Amnesty International 2003 report: India:
The right of minorities to live in the country as equals was increasingly undermined by both state and non-state actors, despite it being clearly asserted in the Constitution. Religious minorities, particularly Muslims, were increasingly targeted for abuse.
New and stringent security legislation, which gives wide powers of arrest and detention to the police, was misused to target political dissent in areas of armed conflict and elsewhere. Human rights defenders were frequently harassed by state and private actors, and their activities labelled as "anti-national".
Hindu nationalist groups continued to push their communal agenda – particularly the issue of the reconstruction of a Hindu temple in Ayodhya at the site where a mosque was destroyed in 1992 – through violence and the penetration of institutions, leading to an increasing fragmentation of society on religious lines.
On 27 February a train in Godhra, Gujarat, was attacked and 59 passengers believed to be Hindus were killed. Violence of unprecedented brutality targeting the Muslim community then spread in the state and continued in the following three months. Hindu nationalist groups reportedly had a role in masterminding the violence. Reports also indicated that the state government, administration and police took insufficient action to protect civilians and in many cases may have colluded with the attackers and actively participated in the violence. Human rights groups estimated the death toll was between 2,000 and 2,500.
The Prevention of Terrorism Act, operative as an ordinance since October 2001, was passed by parliament in March. It gave the police wide powers of arrest and provided for up to six months' detention without charge or trial for political suspects.
Human rights defenders suffered increased isolation as their activities were frequently branded as "anti-national" by state and non-state actors. This happened in particular when they sought to raise human rights concerns in debates about the security of the country. |
