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.
India's government has done little to address long-standing human rights concerns, including widespread caste violence and discrimination, violence against the country's religious minorities, and abuses by Indian security forces in Kashmir. In its Annual Report on International Religious Freedom released earlier this month, the U.S. Department of State noted that the Indian government made few efforts to hold accountable those responsible for violence against religious minorities, or to prevent such incidents from occurring. President Clinton's own state visit to India in March highlighted regional security concerns, from nuclear proliferation to the conflict in Kashmir to the military coup in Pakistan. But far too little attention has been paid to the dangers of divisive Hindu nationalist policies.
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:
Why has the U.S. government been silent on the Hindu-nationalist policies of the BJP and the BJP's close relations with extreme nationalist organizations which openly promote the creation of a Hindu nation?
Given the poor human rights record of Indian security forces in Kashmir, is your administration considering suspending military aid or commercial weapons sales to India? What else is the U.S. doing in the face of continued "disappearances," torture, and summary killings of noncombatants in Kashmir?
Are you satisified that the Indian government is doing enough to investigate and prosecute those responsible for attacks on Christians, Dalits, and other minorities?
Suggested questions for Prime Minister Vajpayee:
Several prominent members of your party have openly defended the actions of people who are accused of killing members of religious minorities, such as Christians and Muslims? Would you care to comment?
Why won't the Indian government allow for a judicial inquiry into the most recent killings of Hindu civilians in Kashmir? Is it because of allegations that some may have been killed by Indian security forces in an exchange of fire with militants?
This year has seen new massacres of the country's "untouchables." What is your government doing to put an end to such abuses and bring an end to the severe social discrimination that "untouchables" continue to face?
Would you agree to invite the U.N. Special Rapporteur on torture and the Special Rapporteur on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, both of whom have requested invitations to visit the country? If not, why not?
(Old URL: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2000/09/14/india1201_txt.htm)