UNHRC report links inflammatory remarks of BJP leaders with rise in vigilantism in India

Tendayi Achiume, the Special Rapporteur appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), in her report on 'Contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia', has said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India has been linked to incidents of violence against members of the Scheduled Castes (SC), Muslim, tribals and Christian communities. She has mentioned that reports have documented the use of inflammatory remarks by BJP leaders against minority groups, and the rise of vigilantism targeting Muslims and Scs.

Her report also mentioned a letter sent in May 2018 by the Special Rapporteur to the Government of India concerning the updating of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in which attention was drawn towards heightened concerns of the Bengali Muslim minority.

The Special Rapporteur mentioned several examples in her report that were drawn from different sources, including submissions received by her in response to the call for input for the present report. Referring to racist, xenophobic violence, hate crimes and hate speech, the report pointed out instances of several countries where politicians in the government have made racist and xenophobic statements.

About India, the report said: “In India, the election of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been linked to incidents of violence against members of Dalit, Muslim, tribal and Christian communities. Reports document the use of inflammatory remarks by BJP leaders against minority groups, and the rise of vigilantism targeting Muslims and Dalits” while quoting Human Rights Watch submission to the Human Rights Council universal periodic review of India.

While talking about institutionalisation of structural and other forms of exclusion, the report mentioned that 'nationalist populist parties' in some places have implemented administrative and other rules leading to the exclusion of minority groups from official citizen registries on the basis of claims that they are irregular migrants, notwithstanding evidence showing that they are entitled to citizenship.

The Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance is an independent human rights expert appointed by the UNHRC. The United Nations Secretary General’s Secretariat has sent this report to the UN General Assembly for discussion.