New Delhi, January 12
The latest annual report of Human Rights Watch (HRW) has raised hackles in South Block here after asking the West to be circumspect in shifting supply chains from China to India because PM Narendra Modi has “mimicked’’ many of the same abuses that have enabled Chinese state repression.
While criticising the entire neighbourhood, it opted to warn Australia, Japan, Canada, the UK, the EU, and US only about India. The West is reconsidering its relationship with China and looking to expand trade and security arrangements with India. But HRW said deepening ties with India without pressure on Modi to respect rights “squanders valuable leverage to protect India’s increasingly endangered civic space’’.
In some portions, HRW’s language was identical to that of the US State Department including a flawed assessment about the “world’s mobilisation’’ around Russia’s war in Ukraine or the observations about the Sheikh Hasina government in Bangladesh.
The HRW said the Indian government had “intensified and broadened’’ its crackdown on activist groups and the media in 2022 while harassing rights groups through tax raids, allegations of financial irregularities, and use of the FCRA. The authorities in several BJP-ruled states demolished Muslim homes and properties without legal authorisation or due process as summary punishment for protests or alleged crimes, it noted.
On Sri Lanka, it said the change of presidents in 2022 did not lead to any improvement in the country’s human rights record. The new president, Ranil Wickremesinghe, cracked down on largely peaceful protests, imprisoned activists, and disregarded calls for justice for past violations.
Pakistani authorities have intensified their clampdown on media, civil society groups, and opposition activists in 2022, while failing to protect the rights of minorities and other at-risk groups, it said. The Nepali government was yet to pursue justice for conflict-era rights abuses or continuing abuses by security forces while increasing attacks against political opposition members raise concerns about violence and repression ahead of Bangladesh’s 2023 parliamentary elections. On Afghanistan, HRW said Taliban authorities, since taking power in August 2021, have broadly imposed rules and policies that deny women and girls their basic rights and crush peaceful dissent.
The 712-page World Report 2023 says that in a world in which power has shifted, it is no longer possible to rely on a small group of mostly Global North governments to defend human rights.
