As Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden are set to meet this week at the White House, a litany of rights groups and lawmakers are urging Biden to discuss New Delhi’s crackdown on human rights. Ahead of Modi’s visit, several human rights groups have mobilized in opposition, hoping to raise awareness about the Indian government’s crackdown on minority groups. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib said, it’s shameful that Modi has been given a platform at our nation’s capital—his long history of human rights abuses, anti-democratic actions, targeting Muslims & religious minorities, and censoring journalists are unacceptable. Under the prime minister, India has undertaken a major crackdown on civil society that has particularly affected members of the country’s religious minorities, including Muslims. More than 60 organizations have signed an open letter to the US president urging him to raise the issue of human rights in India and press Modi’s government to “halt the use of anti-terror laws to arbitrarily detain political critics”. “Given the urgency of this crisis, we ask you to engage directly with Indian-American and human rights civil society leaders to explore solutions to address India’s human rights crisis,” the letter reads. Another letter signed by more than 70 US lawmakers from both the House and Senate issued a similar call to Biden. In August 2019, New Delhi revoked Article 370 of India’s constitution, the clause that granted Kashmir’s Muslim-majority region semi-autonomous status within the Indian Union. India also introduced the Citizenship Amendment Act, which India says makes it easier for people from non-Muslim minority groups in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan – who settled in India prior to 2015 – to get Indian citizenship. Rights groups have argued that the act’s exclusion of Muslims violates India’s secular constitution by making religion a basis for citizenship.
Internet advocacy watchdog Access Now says, India has also topped the list for the highest number of internet shutdowns in the world for five years in a row, including in 2022. Human Rights Watch hosted a screening of the BBC documentary on Modi’s role in the 2002 Gujarat riots, when communal violence left more than 1,000 people – mostly Muslim – dead. The film was banned in India. US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has also stepped in, issuing a statement calling on Biden to publicly comment on the attacks on religious freedom in India. “During this state visit, President Biden to raise religious freedom with Prime Minister Modi directly, including by urging him to amend or repeal policies that target and repress religious minorities.” Two decades ago, the US did take a stand for human rights in India when it banned Modi, who was then the chief minister of the Indian province of Gujarat, for his culpability in the 2002 Gujarat anti-Muslim pogroms. While threats to religious freedom in India are a major concern for rights groups, the US has seldom been critical of New Delhi in recent years, as Washington has looked to the South Asian country as a bulwark against its rival in China.
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