The speakers at the 46th UNHCR session in Geneva condemned India’s ‘systematic discriminatory agenda’ against its minorities, particularly Muslims through legislation aimed at their further marginalization against the Hindu-majority population.
International human rights defenders, including Member of UK Parliament Afzal Khan, and activists Rahma Ben Hamadi (Tunisia) and Dr Feroz Mubarak (United Kingdom) strongly criticized the human rights violations in India at a virtual conference titled ‘India for Selected Hindus Only’ held in Geneva.
The speakers termed India’s Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) highly discriminatory, demanded setting up an independent inquiry commission on human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir, and called for ‘no to Indian colonization of Kashmir’.
British MP Afzal Khan termed India’s legislation against the values of democracy, pluralism and secularism, and expressed concern over the continuing targeted attempts against minorities.
He urged the world leaders to speak about the ongoing human rights violations in India, rather than taking a lenient view for the sake of friendly alliances.
“The human rights violations in India are taking place in a more focused and selective way against minorities,” he pointed.
Activist Rahma Ben Hamadi said India was persecuting minorities through CAA and the situation was further exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In COVID-19, she said, minority children suffered from malnutrition and illness while women were persecuted at their homes of domestic violence.
She said in Kashmir, the restriction of access to communication networks affected livelihood, particularly the implication on Kashmir Chambers of Commerce and Industries caused the economy to lose US$ 2.4 billion.
Activist Dr Feroz Mubarak said amidst the challenges of poverty and security, and without giving rights to Dalits and other minorities, how India could welcome the immigrants.
He said India’s amnesty offer to non-Muslim population of Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan reflected the BJP’s extremist mindset and selectiveness.
Instead of becoming a more welcoming and inclusive society, he said, India was going in the opposite direction within its discriminatory agenda. He said since the BJP’s coming into power in 2014, many laws were passed that enabled it to lawfully support the secular Hindu movement. “They engineered the system with socio-political arrangements and restructuring of State departments that will not let minorities step up and challenge it in a legal way,” he said.
He condemned the systematic discrimination and underlying agendas behind India’s moves against neighbouring countries particularly Pakistan.
