Human Rights Watch on Friday slammed India for using its counterterrorismoperations to “silence peaceful dissenters, human rights activists, andjournalists” in the country.
In a statement, the rights group criticised the Indian authorities forcarrying out several raids on the offices of non-governmentalorganisations, activists’ homes, and a newspaper office in occupiedKashmir, Delhi, and Bangalore.
“The raids are part of a crackdown by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) on civil society groups,” said the group. It also added that Indiahas brought “politically motivated criminal cases” to target activists,journalists, academics, students, and others and “used foreign fundingregulations to target outspoken groups for their human rights work”.
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“India faces serious security challenges, but instead of addressing theproblems in a rights-respecting manner, the authorities appear determinedto crush peaceful criticism and calls for accountability,” said South AsiaDirector of HRW Meenakshi Ganguly in the statement.
