Gujarat re-elected Government Evokes Worries for Muslim Minorities |
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December 18th, 2022
Early this month, India’s right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was re-elected in Gujarat state under chief minister Bhupendra Patel. This resumption of power by the BJP highlights the longtime undermining of justice, perpetrator impunity, and intimidation of truthseekers in Gujarat: a key socioeconomic and political region in India.
The BJP has ruled Gujarat for over 25 years, where Modi served as chief minister for over a decade before becoming Prime Minister in 2014. Since 2002, evidence has continued to document Gujarat authorities under Modi complicit in profound anti-Muslim violence and religious discrimination.
“Modi and his Hindu nationalist BJP party will use this Gujarat election win to boost their outcome in India’s 2024 general election. But with the upcoming G20 meetings hosted by India, Canada has an opportunity to reject Modi’s continued legacy of impunity and religious intolerance in Gujarat. Canadians nationwide continue urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to pledge human rights protections and legislative reform on behalf of Indian Muslim minorities persecuted by BJP state forces in Gujarat,” said Taha Ghayyur, Executive Director.
Targeted Violence
Gujarat institutions, such as police and courts, have been complicit in targeting Muslim minorities. Public mob violence and flogging of Muslims have also commonly involved police participation. Today, state authorities regularly bulldoze Muslim-owned homes and businesses if the victims are linked to protesting.
According to Human Rights Watch, the current Modi administration is also linked to numerous orchestrated anti-Muslim attacks in Gujarat. For example, using hidden cameras an independent Indian media organization captured attackers describing how their violent actions “had Modi’s blessings.”
2002 Gujarat Riots
When he was chief minister of Gujarat, Prime Minister Modi’s BJP-ruled state government ignored Supreme Court orders to prosecute extremists responsible for the 2002 anti-Muslim riots that killed nearly 2,000 people. Most of the victims were Muslim. Under Modi’s leadership, the state failed to compensate survivors. Gujarat’s government has also continually engaged in obstruction of justice and denial of their involvement or complicity in the tragic events.
After a Mumbai court convicted 12 rioters to life imprisonment for gang-raping then-pregnant Bilkis Bano and murdering 14 members of her family, in 2022 India’s Modi government approved the release of her attackers.
In many crimes committed during the riots, some of Gujarat’s top officials have never been prosecuted for their involvement or for failing to bring justice to thousands of victims like Bano.
State-level Religious Discrimination
Between 2016 and 2022, India’s Central Ministry of Home Affairs issued orders allowing Gujarat state to grant citizenship only to non-Muslim migrants from neighbouring countries under the 1955 Citizenship Act. This type of executive order completely disregards the scale of persecution faced by Muslim minorities in neighbouring regions.
The law is similar to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Although the CAA has not been implemented nationally, Gujarat’s BJP-ruled government still discriminates against minorities on religious grounds, constituting an abuse of executive powers. These actions violate India’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (where India is a party).
Gujarat Activists Face Threats, Fabricated Charges, Arrest
Human rights activists have faced continuous intimidation and harassment by police in Gujarat. Human rights defender Teesta Setalvad has long raised awareness of Modi’s complicity in the state’s 2002 violence facing Gujarat’s Muslims. Advocacy groups around the world lamented her arrest in 2022.
While planning to join a public apology march dedicated to Bilkis Bano—after Gujarat state released those convicts who raped her—prominent activist Sandeep Pandey and others were arbitrarily detained simply for showing solidarity with a sexual assault survivor.
Human Rights Recommendations
Justice For All Canada calls on the Canadian government and its allies to sanction BJP leaders responsible for free speech censorship, arbitrary arrest and state-imposed killings of Muslim minorities in Gujarat.
Strong symbolic action, such as the diplomatic boycott of next year’s G20, is also paramount.
We call on Canada to apply global human rights equally by breaking its silence and standing with vulnerable minorities facing genocidal attacks under India’s extremist BJP government.
Early this month, India’s right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was re-elected in Gujarat state under chief minister Bhupendra Patel. This resumption of power by the BJP highlights the longtime undermining of justice, perpetrator impunity, and intimidation of truthseekers in Gujarat: a key socioeconomic and political region in India.
The BJP has ruled Gujarat for over 25 years, where Modi served as chief minister for over a decade before becoming Prime Minister in 2014. Since 2002, evidence has continued to document Gujarat authorities under Modi complicit in profound anti-Muslim violence and religious discrimination.
“Modi and his Hindu nationalist BJP party will use this Gujarat election win to boost their outcome in India’s 2024 general election. But with the upcoming G20 meetings hosted by India, Canada has an opportunity to reject Modi’s continued legacy of impunity and religious intolerance in Gujarat. Canadians nationwide continue urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to pledge human rights protections and legislative reform on behalf of Indian Muslim minorities persecuted by BJP state forces in Gujarat,” said Taha Ghayyur, Executive Director.
Targeted Violence
Gujarat institutions, such as police and courts, have been complicit in targeting Muslim minorities. Public mob violence and flogging of Muslims have also commonly involved police participation. Today, state authorities regularly bulldoze Muslim-owned homes and businesses if the victims are linked to protesting.
According to Human Rights Watch, the current Modi administration is also linked to numerous orchestrated anti-Muslim attacks in Gujarat. For example, using hidden cameras an independent Indian media organization captured attackers describing how their violent actions “had Modi’s blessings.”
2002 Gujarat Riots
When he was chief minister of Gujarat, Prime Minister Modi’s BJP-ruled state government ignored Supreme Court orders to prosecute extremists responsible for the 2002 anti-Muslim riots that killed nearly 2,000 people. Most of the victims were Muslim. Under Modi’s leadership, the state failed to compensate survivors. Gujarat’s government has also continually engaged in obstruction of justice and denial of their involvement or complicity in the tragic events.
After a Mumbai court convicted 12 rioters to life imprisonment for gang-raping then-pregnant Bilkis Bano and murdering 14 members of her family, in 2022 India’s Modi government approved the release of her attackers.
In many crimes committed during the riots, some of Gujarat’s top officials have never been prosecuted for their involvement or for failing to bring justice to thousands of victims like Bano.
State-level Religious Discrimination
Between 2016 and 2022, India’s Central Ministry of Home Affairs issued orders allowing Gujarat state to grant citizenship only to non-Muslim migrants from neighbouring countries under the 1955 Citizenship Act. This type of executive order completely disregards the scale of persecution faced by Muslim minorities in neighbouring regions.
The law is similar to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Although the CAA has not been implemented nationally, Gujarat’s BJP-ruled government still discriminates against minorities on religious grounds, constituting an abuse of executive powers. These actions violate India’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (where India is a party).
Gujarat Activists Face Threats, Fabricated Charges, Arrest
Human rights activists have faced continuous intimidation and harassment by police in Gujarat. Human rights defender Teesta Setalvad has long raised awareness of Modi’s complicity in the state’s 2002 violence facing Gujarat’s Muslims. Advocacy groups around the world lamented her arrest in 2022.
While planning to join a public apology march dedicated to Bilkis Bano—after Gujarat state released those convicts who raped her—prominent activist Sandeep Pandey and others were arbitrarily detained simply for showing solidarity with a sexual assault survivor.
Human Rights Recommendations
Justice For All Canada calls on the Canadian government and its allies to sanction BJP leaders responsible for free speech censorship, arbitrary arrest and state-imposed killings of Muslim minorities in Gujarat.
Strong symbolic action, such as the diplomatic boycott of next year’s G20, is also paramount.
We call on Canada to apply global human rights equally by breaking its silence and standing with vulnerable minorities facing genocidal attacks under India’s extremist BJP government.