In a fresh blow to human rights and civil liberties, Amnesty International has been forced to cease all operations in India, a country that most experts believe, is becoming increasingly intolerant.
Amnesty claims that a campaign of intimidation by India’s Home Ministry had been going on for two years. During this time, the London-based organisation, which is known for exposing India’s abuses in Kashmir, said that its executives were hounded by different agencies in the country.
The move, experts believe, is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ongoing assault against rights groups, activists, lawyers and dissenting individuals. Action against Amnesty come a month after the group said police had committed human rights violations during the deadly riots between Hindus and Muslims in India’s capital earlier this year.
In a statement, released by Amnesty’s India office, the group said: “The complete freezing of Amnesty International India’s bank accounts by the government, brings all the work being done by the organisation to a grinding halt. The organisation has been compelled to let go of staff in India and pause all its ongoing campaign and research work.”
Amnesty said action against the organisation was akin to freezing dissent. “For a movement that has done nothing but raise its voices against injustice, this latest attack is akin to freezing dissent,” Avinash Kumar, executive director of Amnesty International India, said in a statement from New Delhi.
Described as an incessant witch-hunt of human rights organisations, the move by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has drawn ire from all quarters.
From Sweden, Ashok Swain, an Indian-born academic and professor of peace and conflict research said: “Since Modi came to power in 2014, his regime has been doing everything to silence activists and organisation that support human rights, minority groups, and try to help the oppressed section of the Indian society.”
“This is a usual policy to silence dissent,” added the Uppsala University professor, who is an open critic of the Indian Prime Minister and the ruling BJP. According to Dr. Swain, India has blocked foreign funding for 20,000 Non-Governmental Organisations in the country.
Amnesty, one of the world’s best-known rights groups, is known for its criticism of Prime Minister Modi’s coercive policies – particularly towards India’s Muslim community, both inside the country and in the occupied territory of Kashmir. In March this year, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning watchdog condemned the internet blackout in occupied Kashmir. “Unwarranted restrictions on content and dissemination of information only stands to add to the panic,” said the group’s director in India.
Expressing solidarity from New York, the Human Rights Watch also criticized the Indian government for its crackdown on Amnesty International India. “Amnesty's plight reminds us that India's government welcomes international trade, investment, contracts, aid and tourism. But it strictly limits international contributions to human rights and environmental groups,” said Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
“This crackdown on Amnesty International is yet more evidence that Modi's government is failing to uphold freedom of speech and association,” said Roth in a post on Twitter.
At Uppsala, a town located a little north of Stockholm, Dr. Swain views the move differently. He sees it as another step by the Modi regime towards establishing an authoritarian Hindu country.
“While dissenting right groups and activists are being forced into silence, it will also provide an open field for Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) affiliated Hindutva organizations to expand their influence.”
The Sweden based expert, who regularly attracts the wrath of Prime Minister Modi’s supporters for his blunt criticism of their leader, said Amnesty’s departure was a warning sign. “The decision regarding Amnesty International will further strengthen the world’s fear over the rapidly declining health of India’s democracy,” he warned.
Describing the measures taken against Amnesty as an attack on dissent, Dr. Swain said: “Those who are attacking dissent, are also attacking India.” Dissent, he said, is the key to democracy. “If a regime suppresses dissent, democracy dies,” he cautioned, adding that such moves could fuel rebellion in the future.
Earlier on the first anniversary of the illegal annexation of Kashmir, the rights group released a damning statement on the violations of basic rights in the valley. In its report titled ‘Jammu and Kashmir after one year of abrogation of Article 370’ the group urged the authorities in New Delhi to release all political leaders, journalists and activists from administrative detention and demanded the restoration of 4G mobile internet services in the region. In its bid to discredit the report, the Modi government called it lopsided and malicious.
Over the past few years, Amnesty has had a troubled relationship with the Indian authorities. In 2016, a sedition case was filed against the rights organisation -- only to be dropped three years later. About two years ago, the group’s office in the southern Karnataka state was raided by the Enforcement Directorate, a federal financial crimes investigation agency.
Despite the global outcry, Prime Minister Modi, who appears to be at the centre of this latest embarrassing episode for India, remains tight-lipped. The nationalist leader, known for his authoritarian tendencies has not said a word since Amnesty decided to halt its operations.
While Modi remains silent, his critics have been firing salvos. In a hard-hitting Tweet, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof reminded the Indian leader that autocrats like him end in the dust bin of history. “Prime Minister Modi should remember that many autocrats have battled Amnesty International over the decades -- and most of them are now in the dust bin of history,” he said in the post.
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