India in the World
● On February 2, the third EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum took place in Brussels, with the purpose of strengthening partnerships between EU and Indo-Pacific countries, including India. All participants, including representatives of EU member states and India, reaffirmed their commitment to uphold international law.
● On February 8, the European Union (EU) and India held their first roundtable on countering terrorist use of drones. The roundtable was part of the EU project on Enhancing Security Cooperation In and With Asia (ESIWA), in partnership with the National Security Guard of India and the EU delegation to India. The roundtable primarily centred around the emerging threats linked to consumer grade drone technology, and what regulatory, tactical and investigative responses to drone threats in both regions should be established as best practices.
● On February 19, India and the EU began the seventh round of negotiations on the free trade agreement (FTA), investment protection agreement (IPA) and a pact on geographical indications (GIs) in New Delhi.
● On February 21, experts from the EU and India joined for a roundtable on measures to increase cooperation in disinformation responses in both regions. Both sides discussed insights into their respective approaches against disinformation with a special focus on safeguarding free speech and privacy. The roundtable also allowed for experts to identifying opportunities for EU-India cooperation.
● On February 21, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) hosted the second edition of the India Europe Business & Sustainability Conclave, which aimed to establish business perspectives, priorities, opportunities, and challenges between India and Europe. Some of the main topics addressed were upskilling, healthcare, defence, sustainability, the Free Trade Agreement, the diversification of supply chains, and digital transformation.
● On February 21-23, the Observer Research Foundation in partnership with the Indian Ministry of External Affairs held the 9th edition of the Raisina Dialogue. The dialogue was inaugurated by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Prime Minister of Greece, and officials from France, Germany, Austria, the UK, Portugal, Spain and more gave speeches. The theme was “Chaturanga: Conflict, Contest, Cooperate, Create”, and participants discussed technological regulations, climate finance, military conflict, postcolonial multilateralism, UN Sustainable Development Goals, and democratic challenges.
● Carnegie Europe and the European Partnership for Democracy published their European Democracy Support Annual Review 2023, which recognised that the numerous elections being held in 2024, including India’s April elections in 2024 will “be an important test given the rise of forces that are hostile to democracy and human rights across the world”. The report highlights the need to maintain electoral integrity to uphold democracy.
Civil society, human rights defenders and journalists
● On February 1, the police arrested twenty-five members from the Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisations, a fact-finding team, as they were investigating the aerial bombing on areas in the state that occurred in January. A statement by Forum Against Corporatization and Militarization (FACAM) published in January documented that Indian state security forces may have used drones for aerial bombings in Mettaguda, Errapali and Bottethong in Chhattisgarh, on January 13. In another recent incident, police and paramilitary forces killed Ramesh Poyam on January 30. An independent inquiry into these allegations would be necessary, and the arrests thereby likely violate article 19 of the ICCPR on the freedom to impart information.
● On February 2, officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided the home of former bureaucrat Harsh Mander, a prominent human rights defender. The CBI also raided offices of the Centre for Equity Studies (CES) in New Delhi, a think tank linked to Mander, claiming financial irregularities under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act. Human Rights Watch observed that “raids or allegations of financial irregularities seem to have become a norm for the authorities to silence peaceful criticism.”
● On February 9, supporters of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) attacked a vehicle transporting journalist Nikhil Wagle, human rights defender Vishwambhar Choudhary and human rights lawyer Asim Sarode on their way to an event. Earlier, the event had received threats from the city unit of the BJP over Wagle’s attendance, who had recently made reportedly contentious remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP leader LK Advani. In response, the Vishrambaug police station has filed a case against Wagle under sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 500 (defamation) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). This raises serious concerns about the state’s ability to protect citizens’ safety (Article 6 ICCPR).
● On February 12, in response to a takedown order by India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), The Caravan Magazine took down an article on torture and killings by the Army stationed in Jammu & Kashmir. The MIB leveraged Section 69A of the IT Act and the IT Rules, 2021, likely in violation of the freedom to impart information (Article 19 ICCPR)
● On February 16, the Indian Government expelled French journalist Vanessa Dougnac after officially revoking her India Oversees Citizen of India (OCI) Card in January. Her status was taken away on the grounds of “malicious” reporting that created a “negative perception” of India. Approximately 30 foreign correspondents in India signed a letter of solidarity with Dougnac, urging the Indian Government to mitigate adverse effects on her career and family. The expulsion likely violates the right to work and the right to impart information (ICESCR, Article 6; ICCPR, Article 19).
● On February 13, authorities from Haryana and Delhi sealed the Shambhu border to Punjab as over 200 farmers’ groups organised a march in favour of enacting a law providing a minimum support price (MSP) for crops. Authorities deployed the Border Security Force and the Rapid Action Force along with cranes and containers to prevent protesters from crossing into Haryana, Punjab and Delhi. Union Ministers met with farmer leaders in Chandigarh for a 4th round of discussions to resolve protests after the first three rounds, held on February 8, 12 and 15 failed to curb protests.
● On February 14, Amnesty International published a position piece on the Indian government’s actions against protesting farmers. Aakar Patel, chair of board at Amnesty International India, said: “Instead of facilitating the right to protest, the Indian government is yet again going to great lengths to quash the farmers’ peaceful protests in the country” and calls on authorities to “urgently de-escalate the situation and guarantee the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and movement”. Official police reports document that on February 13, police used approximately 4,500 tear gas grenades during six hours.
● On February 21, a farmer died during ongoing farmers’ protests after police shot him. Additionally, according to the Punjab Health Minister, at least three farmers have reportedly lost their eye sight from being hit with pellets in the eye, and a dozen others suffered injuries from pellet guns. The Haryana state police is reportedly specifically harsh. Pellet guns have reportedly been used in conflict zone Kashmir for crowd-control, but there have been no reports of them being used against civilians in protests. Human rights groups have therefore sought urgent intervention of India’s Supreme Court. Following the farmer’s death and sustaining numerous injuries caused by police action, Farmers’ unions in India decided to pause the march.
● On February 23, India’s Bengaluru airport denied the entry of Nitasha Kaul, a professor at the University of Westminster in London, due to “orders from Delhi”. Officials “informally made references to [her] criticism of the RSS, a far-right Hindu nationalist paramilitary from years ago”. Despite having a valid visa, Kaul was held in a cell for 24 hours under CCTV observation, where the airport refused to provide her with basic needs, such as a pillow and blanket, before she was deported back to London. This likely violates the freedom from arbitrary denial of entry (Article 12 ICCPR), and the freedom from arbitrary detention (Article 9 ICCPR).
● On February 27, Kashmiri journalist Asif Sultan was released from prison after serving five years under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for allegedly providing logistical aid to a prohibited militant organisation. On 5 April 2022, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court had approved his release on bail, citing the investigative agencies’ inability to prove his association with any militant group, but the district magistrate of Srinagar maintained his detention under the Public Safety Act (PSA). Nearly two years later, the journalist has been released after the Jammu and Kashmir High Court annulled his detention under the PSA, stating that procedural steps for lawfully detaining an individual without trial have not been adequately followed.
Hate Crimes and Hate Speech against Minorities
● On February 8, the Haldwani Municipal Corporation demolished mosques and Muslim religious schools in Haldwani, Uttarakhand. The demolitions fueled protests, where the police killed 6 Muslim people with live ammunition. The Haldwani authorities have since given shoot-on-sight orders, imposed a curfew, suspended internet services, closed schools and banned large gatherings, actions that may violate Articles 19, 21, 6 of the ICCPR and Article 13 of the ICESCR. The police reportedly arrested 31 people and detained over 90 people for questioning, and has brutally beaten people at the site of their arrest, resulting in severe injuries. The police raided journalist Saleem Khan’s home and fractured the hands of his wife and children. The above developments likely violate Articles 7, 17, and 19 of the ICCPR.
● On February 10, a mob of Hindu supremacists reportedly beat a Muslim man and forced him to chant “Jai Shri Ram” [Hail Lord Ram] on a train as he was travelling with his wife and children. The victim, Asif, complained to the train officials, but they reportedly did not do anything to remedy the situation. The incident likely violates the prohibition of religious hatred that incites violence (Article 20 ICCPR).
● On February 10, OP Jindal Global University expelled two students after they organised a public discussion on the Ram Mandir, a Hindu temple under construction on a demolished mosque site in Ayodhya. The students were expelled for one semester after labelling the Ram Mandir of being a “project of Hindutva [Hindu Supremacist] fascism”. From February 8, two Hindu supremacist organisations – Abhinav Bharat and ABVP – had threatened the two students with rape and murder. The suspension likely violates the right to education (ICESCR, Article 13).
● On February 11, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal, two Hindu supremacist militant organisationsl reportedly organised an event to distribute Trishul Dikshas, three-pronged weapons, to the attendees. The groups used the occasion to encourage hate speech targeting Muslim minorities. The event likely violates Article 20 of the ICCPR – the prohibition of incitement to discrimination.
● On February 25, India Hate Lab released a report that found 668 hate speech events targeting Muslims in 2023. 498 (75%) of the events took place in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled states, union territories (administered by the BJP-led central government), and the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi (police and public order comes under purview of the BJP-led central government).
Religious Freedoms and Minority Rights
● On February 2, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) reportedly tore down the centuries-old Akhonji mosque, which also housed a school and an orphanage. The Muslim community in the area filed a case in court alleging that no prior notice had been given before the demolition. The DDA has responded that it acted in compliance with an order to remove “illegal structures”. The demolition likely violates Articles 11 and 13 of the ICESCR and Articles 18 and 20 of the ICCPR.
● On February 6, the Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the police of Mumbai reportedly demolished houses in Panchsheel Nagar, a settlement in Mumbai. These demolishings were conducted only in the presence of young children and elders, and left 110 families homeless. Locals reported that authorities gave no prior notice for the demolitions. These actions violate the Maharashtra Slum Areas (Improvement, Clearance, and Redevelopment) Act, and likely violate international law (Article 11 of the ICCPR). On a separate occasion, authorities in Kishangarh Bas, Rajasthan demolished 12 houses of Muslims and eradicated mustard and wheat crops on 44 acres of land over allegations of cow slaughter. In addition, the police arrested 8 Muslim men. The event raises questions regarding the right to a fair trial (ICCPR, Article 9), the right to work, and the right to housing (ICESCR, Article 6 and 11).
● On February 7, Amnesty International published two reports on the practice of extrajudicial demolitions of Muslim properties in India, documenting the demolition of Muslim properties in five states – Assam, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. These demolitions are reportedly being carried out as part of a hate campaign “punishing” Muslim minorities following episodes of religious violence or protest against discriminatory government policies. The reports document 128 demolitions with at least 33 instances of repeated use of JCB-branded bulldozer equipment, and at least 617 people rendered homeless or deprived of their livelihoods. Amnesty International states that these demolitions “violate the rights of those affected including the rights to a fair trial, adequate housing, dignity and non-discrimination” (Article 11 ICESCR; Articles 9, 10, 20, 26 ICCPR).
● On February 7, a Hindu Supremacist group in New Delhi reportedly gave Christian schools in the state a 15-day ultimatum to remove all Christian symbols and religious clothing worn by priests, nuns, and brothers on their campuses. The ultimatum also demands the removal of churches located on school complexes, in the aim of “preventing Christian missionaries from using schools for conversion activities”. This likely violates Articles 25-28 of Indian Constitutional Law on religious freedom, and international law (Article 18 ICCPR).
● On February 9, protests erupted in Uttar Pradesh state after police arrested Muslim scholar Tauqeer Raza Khan for giving a “jail bharo” call, a peaceful protest tactic commonly used in India where protesters voluntarily let themselves get arrested. Khan made the call after Uttar Pradesh’s Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath reportedly stated that Muslims should wilfully give up their claim of the Gyanvapi mosque in light of a court ruling allowing Hindus to worship at the site. The mosque is one of the main sites that BJP-backed right-wing groups are seeking to reclaim.
● On February 10, police reportedly arrested four Christian worshipers in the state of Uttar Pradesh on charges of unlawful religious conversion, following the complaint from a Hindu supremacist group. The arrests may violate the freedom to choose one’s own religion (Article 18 ICCPR).
● On February 11, police arrested between 17 and 18 members of a Hindu supremacist group after they held protests outside the screening of a film on Kashmir, which allegedly portrays the Indian Army negatively. The police later stated that the event was not disrupted due to the protests, with no mention of whether protests became violent.
● On February 13, a group of Hindu supremacists reportedly attacked 21 Christians over a land dispute, linked to the widening of a public road near the Methodist Church in the village. 12 people were admitted to a hospital, while three of them were in critical condition. The attack likely violates Article 20 of the ICCPR – the advocacy of religious violence.
● On February 14, NGO Open Doors presented its World Watch List report 2024 in the European Parliament , which documents Christian persecution across a ranking of 50 states. India is ranked 11th as Open Doors rated Christian persecution in the country as ‘extreme’, with violence against Christians at 99%. This flags India’s failure to protect the right to freely choose one’s own religion (Article 18 ICCPR) and the right of minorities to practice their own religion (Article 27 ICCPR).
● On February 21, the Education Department suspended three Muslim teachers in the state of Rajasthan. The education department reportedly received a memorandum from Sarv Hindu Samaj, a local confederation of Hindu supremacist organisations, which accused the three teachers of being involved in ‘Islamic Jihadist Activities,’ ‘Religious Conversion,’ and ‘Love Jihad’. The acting principal of the school, and where the three teachers taught denied the allegations, while 12 other teachers, who are all Hindu, have defended the three teachers, stating that allegations made by Sarv Hindu Samaj were false. The suspensions raise possible international law violations, including the right to work (Article 6 ICESCR).
● On February 26, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) revealed that it arrested 16 Muslim persons for allegedly conspiring and carrying out a communal attack while numerous Hindu Supremacist groups were celebrating Ram Navami in West Bengal during March last year. The attack in question had escalated into anti-Muslim violence, raising concerns regarding whether those arrested are being treated equally before the law (Article 26 ICCPR).
● On February 27, police allegedly killed a Dalit teenager and injured two students in Uttar Pradesh state. Congress demanded an inquiry into the killing, while the deceased family and local villagers registered a case under sections 302 (murder) and 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code.
Internet and Technology
● On February 1, a joint investigation by Global Witness and the Internet Freedom Foundation revealed that two social media platforms, YouTube and Koo, are “failing to act” on hate speech complaints. The complaints concern hate speech against women and marginalised groups.
● On February 14, X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook withheld more than a dozen accounts that had been posting content about the ongoing farmers’ protest, in response to government demands. The pages of farmer leaders, including Sarvan Singh Pandher, Tejveer Singh Ambala, Ramandeep Singh Mann, Surjit Singh Phull and Harpal Sangha, have been withheld in India. The X accounts of journalists Sandeep Singh and Mandeep Punia, who were reporting on the farmers’ protest, were withheld. This raises concerns about censorship in violation of freedom of speech under Article 19 ICCPR.
● On February 14, a report by The Information divulged that Meta has cut the budget for fact-checking on WhatsApp, meaning that fewer fact-checkers will be monitoring political discussions on Meta’s WhatsApp right ahead of India’s elections. Given the number of elections being held in 2024, Meta’s budget cuts in fact-checking are likely to have far reaching consequences across the globe.
● On February 15, The Citizen published an article documenting the increase women and vulnerable groups being targeted by AI. It documents two apps that emerged on Github, “Sulli Deals” and “Bulli Bai”, were used to humiliate prominent Muslim women. The Delhi Police eventually opened an investigation into both apps, arresting 6 people in connection with both apps, in order to address potential violations of Articles 17 and 26 of the ICCPR.
● On February 20, the Indian American Muslim Council in collaboration with Saldef, Equity Labs, and Hindus for Human Rights published a joint report on digital harassment in India. The report documents the existence of a political IT cell, built by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress and active since 2010, which disseminated and amplified certain political content in India’s social media landscape. In addition, the report delves into the censorship of Muslim voices and advocacy groups, alongside Big Tech’s failure to protect caste equity. All these instances are likely to seriously violate Articles 19 and 26 of the ICCPR.
● On February 29, the News Broadcasting and Digital Standards Authority (NBDSA) ordered the television news channels News18 India, Times Now Navbharat and Aaj Tak to delete videos from five shows for spreading the “love jihad”, a debunked Hindu supremacist conspiracy theory that accuses Muslim men of trapping Hindu women to convert them to Islam through romantic relationships.
Political Parties and Election Monitoring
● On February 10, the Education Department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in Mumbai sent letters to numerous civic and government schools compelling teachers into election duty starting February 11. The letters stated that any failure to comply would result in action taken against teachers. Several teachers’ organisations have demanded to be excused, citing provisions from the Right to Education (RTE) Act, which recommends that teachers shouldn’t be provided with non-academic work. In addition, the Education Department’s orders likely violate Article 13 of the ICCPR, which makes primary education compulsory to all.
● On February 15, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) revealed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) received nearly 90% of all corporate donations in the 2022-23 financial year. Total donations declared by the BJP were five times higher than the total donations declared by Congress.
Legislative
● On February 6, the Gujarat legislative assembly unanimously passed a resolution requesting the BJP government to support the implementation of teaching the “Bhagavad Gita”, a foundational Hindu text, in schools. The Minister of State for Education Praful Pansheriya framed the Gita as a text that exposes students to “Indian culture”.
● On February 7, the Uttarakhand Assembly introduced the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) of Uttarakhand 2024, a bill which seeks to replace religion-specific law with a uniform set of family laws on inheritance, marriage, divorce and more. A national UCC is one of the major promises of the BJP, which has sparked worry amongst India’s minority groups as they worry that the rules agreed upon in the UCC would be skewed towards the majority. Uttarakhand’s UCC is reportedly also the first law in India to impose rules on live-in relationships. Following the passing of the bill, all residents in Uttarakhand must receive a relationship certificate from the registrar, who has the power to approve or disapprove certificate requests. Couples who fail to comply with the new bill could face a fine of up to Rs 25,000, a prison sentence of up to 6 months, or both. The passing of the law could have serious implications for the right to privacy and the freedom of association (Articles 17 and 22 ICCPR).
● The Chhattisgarh Assembly is reportedly planning to introduce a new Bill, which will force people to declare their wish to convert religions to the district magistrate to be assessed by the police. The current draft states that conversion “cannot be done from one religion to another by the use or practice of abuse, force, undue influence, coercion, inducement or by any fraudulent means or by marriage”. This could potentially infringe upon Article 18 of the ICCPR.
● On February 29, opposition parties in Assam state met with the Governor urging the local government to block the implementation of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) which facilitates citizenship for non-Muslims in contradiction with the Assam Accord. Protests against the CAA have intensified since 2019, but the Chief Minister has dismissed the protests, stating that those who oppose the law should go to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court had left petitions about the CAA pending. The OCHR called the CAA “fundamentally discriminatory in nature”, as it adds a religious criterion to citizenship, and the European Parliament expressed concern about it for violating freedom of religion (Article 18 ICCPR).
Judiciary
● On February 8, the Madras High Court gave a ruling emphasising the need to acknowledge psychological impacts of hate speech on target individuals or groups. The high court found that statements made by the BJP president for the state of Tamil Nadu, K Annamalai, showed a fraudulent intent to portray a Christian NGO as acting against Hindu culture. The court refused to quash the summons issued to the President during the case. The BJP President then approached the Supreme Court, which paused the ongoing criminal case, stating there was no hate speech after reviewing the transcript featuring alleged hate speech.
● On February 9, the Supreme Court declined an urgent hearing of a petition by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) challenging the systems’ integrity of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT). According to the ADR, the EVMs and VVPATs used in India’s elections raise concerns about transparency, especially regarding the limited visibility in the electronic system which conflicts with voters’ right to understand the electoral process.
● On February 15, the Supreme Court ruled against the Narendra Modi government’s 2018 electoral bonds scheme for anonymous political funding, stating that the scheme would be unconstitutional. The court criticised the law for violating the rights of freedom of speech and the right to information safeguarded by the Indian Constitution.
● On February 20, a court heard a petition by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), a Hindu Supremacist organisation, filed in the state of West Bengal after a Zoo put a lioness names Sita (as a Hindu goddess) in the same enclosure as a lion names Akbar (also the name of a Muslim ruling emperor).
Business and Economy
● On February 1, the Government of India released an interim budget. Key points include the lowering of the fiscal deficit, reportedly improved investment ratings, and a greater focus on boosting the rural economy in the wake of India’s upcoming elections. Budget cuts reduce food subsidies, a point that has sparked concern as demand for the country’s Food for Work program has grown over the last year.
● On February 7, genocide experts and scholars from around the world wrote a letter to India’s President Droupadi Murmu expressing their “utmost concern” that India’s proposals for development projects on India’s Great Nicobar Island threaten “genocide” of the island’s indigenous Shompen people.
● On February 7, Bloomberg reported India is close to finalizing a first-of-its-kind trade deal that could see a small group of European nations invest as much as $100 billion over 15 years in exchange for easier trade access to the world’s most populous nation, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
● On February 23, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said at the Raisina Dialogue that India will not conclude and sign free trade agreements (FTAs) unless the trade deals are equitable and fair. FTA talks between the EU have stalled due to disagreements over the EU’s carbon tax. The UK and India are also still in consultations over their FTA deal after they passed the initial 2022 deadline.
● On February 23, the EU imposed sanctions against approximately two dozen companies, including one from India for allegedly backing Russia’s war in Ukraine. Several analysts suspect the Indian company, Si2 Microsystems Pvt Ltd, which manufactured integrated circuits for commercial, military and space activities was added on the EU sanctions list for facilitating semiconductor shipments to Moscow.
● On February 28, the European Commission published the conclusions of a trade and sustainability impact assessment, aimed at assessing the potential negative implications of a planned EU-India Free Trade Agreement. The impact assessment found that the trade agreement would have a negative impact on religious minorities, and finds that the trade agreement would have a direct impact on religious minorities’ freedom from slavery and forced labour.
Armed Conflict in Manipur
Since May 3, 2023, there has been an ongoing armed conflict in Manipur, North-Eastern India, after longstanding ethnic conflict between the Kuki (mostly Christian) and the Meitei (mostly Hindu, but also Christian and Muslim).
● On February 13, security personnel allegedly killed Okram Sanatom as a large number of armed civilians attempted to access the Manipur Police Training College, which stores a large number of weapons. In a separate incident, a man named Sagolsem Loha was killed as firing between Meitei and Kuki armed groups was intercepted security forces from the Assam Rifles and Indian Army. It is still unclear who – either armed group or security personnel – fired the deadly shot. In addition, a third person was also killed in a gunfight, with no mention of who might be responsible for the death. The incidents pose serious concerns relating to the state’s ability to protect the right to life (Article 6 ICCPR).
● On February 15, security forces killed two people and injured scores in Churachandpur district, northeast Manipur. Security forces began firing at a mob after it attacked a complex where the offices of the police chief and the district administration are located. The district police had ordered the suspension of a Kuki constable after purported images of him with armed men surfaced on social media. About 400 people stormed the district police chief’s office in protest, demanding the order be revoked. On February 16, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum, an umbrella body of the Kuki-Zo community, demanded that the superintendent of police and deputy commissioner be replaced by cadre officers from the Kuki-Zo community. Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh stated on February 17 that legal action will be taken against a political leader from inciting the violence at the government complex. The episodes pose serious concerns about the state’s ability to protect the right to life (Article 6 ICCPR).
● On February 22, the Manipur High Court ordered the removal of a paragraph from its March 27, 2023, order which directed the Manipur government to include the Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribe List, which gives listed communities the right to buy land in the hill areas of Manipur. Ethnic strife between both communities commenced shortly after the order, made public in April 2023, was appealed by numerous tribal bodies. The Kuki-Zo community in particular expressed concern over the potential addition of the Meitei community to the list given their ongoing persecution and the worry that the wealthier Meitei people could push them out.
● On February 27, Arambai Tenggol (AT), a Meitei group of 200-armed people abducted a police officer as they stormed into the residence of the Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) to release Robin M., chief of AT, who was arrested the day before. The police officer was later rescued and sent to a hospital for treatment. On February 28, police personnel across Meitei-dominated valley districts in Manipur laid down their arms in protest of the abduction. Police have reported increased support for AT amongst the local community of Manipur, and have said that civil society groups have stopped supporting the police.
● On February 28, Manipur’s Governor, Anusuiya Uikey revealed that 219 people have been killed and 60,000 people have been displaced since May 3. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is reportedly investigating 29 cases related to the violence, while the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is looking into one case. Uikey said that four more cases will be transferred to the CBI and another five to the NIA. The revelation by Manipur’s Governor puts into question the state’s ability to protect the right to life (Article 6 ICCPR).
Compiled by The London Story.
