcoming election as a test of the ECI’s independence.  

 Police and authorities 

• On the 21st of August, two Jammu and Kashmir police officers and four police personnels were arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for their involvement in the custodial torture of a policeman in 2023. The incident had taken place in February 2023 in Kupwara, when Khursheed Ahmad Chohan, a police constable was illegally detained during what was presented as a narcotics inquiry. According to the Supreme Court documents, he was allegedly tortured for six days, during which his testicles were surgically removed and “vegetative particles” forced into his rectum. When Chohan’s wife told the Kupwara police about the severity of the assault, they did not act against the alleged perpetrators and insinuated that Chohan suffered a self-inflicted wound. The case reached a turning point when Chohan’s wife filed a Right to Information Act (RTI) in order to obtain Chohan’s medical examination report conducted after the alleged torture. On the 21st of July 2025, the Supreme Court criticised heavily the police investigation, observing that it “reveals a disturbing pattern of systematic cover-up” and “abuse of authority”. 

Judiciary 

• On the 4th of August, the Supreme Court of India stayed proceedings in the ongoing defamation case against Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi. The case was instituted against Mr Gandhi in 2023, after he made comments to the media that China had taken over 2000 square kilometers of Indian territory during border skirmishes between Indian and Chinese soldiers. The retired Border Roads Organisation officer, which instituted the defamation case, argued that Gandhi defamed the Indian Army. During the recent court proceedings, Justice Dipankar Datta criticised Gandhi for his remarks, asking if he had ‘any credible proof’, adding that Gandhi should have aired his views in Parliament rather than on social media, arguing that freedom of speech does not mean a ‘responsible leader of the opposition would do all this.’ In response, Gandhi’s advocate argued that the law of defamation ‘cannot be used to freeze dissent to government policies.’ The opposition INDIA bloc parties released a statement on the 5th of August, calling the judges’ comments ‘unwarranted’, adding that ‘it is the responsibility of political parties, especially of the Leader of the Opposition, to comment on issues of national interest. When a government fails so spectacularly to defend our borders, it is very citizen’s moral duty to hold it accountable.’ Congress Party leader Priyanka Gandhi defended her brother stating that he has the upmost respect for the Army and would never say anything against it.  
• On the 12th of August, Mintu Paswan, a Bihar resident who was declared dead by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in its ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR), appeared in the Supreme Court, demonstrably alive. Paswan declared in an interview that while striking off his name from the list “they did not ask for any documents” but to add his name “they are asking for so many”. Paswan is among the 6.5 million voters who have been left out of the draft elector poll published by the ECI on the 1st of August. Activist Yogendra Yadav, who is challenging the ongoing exercise in Bihar with the aim of showing how electors have been wrongfully deleted by the poll body, said in court that “mass exclusion is not a failure of implementation of SIR, it’s a design.” 
• The Election Commission has told the Supreme Court, as part of the poll body’s controversial Bihar Special Intensive Revisions, that claims and objections on the draft electoral rolls can be filed even after the 1st of September. Since the start of Bihar’s SIR, new reports of arbitrary removals, deletions and the withholding of information were received. The Court was reported to say that “the process (of filing objections) will continue until the last date of nominations, and all inclusions/exclusions are integrated in the final roll”.  

 Business & economy 

• On the 6th of August, the US put a 50% tariff on Indian cotton exports. As a response, the Indian government removed the 11% import duty on foreign cotton. Cotton plays a big role in Indian economy, sustaining six million farmers and forty-five million people through the textile workforce. The decision allowed cheap cotton from countries like Australia and Egypt to be imported, determining a price fall of 4% within days after duty removal. Many farmers, who were already selling below the minimum support price (MSP), will be dramatically affected.  
• On the 12th of August, a video clip showing Justice Sanjay Kumar Medhi reacting to the allotment of 3,000 bighas of land in Assam’s Dima Hasao district to a private cement company went viral. The video was filmed during a Gauhati High Court hearing in which emerged that land had been allotted for 30 years to Mahabal Cement Pvt. Ltd. The land in question had been used, until now, by indigenous communities for their cultivations. Protests erupted when excavation machines arrived on the land to clean it, without the indigenous communities’ consent. Meanwhile, political tensions rose after Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi accused Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of transferring tribal land to the Mahabal Cement. Since December 2024, residents of the allotted area have challenged the decision in Court, claiming their families have lawfully lived on and cultivated these lands since 1975. 

Compiled by The London Story.