ISLAMABAD – An official US report has said that the mob attacks byviolent extremist Hindu groups against the minority communities,particularly Muslims, continued in India in 2018.
According to Kashmir Media Service (KMS), the US State Department, in itsannual 2018 International Religious Freedom Report, said, “Mob attacks byviolent extremist Hindu groups against minority communities, especiallyMuslims, continued throughout the year amid rumours that victims had tradedor killed cows for beef.”
The report said that some senior officials of the ruling Bahartiya JanataParty (BJP) made inflammatory speeches against the minority communities.
According to some NGOs, the authorities often protected perpetrators fromprosecution, it said.
It said that as of November, there were 18 such attacks, and eight personswere killed during the year. On June 22, two Uttar Pradesh police officerswere charged after a Muslim cattle trader died of injuries sustained whilebeing questioned in police custody, the report said.
The US State Department said that there were reports by non-governmentalorganisations (NGOs) that the government sometimes failed to act on mobattacks on religious minorities, marginalised communities and critics ofthe government.
It said that the central and State governments, and members of politicalparties took steps that affected Muslim practices and institutions.
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“Proposals to rename Indian cities with Muslim provenance continued, mostnotably the renaming of Allahabad to Prayagraj. Activists said that theseproposals were designed to erase Muslim contributions to Indian history andhad led to increased communal tensions.”
There were reports of religiously-motivated killings, assaults, riots,discrimination, vandalism and actions restricting the right of individualsto practice their religious beliefs and proselytize, the annual report said.
The report also mentioned that the brutal gang-rape and murder ofeight-year-old Aasifa Bano of Kathua area of Jammu region of OccupiedKashmir.
“On January 10, Jammu and Kashmir police arrested eight men, including fourpolice personnel, in connection with the kidnapping, gang rape, and killingof an 8-year-old girl (Aasifa). The men allegedly kidnapped the victim,took her to a nearby temple and raped and killed her in an effort to driveher nomadic Muslim community out of the area,” it said.
