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Rights Watchdog Calls for India to Drop Charges Against Peaceful Protesters

VOA News

   [1]Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called for Indian authorities to
   immediately dismiss all politically motivated charges against those
   peacefully protesting discriminatory citizenship policies and release
   them immediately, according to a Monday news release.

   According to HRW, an international non-government organization, police
   and other authorities have shown a bias when prosecuting New Delhi
   violence. Police have used anti-terrorism and sedition laws to arrest
   students, activists and other protesters who criticize the government.
   But when it comes to violence carried out by supporters of the Hindu
   nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), authorities have failed to
   hold the same standards, HRW said.

   "The Indian authorities have used the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown to
   arrest activists, silence dissent, and deter future protests against
   discriminatory policies," Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at
   Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. "Instead of addressing past
   police abuse, the authorities seem to be trying their best to add to
   the list."

   The passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) by the BJP-led
   government in December 2019 [2]sparked protests in New Delhi and
   elsewhere in India. The legislation is the first in India to make
   religion a basis for citizenship. The act, together with a nationwide
   verification process to unearth "illegal migrants," may threaten the
   citizenship rights of millions of Indian Muslims, HRW said.

   [3]Violent clashes between Hindu and primarily Muslim anti-CAA
   protesters broke out in New Delhi in February, leaving dozens of people
   dead and hundreds more injured. HRW said that the authorities failed to
   respond appropriately, and [4]some reports allege that police escalated
   the violence.

References

   1. https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/06/15/india-end-bias-prosecuting-delhi-violence
   2. https://www.voanews.com/south-central-asia/un-rights-official-urges-india-scrap-new-citizenship-law
   3. https://www.voanews.com/extremism-watch/indias-citizenship-law-leading-rise-hate-crimes-experts-warn
   4. https://scroll.in/video/955020/the-police-told-us-to-throw-stones-bbc-meets-delhi-residents-who-took-part-in-communal-violence

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