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Indian Prime Minister's Trip to Washington Press Backgrounder |
(New York, September 14, 2000)
During Indian Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee's state visit with President Clinton on September 15, both sides will probably try to avoid "controversial issues." But Human Rights Watch has documented extensive human rights problems in India, which should certainly be on the two leaders' agenda. This briefing describes some of these problems and includes specific questions to be put to the President and Prime Minister at the joint press conference scheduled for the same day.
Hindu Nationalism The increasing domination of Hindu nationalism in India has dramatically undermined the country's constitutional commitment to secular democracy. The policies espoused by India's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its sister organizations, collectively known as the sangh parivar, have already resulted in much violence against the country's Christian, Muslim, and Dalit ("untouchable") populations. The international community has been largely silent. Attacks on Christians and "Untouchables" Attacks on Christians in recent years have ranged from violence against the leadership of the church, including the killing of priests and the raping of nuns, to the physical destruction of Christian institutions, including schools, churches, colleges, and cemeteries. Thousands of Christians have also been forced to convert to Hinduism. In most cases, those responsible for the attacks have yet to be prosecuted. Today more than one-sixth of India's population, some 160 million people, live a precarious existence, shunned by much of society because of their status as "untouchables" or Dalits--literally meaning "broken" people--at the bottom of India's caste system. This year, several massacres of Dalits have already taken place in the states of Bihar and Karnataka with no prosecutions to date. Dalits are discriminated against, denied access to land, forced to work in degrading conditions, and routinely abused at the hands of the police and of higher-caste groups that enjoy the state's protection. In what has been called India's "hidden apartheid," entire villages in many Indian states remain completely segregated by caste. This issue is as critical in India today as was the movement for racial equality and civil rights in the United States in the 1960s. Kashmir Continued violence against civilians in Kashmir is another pressing concern. Abuses by all parties to the conflict have been a critical factor behind the escalation in fighting there. Even if the current crisis is resolved, the conflict will not end unless the international community puts pressure on India to end widespread human rights violations by its security forces in Kashmir, and on Pakistan to end its support for abusive militant groups. On March 20, the eve of President Clinton's visit to South Asia, 36 Sikh men were shot dead by unidentified gunmen. In the weeks that followed, hundreds of Kashmiri villagers staged protests against Indian security forces alleging the disappearance of Muslim civilians. In early April, at least seven people were killed when police opened fire during one such protest. On August 1 and 2, gunmen killed a total of nearly ninety persons in separate attacks on Hindu pilgrims at Pahalgam in the Kashmir Valley. The massacres are believed to have been carried out by militant factions opposed to peace talks then underway between Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, Kashmir's largest armed guerilla group, and the Indian government. Suggested questions for President Clinton:
Suggested questions for Prime Minister Vajpayee:
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