South Asia Citizens Web

[updated on 22 October 2014] Statements by Amnesty International, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and media commentary

As India enters into one of the most complex and unprecedented periods in its history, getting a clear picture of what’s happening is harder than ever. Every month, we connect the dots between the recent news and events. We release two data rich briefings, with links to additional information. Our briefings give you the long view, combining public information with perspectives drawn from ground experience and diverse professions:

Chanting hymns and spraying holy Ganga water, a group of religious leaders and students from the rightwing conducted the purification ritual of a 26-year-old woman inside a police station in Dehradun, Uttar Pradesh. Her crime was that she married a Muslim and was allegedly forced to convert to Islam. Her saviours felt that bringing her back home and into the fold was not enough; she needed to be cleansed of any traces of Muslimness to be acceptable again.

The undersigned would like to lodge a strong protest against this attitude of narrow nationalism in India’s entertainment industry, and would like to request everyone to welcome and support international artistes, regardless of their nationality, as long as they follow the required Indian visa rules. We are definitely in favour of the artistes complying with Indian laws of immigration and work permit etc., but monitoring its compliance should be left to the Indian government authorities. How can a private entity such as CINTAA dictate terms to the artistes without taking into account the larger opinion of the Indian arts and entertainment industry, and of course, the audience?

They did not speak Kannada, the language of the state they live in. They, therefore, were “legitimate” targets of violence in a city that has benefitted the most from India’s shift from Nehruvian Socialism to free market economy.