India: Modi government targets civil society groups and activists, suppresses protests and censors reporting as election draws near

India’s civic space continues to be rated as ‘repressed’ by the CIVICUS Monitor. In recent years, the government has misused the draconian anti-terror Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and other laws to keep activists behind bars and fabricate cases against activists and journalists for undertaking their work. The authorities have blocked access to foreign funding for NGOs using the restrictive Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) and human rights defenders and journalists in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir continue to be targeted.

The general election to elect members of the parliament (Lok Sabha) in India is expected to take place in the months of April and May 2024, with the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) all set to go up against the newly formed I.N.D.I.A. alliance of opposition parties.

In recent months, the authorities have raided the premises of an NGO and cancelled the FCRA licences of a number of organisations. The anti-terror UAPA has been used to keep activists in detention. Protests by farmers, students and marginalised groups have been met with restrictions and excessive force. The government is censoring critical news and taking down critical websites. Journalists are facing criminalisation and attacks, while in Jammu and Kashmir, online critics are being targeted and activists remain in detention.

Association

Police raid NGO premises of activist Harsh Mander

On 2nd February 2024, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided two premises linked to social activist Harsh Mander in connection with a case of alleged Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) violation involving his research and advocacy organisation Centre for Equity Studies (CES).

These raids are the most recent in a long pattern of harassment of Harsh Mander and his colleagues, family and former and present CES board members. Since 2020 multiple government investigating agencies - including the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights, Delhi Police’s Economic Offences wing, Income Tax authorities, the Enforcement Directorate and now the Central Bureau of Investigation - have targeted Harsh Mander for his work. In not a single case has a charge sheet been presented to a court of law.

Over 250 individuals signed a statement of solidarity condemning the raids as being part of a “vindictive witch hunt”. They added that: “these egregious attacks on Harsh Mander and the CES are an attack on all of civil society in India and all those who work to promote constitutional values.”

Previously, in September 2021, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out raids on Harsh Mander’s house in connection with a money laundering case, hours after he had left for Germany with his wife on a six-month fellowship programme. The ED’s investigation was based on a charge filed by the Delhi Police against two children’s homes and their parent body, CES, in February 2021. The fabricated charges alleged financial irregularities based on a 2020 report of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). However, Mander’s name was not included in the First Information Report (FIR).

In the same month, another case was registered by the Mehruli police in Delhi under various provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act on a complaint from the NCPCR Registrar.

In June 2023, the Home Ministry suspended CES’ foreign contribution licence for 180 days. The agency has accused CES of transferring over Rs. 32.71 lakhs (USD 39,416), other than salaries, wages or remuneration, from its FCRA account to those of some individuals during 2020-21.

The CIVICUS Monitor has documented how the FCRA of 2010 and its amendments in 2018 and 2020 impose discriminatory restrictions on CSOs’ access to funding and makes their authorisation procedure difficult to navigate and highly bureaucratic. Over the years, it has been invoked against human rights groups to justify an array of highly intrusive measures, ranging from official raids on NGO offices and freezing of bank accounts to suspension or cancellation of registration.

Law used to block foreign funding for civil society groups

In January 2024, the FCRA licence of the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) was cancelled by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). It was suspended in February 2023 for 180 days for allegedly violating provisions of the foreign funding law and the suspension was then extended for another 180 days. CPR is a leading policy think-tank established in 1973, which conducts advanced and in-depth research on a wide range of policy-relevant issues.

CPR’s president Yamini Aiyar said the basis of the FCRA cancellation was “incomprehensible and disproportionate” and “some of the reasons given challenge the very basis of the functioning of a research institution.” This, she said, includes the “publication on our website of policy reports emanating from our research being equated with current affairs programming.”

On 24th January 2024, it was reported that the government had decided to cancel the FCRA registration for World Vision India, one of the country's largest Christian voluntary organisations. The home ministry has not given reasons for cancelling the FCRA registration nor has it cited the date of the cancellation. The government's decision will cripple World Vision India’s work in the country as domestic funds are insufficient to meet the cost of its country-wide operations.

On 3rd February 2024, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) cancelled the FCRA registration of the Tamil Nadu Social Service Society (TNSOSS), a Christian social service organisation, on account of alleged violation of the norms. TNSOSS is the official organisation of the Tamil Nadu Catholic Bishops Conference for justice, peace and development.

The Union home ministry revoked the FCRA licence of prominent think tank Indian Social Institute (ISI), on 20th February 2024, citing alleged violation of rules, said officials. The institute, set up in 1951, critically analysed the National Education Policy 2020 in its journal, Social Action, published in 2023. The journal, on the topic of 'Peace and Conflict', published in 2023, discussed the ethnic violence in Manipur and "unresolved political aspirations of people in Kashmir and Nagaland".

In September 2023, Amnesty International issued a report where it highlighted how the Indian authorities are exploiting the recommendations of a global terrorism financing and money laundering watchdog - the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) - to target civil society groups and activists and deliberately hinder their work.

The introduction of this FCRA bill in 2006 coincided with India becoming an observer state of the FATF. In the last ten years, more than 20,600 NGOs have had their FCRA licences cancelled, with nearly 6,000 of these cancellations occurring since the beginning of 2022. In a survey by Amnesty International, organisations said that the authorities provided only vague reasons, including accusing them of “bringing disrepute to public institutions”, “working against public or national interest” or alluding to their human rights work. Further, the 2020 and earlier amendments to the FCRA do not conform with FATF’s Recommendation 8, which requires that laws and regulations target only those non-profit organisations that a country has identified — through a careful, targeted “risk-based” analysis — as vulnerable to terrorism financing abuse.

Kashmiri human rights defenders remain in detention

In November 2023 civil society groups called on the Indian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Khurram Parvez and Irfan Mehraj, to drop all charges against them, and to end all kinds of harassment against Kashmiri human rights defenders and civil society organisations.

Human rights defender Khurram Parvez was arrested on 22nd November 2021 and has now spent more than two years in pre-trial detention on politically motivated charges under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), an Indian counter-terror law that violates international human rights standards.

Khurram is the Coordinator of Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) and presently the Deputy Secretary-General of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH). He has, for years, documented human rights violations in Indian-administered Kashmir, including enforced disappearances and unlawful killings. He was awarded the 2022 Martin Ennals Award for his tireless human rights work.

Journalist and human rights defender Irfan Mehraj has been in pre-trial detention under the UAPA since March 2023, similarly on politically motivated charges. He is the founding editor of the online Wande Magazine and has written extensively about issues of human rights violations in Kashmir. He was charged with Khurram and a third person in September 2023 in a case related to a conspiracy allegedly hatched to fund various proscribed Kashmiri terrorist outfits “in a clandestine and circuitous manner through NGOs, Trusts, Societies and welfare organisations”.

On 31st October 2023, UN experts again raised concerns about the UAPA, stating that the pre-trial detention period of 180 days, which can subsequently be increased, is beyond reasonable and called for a review of the UAPA in line with international human rights standards and with recommendations made by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Student activist detained under anti-terror law and denied bail

On 7th February 2024, the Supreme Court of India adjourned, for the fourth time in 2024 and fourteen time overall, the hearing of a bail plea in student activist Umar Khalid’s case.

As previously documented, Khalid was arrested in September 2020 in connection with the communal violence that broke out in northeast Delhi - against the backdrop of the Anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) 2019 and the proposed National Register for Citizens -between supporters of the CAA and those protesting against it. Khalid is accused of being one of the ‘masterminds’ of the conspiracy to instigate violence and terrorism-related activities during the riots.

In 2021, he was granted bail in other criminal cases but continued to be imprisoned due to charges under the Unlawful Prevention (Activities) Act (UAPA) – India’s draconian anti-terror law which is characterised by slow investigative processes and stringent bail provisions.

On 14th February 2024, Umar Khalid withdrew his bail plea stating that “he will try his luck” in a lower court, citing a “change in circumstances”.

Three other co-accused persons, student activists Asif Iqbal Tanha, Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal, were granted bail by the Delhi High Court Bench in June 2021. While granting them bail, the court remarked that in its “anxiety to suppress dissent, the State has blurred the line between the constitutionally guaranteed ‘right to protest’ and ‘terrorist activity’”.

Peaceful Assembly

Indian authorities continue to use excessive force in response to large scale protests in the country. Protesters have been arbitrarily detained and arrested solely for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

Restrictions and excessive force used as farmers march to Delhi once more

Farmers from the states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are holding another mass protest called ‘Delhi Chalo’ nearly two years after the previous protests in 2020. They began mobilising on 13th February 2024.

This time around the farmers are demanding a legal guarantee to a minimum support price (MSP) for all crops, full debt waiver for farmers, pension for farmers and farm labourers, the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations, and justice for the victims of the Lakhimpur Kheri violence — in which eight people were killed when they were mowed down by a vehicle on 3rd October 2021, including four protesting farmers. Union Minister Ajay Kumar Mishra’s son was in the vehicle.

In 2020, the farmers protested against the three farm laws announced by the central government. As a result of the protests, the Indian government led by Narendra Modi, was forced to repeal the laws. However, two years later there is no clarity on the implementation of the farmers’ demands.

Police once again resorted to using excessive force in the form of tear gas shells and water cannon to stop the farmers from entering Delhi. The movement of farmers has been blocked using heavy barricades, iron nails and barbed wire. Drones have also been deployed by tsecurity personnel to surveil the area and the movements of the farmers.

The Haryana government has also implemented a ban on mobile internet and bulk SMS services in seven districts in view of the protests. Over a dozen accounts on X and Facebook which functioned as official pages of farmers’ organisations and unions ahead of the protest have been withheld – ostensibly upon government request ahead of the protest.

The Farmer Unions claimed on 14th February 2024 that over 100 farmers have been injured so far in the protest at Punjab - Haryana’s Shambu border. The rubber bullets fired by the Haryana Police had injured over 130 farmers as of 14th February.

Farmer leaders were in talks with the government on their demands but on 19th February 2024 the farmers rejected the offer of the government that had proposed buying pulses, maize and cotton at the Minimum Support Price through cooperatives for five years. The farmers say that they will stand by their demand of a "legal guarantee for MSP on all 23 crops".

Farmers in Tamil Nadu arrested for protesting the acquisition of wetlands

In the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu, on 4th November 2023, police arrested 20 farmers who had been protesting for around 100 days against the acquisition of 3,000 acres of wetlands for the proposed State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu Ltd. (SIPCOT) project near Cheyyar in Tiruvannamalai. The arrests were based on a complaint filed in August 2023 of unlawful assembly and other legal provisions . Out of the 20 arrested, 7 farmers were charged under stringent provisions of the Goondas Act.

The Tamil Nadu government’s decision to press charges under the Goondas Act, which is invoked against individuals indulging in activities prejudicial to the maintenance of public order, has drawn flak from opposition parties and activists in the state who say the government is trying to suppress the fundamental rights of the farmers.

Following this, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, MK Stalin, ordered the cancellation of the charges under the Goondas Act against the six farmers, except farmer Arul Arumugam, who remained in prison till January 2024. Arumugam is the leader of the Uzhavar Urimai Iyakkam (Farmers’ Rights Union).

Police destroy protest site and arrest Adivasi activists in Maharashtra

In another incident involving land conflict between residents and the state, on 20th November 2024, a huge delegation of police surrounded and destroyed a protest site at Todgatta in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district, where protesters from over 70 Adivasi villages had been peacefully agitating against the six proposed and auctioned iron-ore mines in the district’s Surjagarh area since April 2023.

Protesters say the police targeted the main leaders of the protest, forcefully searching their belongings and their bags. Police also detained the leaders and confiscated their phones. The police also wrecked and burnt several huts in the village and tore down their roofs before seizing the belongings of a few of the protesters. In a video shared on social media, officials can be seen using lathis to intimidate people and prevent them from shooting any photographs or videos of the incident.

Protesters have said that the police requested and secured an eight-day custody remand for all 21 who had been arrested. The custody remand request filed by the police claimed that the arrested protesters tried to hit and kill the police, had explosives in their possession, and are funded by Maoists. The remand request also stated that the police intend to subject the arrested to intense interrogations in order to “uncover where and how they conspired in the related incident, capture the relevant evidence, expose the support being provided by Maoist organisations, and get information on future behaviour of the accused in connection with their severe crime of planting explosives and associating with a Maoist organisation.”

This brutal attack by the police came only a few weeks after the protest and demands at Todgatta were voiced internationally on 8th October by advocate Nogoti at the 54th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) in Geneva in Switzerland.

The six proposed mines spanning 4,684 hectares were recently leased through a composite mining lease to five companies. All six mines encroach upon the land already granted to people from surrounding Adivasi villages as part of their community forest rights land under the Forest Rights Act, 2006. Reports say at least 40,900 people will be displaced if these mines come into existence. People in the area have reported severe dehydration and gastro-intestinal irritation. According to a report on the hazardous effects of iron oxide on human health, exposure to iron oxide fumes and iron ore dust can cause metal fume fever, which is a flu-like illness with symptoms of metallic taste, fever and chills, aches, chest tightness and cough. Sustained exposure can cause discoloration of the eyes, causing permanent Iron staining.

Suppression of student protests on campus

State violence on campuses across India continue to be at an all-time high, with more and more institutions being militarised and excessive force being used to suppress student-led agitations in the country. The past decade has seen several student movements, ranging from the protests after the death of Dalit scholar Rohit Vemula to the agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC). The most consistent criticism of the Narendra Modi government has come from the students of the country.

On 13th October 2023, a protest in solidarity with Palestine organised by a group of student activists belonging to the Naujawan Bharat Sabha and Disha Students’ Organisation in the south Indian city of Hyderabad was abruptly stopped by the police, who went on to turn off the speakers and confiscate the placards from the protesters. When the activists resisted the police action, they were attacked and dragged into a police van. Ten activists were detained at the Saifabad police station and then released later in the day.

Also in Hyderabad, on 16th October 2023, students of the English and Foreign Language University (EFLU) protested against the administration’s inactivity in constituting an internal sexual harassment committee. Around 300 students held an all-night protest at the main gate of the campus demanding the reconstitution of the committee. This protest intensified two days later when a woman student was sexually assaulted on campus, leading to a hunger strike against the administration’s apathy towards the students’ concerns. On 6th November, police detained seven students. News reports indicate that nearly 20 students from the University of Hyderabad were also detained in addition to the seven from EFLU.

In a December 2023 directive, the Jawaharlal Nehru University administration banned the use of posters and the staging of protests within 100 meters of academic buildings on the campus. The directive also announced a fine of Rs 20,000 or expulsion for ‘anti-national’ activities on campus. Student leaders of the college have called the ban an attack on the ‘vibrant democratic culture’ of the university.

Expression

Government takes down article on army torture in Jammu and Kashmir

On 13th February 2024, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry of India ordered The Caravan to take down an article from its website within 24 hours.

The ministry issued the order under Section 69 of the Information Technology Act, which allows the central government to issue content-blocking orders to online intermediaries if the content is deemed a threat to national security, sovereignty or public order.

The article titled “Screams from the Army Post”, published on 1st February, is about the deaths of three civilians and the torture of several others while in army custody in Jammu and Kashmir on 22nd December 2023.

On 14th February 2024, the Press Club of India said that the government’s action against The Caravan “gravely infringes freedom of the press, which has seen a serious slide in the past few years.” India’s press freedom ranking of 161 out of 180 countries in the press freedom index by Reporters Without Borders is “a testimony of this fact and no amount of ‘rejection’ by the government can alter this truth.”

The magazine has said that although it removed the article from its website following the order, it will challenge the Ministry’s order.

Two websites monitoring hate speech and crimes blocked in India

The website of Hindutva Watch, a United States-based independent research project that documents hate crimes against religious minorities in India, is no longer accessible in India, days after government officials warned its founder that they might block it.

The website of India Hate Lab, another initiative dedicated to exclusively tracking hate speech in the country, can also no longer be accessed in India even though both platforms are available outside the country.

Al Jazeera reported that Raqib Hameed Naik, the founder of the project, had received communication from MEITY (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) under the IT Act regarding the potential blocking of India Hate Lab and Hindutva Watch. The government issued notices for blocking the websites under section 69A of the controversial IT Act, which empowers authorities to prevent the public from accessing information citing the “interest of sovereignty, integrity, and security” of India.

On 29th January 2024, Naik was informed by users in India that both websites had become inaccessible on multiple servers.

The blocking of the websites comes two weeks after Twitter withheld the account of Hindutva Watch in India on 16th January 2024, following the government’s order under the IT Act

Naik, a Kashmiri journalist living in the US since 2020, launched the Hindutva Watch website in April 2021. Since its launch, Hindutva Watch has grown into a rare database that documents hate speech and violence against India’s religious minorities, which have escalated everywhere from major cities to smaller towns, yet often receive little mainstream press coverage inside or outside the country. The project has been documenting two to four hate events daily, nearly double the number of reported incidents from a year ago.

Senior journalist’s vehicle attacked by ruling party supporters

On 9th February 2024, a vehicle carrying journalist Nikhil Wagle, activist Vishwambhar Choudhary and human rights lawyer Asim Sarode was attacked by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporters in Pune over a tweet by Wagle.

Prior to the attack, the Pune police had lodged a complaint against the journalist over the social media post that criticised Narendra Modi and LK Advani over the latter being awarded the Bharat Ratna — the highest civilian award of India. His post translated said “from one rioter to another”.

Later that evening when Wagle was heading to an event, the BJP Pune unit sought the cancellation of the event in a letter to the city police and had also threatened to disrupt the programme. Wagle’s vehicle was then attacked at four different locations. The vehicle was stopped by BJP workers who shouted slogans and smashed the windows. They also pelted eggs and ink on the car.

The Mumbai Press Club issued a statement strongly condemning the attack and the Committee to Protect Journalists urged authorities to investigate the attack swiftly and hold the perpetrators accountable.

Journalist faces criminal investigation for report on anti-Muslim bias in the police

In the South Indian state of Kerala, on 17th November 2024, journalist Rejaz M Sheeba Sydeek was called to the Vadakara Police Station in Kozhikode district for an enquiry, following a criminal investigation initiated by the Kerala police against Sydeek in relation to a news report for Maktoob Media in which Sydeek reported on allegations of anti-Muslim bias in the police force.

The report elaborated on the condition of Muslim men who were detained following a blast at a Jehovah’s Witnesses convention in October 2023. A former member of the congregation eventually claimed responsibility for the blast in which six people died. The police interrogated Sydeek and Maktoob Media’s founder and editor Aslah Kayyalakkath and even took a statement from the outlet’s deputy editor Shaheen Abdulla.

Both Sydeek and Abdulla told the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) that the police took Sydeek’s phone and refused to provide a ‘hash value’, a unique identifier to ensure that the device is not tampered with. Additionally, Sydeek accused the police of threatening him with additional legal actions including invoking non-bailable sections of the law.

Abdulla says the outlet has been singled out by the police for their reporting that seeks police and state accountability, and described the police investigation as arbitrary.

Government to block ProtonMail in India after fake bomb threat

The Electronics and Information Technology Ministry has decided to issue an order blocking end-to-end encrypted mail service ProtonMail following a request from the Tamil Nadu police over a fake bomb threat sent to at least thirteen private schools in Chennai on 8th February 2024.

Under Section 69A of the Informational Technology (IT) Act, the designated officer, on approval by the IT Secretary and at the recommendation of the 69A blocking committee, can issue orders to any intermediary or a government agency to block any content on grounds of national security, public order and similar grounds. This is the same Act under which India has banned all Chinese apps including TikTok and over 200 others.

The service is popular among some journalists and activists for its focus on privacy and encryption.

ProtonMail has said that they “condemn a potential block as a misguided measure that only serves to harm ordinary people, and that blocking access to Proton is an ineffective and inappropriate response to the reported threats”.

Restrictions to freedom of expression and surveillance in Jammu & Kashmir

According to the Kashmir Law & Justice Project, Kashmir Scholars Consultative and Action Network and Project South, there continues to be a crackdown on freedom of expression in Indian administered Jammu & Kashmir (IAJK), detention of journalists as well as surveillance of activists.

On 3rd November 2023, the Jammu & Kashmir administration prohibited public sector employees from striking under threat of reprisals.

On 1st December 2023, Jammu and Kashmir Police criminally charged six individuals for allegedly posting “anti-social” content on social media. On 9th December 2023, police criminally charged at least nine people for “misusing” social media. On 23rd January 2024, the Jammu and Kashmir Police arrested a minor in Chatroo, Kishtwar district for a social media post labelled “derogatory.”

Journalist Sajad Gul continues to be arbitrarily detained despite a court ordering his release on 19th November 2023. Repression targeting journalists continues to force Kashmiri journalists to quit journalism.

In November 2023, the Jammu & Kashmir Police installed a GPS ankle tracker on Ghulam Muhammad Bhat, a lawyer and political activist who was arrested for his alleged involvement in pro-self-determination political activity. On 12th December 2023, police began using AI-based Facial Recognition Technology with extensive new capabilities. This is a material expansion of the already extensive, totalising systems of physical, electronic and communications surveillance.