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INDIA: Bomb attempt against Jehovah’s Witnesses’ gathering

IMAGE SOURCE, PTI -The explosions took place during a prayer meeting of the Jehovah’s Witnesses

INDIA: Bomb attempt against Jehovah’s Witnesses’ gathering: three dead and dozens injured

A former Jehovah’s Witness claims responsibility. After Germany (March 2023) and Italy (April 2023), Jehovah’s Witnesses are now killed in a bomb attack in another democracy, India

By Willy Fautre, director of Human Rights Without Frontiers.

HRWF (31.10.2023) – An explosive device blew up at a convention center in southern India killing three persons and wounding dozens of others on Sunday 29 October.

About 2,300 Jehovah’s Witnesses were gathered for a three-day gathering at the Zamra International Convention Center in the town of Kalamassery in Kerala state when the explosion took place.

The state’s top police officer, Sheik Darvesh Saheb, said an initial investigation has revealed an improvised explosive device was used.

The wounded, many of them with burn injuries, were transported to hospital for treatment, he said.

Videos filmed right after the blast and shared online showed fire inside the convention center and rescuers helping people evacuate the building.

Dominic Martin, a former Jehovah’s Witness, claimed in a six-minute Facebook video, subsequently removed that he was behind Sunday’s deadly massive blasts at a gathering of the Christian group.

He surrendered to cops after posting the footage online saying he was responsible for the explosions at the Zamra International Convention Center in Kerala. He was put in custody.

He said in a social media posting claimed Jehovah’s Witnesses were “anti-national”, refusing to sing the national anthem, and said he tried to convince the group to change its views on a number of its teachings.

Hindu nationalism is responsible for many acts of violence against Muslims and Christians in India.

About 2,300 Jehovah’s Witnesses were attending the three-day event at the convention center and Martin was not registered to attend.

The movement has about 60,000 followers in India which has a population of over 1.4 billion inhabitants. It is apolitical and non-violent. In all the countries where they are established, their members are conscientious objectors to military service.

Jehovah’s Witnesses are a global religious minority in over 200 countries and territories.

Media coverage

International media outlets largely and fairly covered the bomb blast.

The Hindu was however virulent about the beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses, voicing the hate speech of the perpetrator of the bomb attempt.

As to the French-language media outlets of France and Belgium, two democratic states known for their hostility towards Jehovah’s Witnesses and other minority religious movements, they have ignored the incident as if it had never happened.

On 29 October, the Agence France Presse (AFP) issued a press release titled “India: two dead and 35 injured in an explosion at a Christian gathering.” Noteworthy is that AFP avoided mentioning Jehovah’s Witnesses as victims in the title. In a biased and useless way, AFP said Jehovah’s Witnesses were “regularly accused of being a cult.” The bad practice of qualifying a religious or belief movement as a “cult” was condemned in 2022 by the European Court of Human Rights in its decision concerning the case Tonchev and Others v. Bulgaria. The Court then stated that terms such as “cults” or those deriving from the Latin “secta” in languages other than English are “likely to have negative consequences on the exercise of religious freedom” of the members of the groups so stigmatized and should not be used in official documents. The derogatory statement of AFP contributes to the climate of hostility against a non-violent and law-abiding religious group.

Moreover, AFP wrongly links the movement of Jehovah’s Witnesses dating back to the 1870s in the US with the American Evangelical movement. Both movements have always been totally unrelated.

Kerala attacks: India police investigate deadly blasts targeting Jehovah’s Witnesses – BBC

India police detain man as suspect in explosion that killed 3 people at Jehovah’s Witness gathering – AP News

Suspect detained in an explosion that killed 3 at Jehovah’s Witness event in India – ABC News

Bomb blast at Jehovah’s Witnesses meeting in India kills 3, wounds dozens – South China Morning Post

India police probe bomb blasts that killed two in Kerala – Reuters

Explosion hits Jehovah’s Witnesses prayer meeting in India’s Kerala – Al Jazeera

Kochi convention centre blast: 2 killed, dozens injured in blasts during prayer meet; Shah calls for NIA, NSG probe – Indian Express

Thousands of members of Jehovah’s Witnesses had gathered for a meeting on Sunday.

Enraged by ‘teachings’ of Jehovah’s Witnesses, planted bombs, says suspect – The Hindu

Bomb blast at Jehovah’s Witnesses meeting in India kills 2, wounds dozens | South China Morning Post (scmp.com) – South China Morning Post

Ex-Jehovah’s Witness claims responsibility in Facebook video for deadly blasts in India – New York Post

Further reading about FORB in India on HRWF website

INDIA: Report on Hindu nationalism, legal repression & mob violence

INDIA: Report on Hindu nationalism, legal repression and mob violence

International Christian Concern (05.10.2023) – International Christian Concern (ICC) released a report today outlining the concerning religious freedom conditions for Christians and other religious minorities in India. As India recently celebrated its 76th anniversary of its independence on August 15, the country is further from its roots as a secular democracy than ever. Led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a right-wing religious nationalist party, India is moving rapidly to restrict the rights of religious minorities across the country.

Legally, the rise of anti-conversion laws criminalizes minority religious expression by making it illegal to convert, or attempt to convert, members of another faith. In practice, Christians and Muslims are the ones charged under these laws. Acts as innocuous as talking about heaven or offering snacks after a church service fall afoul of the laws, with enhanced sentences mandated in cases involving more than one person, a woman, a child, or a member of the many protected ethnic or caste communities.

Other legal barriers, like those barring Christians and Muslims from social welfare schemes, also serve to chill religious freedom. Socially, Hindu nationalism restricts freedom across India by fueling mob violence against Christians and Muslims. ICC’s report considers the recent outbreak of violence against Christians in Chhattisgarh and the ongoing ethnoreligious violence happening in Manipur. Both instances are instructive not only to the state of religious freedom in India but the Indian government’s lackluster response and its refusal to extend substantive protections to its religious minority population.

This report also suggests several policy recommendations to the U.S. government, which has, for decades, taken a soft line with the Indian government on human rights. Its priority, it would seem, is to woo what it considers to be an important geopolitical ally in its fight against growing Chinese global influence around the world. Though the U.S. does highlight India’s religious freedom issues on occasion, it is not consistent in its messaging and has thus far chosen to avoid the most potent tools at its disposal.

To read the full report, click here.

Further reading about FORB in India on HRWF website

EU-INDIA: Religious freedom in the context of a Free Trade Agreement

HRWF (21.09.2023) – On 19 September, the DROI committee held an exchange of views on the human rights dimension of the negotiations on an EU-India Free Trade Agreement. In preparation, the London Story Foundation has compiled an overview of evidence on religious freedom concerns associated with the India Free Trade Agreement, with accompanying recommendations.

Situation of religious minorities

India is witnessing a steep marginalisation and curtailment of rights of its religious minorities through laws, while political leaders actively incite further violence against minorities by engaging in hate speech.68 In 2021, a panel of independent experts under the guidance of former International Criminal Court prosecutor Fatou Bensouda found credible evidence of crimes against humanity committed in India against its Muslim minorities.69 The Early Warning Project in 2023 ranks India 8th highest risk of concern for mass atrocities against religious minorities among 162 countries.70

In ongoing violence in Manipur, North-East India, over 120 people have lost their lives.71 This armed conflict started in May 2023 and has strong religious elements, with at least 250 churches being destroyed.72 On September 4, UN human rights experts issued a press release expressing their alarm over the scale of human rights violations involved in the Manipur violence and at the “inadequate humanitarian response” in its wake.73 They said the situation was “grave” and pointed out that it has involved alleged acts of “sexual violence, extrajudicial killings, home destruction, forced displacement, torture and ill-treatment”.74
There is evidence of widespread violence in India against people on grounds of protected characteristics, especially religion. Such targeted violence disproportionately affects religious minorities. Of over 19014 verified victims of communal violence, physical assaults, and lynching since 2017 (status: August 2022), the majority (86.7%) are Muslims.75 Violence against Christians also rose by 81% between 2020 and 2021.76 More than 2000 Christians were attacked and injured in the first nine months of 2021.77 Additionally, Hindu supremacist groups have called for economic boycotts of Muslim vendors.78

Identity of victims: Muslims: 16 477 – Christians: 1653 – Hindus: 183 – Other: 701. Source: Foundation The London Story (2022)

India is systematically excluding its minority population in violation of religious freedoms enshrined in the ICCPR. The Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 (CAA) allows the government to fast-track asylum claims of irregular immigrants from specific communities.79 The OHCHR called the CAA “fundamentally discriminatory in nature”, as it adds a religious criterion to citizenship and specifically excludes Muslims.80 Home Minister Amit Shah announced that a National Registry of Citizens (NRC) would be conducted for the whole of India.81 In Assam, the NRC has already rendered 1.9 million citizens stateless.82 The NRC coupled with the CAA risks mass statelessness of Muslims and other marginalised groups, leading to mass protests across the country that were brutally quelled. 83
India grossly discriminates against its minority population through laws, in violation of the fundamental freedom of religion in Article 18 of the ICCPR. 23 out of 29 states in India have introduced laws criminalising cow slaughter, trade, and consumption of beef with harsh sentences.84 In the state of Gujarat, the punishment for cow slaughter was increased to life imprisonment. Several BJP-ruled states have passed laws requiring governmental permission for religious conversion for marriage, which are justified with reference to the conspiracy theory that Muslim men trick Hindu women into conversion.85 Such laws violate the right to family life (Article 23) and right to freedom of religion (Article 18) in the ICCPR. Such laws have also emboldened vigilante groups, who engage in extrajudicial violence against people from religious minorities in response to alleged violations of these laws.86

Short-term risks

Worsening persecution of religious minorities places India at the risk of mass atrocities, which is already visible in the ongoing armed conflict in Manipur.87 Violence against Muslim vendors, traders and business people, and calls for boycott against minority businesses, create potentially serious concerns for the consequences of increased trade moving forward.88 Given that the EU does not traditionally consider religious minorities stakeholder groups in their human rights impact assessments, the risks for this stakeholder group are not yet known, and urgent research is needed to identify and mitigate potential harms. This lack of awareness can result in inadequate protection of the rights and well-being of religious minorities.

Recommendations in the context of the Free Trade Agreement

47.The EU and India should both conduct a comprehensive human rights and sustainability impact assessment (HRIA) before continuing further negotiations. The HRIA should consider the impact on vulnerable and often discriminated groups, especially on religious minorities. This should particularly examine the effects of economic boycotts of Muslims ongoing in India.

The EU and India should give explicit mention to the rights of gender, sexual, religious and ethnic minorities and caste-oppressed groups, as minority groups all benefit from equal rights and protections. Otherwise, the mention of minority rights risks being a box-ticking exercise.
The EU and India should jointly commit to repealing discriminatory laws, i.e. laws that prohibit the free choice of religion under the guise of preventing involuntary conversions. Discriminatory laws that restrict the free choice of religion can be used as tools of religious persecution and violate the right to equality and freedom of choice.

Footnotes

68 The Wire (2020), Anurag Thakur Leads Crowd to Chant ‘Shoot the Traitors’, https://thewire.in/politics/anurag-thakur-delhi-chants

69 Centre for Human Rights, University of the Free State (June 2022), Report of the Panel of Independent International Experts (PIIE) to examine information about alleged violations of international law committed against Muslims in India since July 2019, https://www.ufs.ac.za/docs/librariesprovider21/default-document-library/piie-report-final.pdf?sfvrsn=62 4e4920_0

70 Early Warning Project (2022), Countries at Risk for Mass Killing 2022–23: Early Warning Project Statistical Risk Assessment Results, https://earlywarningproject.ushmm.org/reports/countries-at-risk-for-mass-killing-2022-23-early-warning -project-statistical-risk-assessment-results

71 European Parliament (2023), European Parliament resolution of 13 July 2023 on India, the situation in Manipur, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2023-0289_EN.html
72 Foundation The London Story (2023), Background Dossier on Ethno-Religious Violence and Human Rights Abuses in Manipur, India, https://thelondonstory.org/report/background-dossier-on-ethno-religious-violence-and-human-rights-ab uses-in-manipur-india/

73 OHCHR (2023), India: UN experts alarmed by continuing abuses in Manipur, https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/09/india-un-experts-alarmed-continuing-abuses-manipu r
74 OHCHR (2023), India: UN experts alarmed by continuing abuses in Manipur, https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/09/india-un-experts-alarmed-continuing-abuses-manipu r

75 The London Story (2022), UPR Cycle IV India Factsheet, https://thelondonstory.org/wp-content/uploads/UPR-Cycle-IV-India-Factsheet-1.pdf
76 National Herald (2022), Violent attacks against Christians up by 81 per cent since 2020, 505 incidents in 2021, https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/india/violent-attacks-against-christians-up-by-81-per-cent-since-2 020-505-incidents-in-2021
77 DW (2021), Why are Christians being targeted in India? https://www.dw.com/en/why-are-attacks-on-christians-increasing-in-india/a-60293867
78 Kaushik Raj (2023), Indian Muslims in Haryana face calls for economic boycott after violence, AlJazeera, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/12/muslims-in-haryana-face-calls-for-economic-boycott-after- violence-in-nuh

79 USCIRF (2020), The Citizenship (Amendment) Act in India,

https://www.uscirf.gov/resources/factsheet-citizenship-amendment-act-india

80 United Nations (2019), New citizenship law in India ‘fundamentally discriminatory’: UN human rights office, https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/12/1053511
81 The Hindu (2019), Centre plans NRC exercise all over the country: Amit Shah, https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/nrc-process-to-be-carried-out-in-entire-country-says-amit-sha h-in-rajya-sabha/article61670698.ece

82 Foundation The London Story (2021), Assam Dossier, https://thelondonstory.org/2021/09/20/assam-dossier-2021/
83 PUDR (2019), Bloody Sunday, https://pudr.org/sites/default/files/2019-12/Jamia%20Report%202019%20for%20screen.pdf

84 The Wire (2021), Book Excerpt: The Many Anti-Muslim Laws Brought in By the Modi Government, https://thewire.in/politics/price-of-the-modi-years-book-excerpt
85 AlJazeera (2021), India’s ‘love jihad’ laws: Another attempt to subjugate Muslims, https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/1/15/indias-love-jihad-laws-another-attempt-to-subjugate-mu slims

86 Mahibul Hoque (2023), Muslim man with mental health conditions lynched in Assam, Maktoob Media, https://maktoobmedia.com/latest-news/muslim-man-with-mental-health-conditions-lynched-in-assam/; Sukrita Baruah (2023), 4 lynchings in a month in Assam, DGP tells team to act ‘irrespective of caste, creed, religion, Indian Express, https://indianexpress.com/article/india/assam-4-lynchings-dgp-8897182/

87 Early Warning Project (2022), Countries at Risk for Mass Killing 2022–23: Early Warning Project Statistical Risk Assessment Results, https://earlywarningproject.ushmm.org/reports/countries-at-risk-for-mass-killing-2022-23-early-warning -project-statistical-risk-assessment-results

88 CSW (2023), CSW input to the Trade Sustainability Impact Assessment of the EUIndia trade and investment agreements, https://www.eu-india-tsia.eu/_files/ugd/70e9b1_edae9a42a886427180d0c9510ad1078c.pdf

Source: Foundation The London Story (2022)

Further reading about FORB in the EU and in India on HRWF website

INDIA: Muslim Law Board’s stand sought on controversial short term marriages

INDIA: Muslim Law Board’s stand sought on nikah halala

The controversial short-term marriage forms are not practiced commonly in India, says the AIMPLB; with regard to minimum age, it adds that Islam allows marriage when boys and girls come of age.

By ZIYA US SALAM

The Hindu (25.08.2023) – The Law Commission has asked the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) to unambiguously state its position on nikah halala and muta, two controversial forms of marriage. The Commission has also sought clarification on Islamic law regarding the minimum age for marriage.

These queries were posed by Law Commission chairman Justice (retired) Ritu Raj Awasthi in a two-hour long meeting on Thursday with an 11-member delegation of the AIMPLB, led by its president Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rehmani.

These questions assume significance as petitions against nikah halala and muta have been filed in the Supreme Court by several Muslim women, who have sought a prohibition on both forms of marriage.

Short-term marriages

Muta is a consensual short-term marriage with a specific time frame for matrimony and divorce. Nikah halala is often forced upon a woman who has been thrice divorced by her husband, after which the spouses seek a reunion. It is intimately linked with instant triple talaq, which was invalidated by the top court in 2017.

The Board members voiced their opposition to nikah halala the way it is often practiced in the country, calling it “a mockery of religion”, according to a member of the delegation who did not wish to be named. A woman who has received three instant divorces is at times asked by some clerics to undergo halala, which is a short-term marriage to another man followed by divorce, before being eligible to resume marital life with her erstwhile husband.

The AIMPLB delegation also felt that the Commission was making “an issue out of a non-issue” with regard to muta. “It is not practised in our country. An attempt is being made to turn a rare instance into a popular practice,” the delegation member said, adding, “At a time when the Supreme Court has allowed extra marital relations, talking of muta is incongruous.“

Minimum marriage age

On the minimum age for marriage being raised to 21 years by the government, the Board reiterated that the Muslim community had been following the law on the subject. “Islam allows marriage when boys and girls come of age, to avoid premarital relations,” the delegation told the Commission, according to the member, who added, “However, in modern times, early marriage is usually linked to socio-economic parameters. A poor family wants to marry off the daughter quickly so there is one less mouth to feed. It cuts across religions. in Islam, there is no specific age for marriage. If the spouses are in a position to fulfil the obligations of marriage, they can marry.”

The AIMPLB delegation, which included women members as well, reiterated that, “if anybody has a problem with the personal law, then he or she can solemnise marriage under Special Marriage Act, which is a secular law. For such marriages, Indian Succession Act will be applicable.”

‘Muslims are target of UCC’

The delegation reiterated the AIMPLB’s strong opposition to the proposed Uniform Civil Code, insisting that no debate can be conducted on Shariah. “The Shariah law (Muslim Personal Law) has two components, one is based on the Quran and Sunnah (Prophet’s words and actions) and the other is Ijtehad (Islamic scholars’ opinions). The first part is unalterable, even Muslim ulemma cannot make any change in it. Ijtehad can differ with time and situations. Therefore, for us, even a minute change in the basic format of Shariah will not be acceptable. It is non-negotiable,” said Board spokesman S.Q.R. Ilyas.

The Muslim leaders also asked the Commission if it had undertaken any survey or had any data on the basis of which the UCC was being proposed. “We asked the Commission why only Muslims were not being exempted from the proposed Uniform Civil Code when the government is ready to exclude tribals and Christians of northeastern States. It means that only Muslims are the target of UCC,” Mr. Ilyas concluded.

File image of a child bride from Hyderabad used for representational purpose only. | Photo Credit: NAGARA GOPAL

Further reading about FORB in India on HRWF website

INDIA: United Nations experts alarmed by continuing abuses in Manipur

INDIA: UN experts alarmed by continuing abuses in Manipur

UN OHCHR (04.09.2023) – UN experts* today raised the alarm about reports of serious human rights violations and abuses in the Northeast State of Manipur in India, including alleged acts of sexual violence, extrajudicial killings, home destruction, forced displacement, torture and ill-treatment.

The experts pointed to an “inadequate humanitarian response” in the wake of the grave humanitarian situation in Manipur following the latest round of community conflict between the predominantly Hindu Meitei and the predominantly Christian Kuki ethnic communities that erupted in May 2023.

By mid-August 2023, an estimated 160 persons had reportedly been killed, mostly from the Kuki ethnic community, and over 300 injured. The conflict also reportedly resulted in tens of thousands of people from the communities being displaced, thousands of homes and hundreds of churches being burnt down, as well the destruction of farmland, loss of crops and loss of livelihood.

“We are appalled by the reports and images of gender-based violence targeting hundreds of women and girls of all ages, and predominantly of the Kuki ethnic minority. The alleged violence includes gang rape, parading women naked in the street, severe beatings causing death, and burning them alive or dead,” the experts said.

“It is particularly concerning that the violence seems to have been preceded and incited by hateful and inflammatory speech that spread online and offline to justify the atrocities committed against the Kuki ethnic minority, particularly women, on account of their ethnicity and religious belief,” they said. “We are further alarmed by the reported misuse of counterrorism measures to legitimise acts of violence and repression against ethnic and religious minorities.”

The experts said recent events in Manipur were another tragic milestone in the steadily deteriorating situation for religious and ethnic minorities in India.

“We have serious concerns about the apparent slow and inadequate response by the Government of India, including law enforcement, to stem physical and sexual violence and hate speech in Manipur,” the experts said.

The experts welcomed the fact-finding mission conducted by lawyers and human rights defenders in Manipur and the follow-up by the Supreme Court of India on the situation in Manipur, though the response could have come in a timelier manner. They urged the Supreme Court to continue monitoring the response of the Government and other actors, with a focus on justice, accountability, and reparations. “We are also concerned about reported criminalization and harassment of human rights defenders documenting the cases,” they said.

They urged the Government to step up relief efforts to those affected and to take robust and timely action to investigate acts of violence and hold perpetrators to account, including public officials who may have aided and abetted the incitement of racial and religious hatred and violence.

Special Rapporteurs and Working Groups are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN human rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms. Special Procedures mandate-holders are independent human rights experts appointed by the Human Rights Council to address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. They are not UN staff and are independent from any government or organisation. They serve in their individual capacity and do not receive a salary for their work.

Photo : Manipur Violence – PTI Torching houses in Manipur

Further reading about FORB in India on HRWF website

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