Amnesty International’s halting of operations in India highlights the dangers of dissent
© SCMP
It is yet another amazing piece written by Akanksha Singh. It discusses about why the human right organization, Amnesty International had to close it's offices in India because of government reprisals, and about the future of dissent in India. It gives examples of how the government has actively tried to crush dissent among people working in Amnesty International India. It later discusses about the alarming rate at which journalists, intellectuals and political leaders are rounded up and imprisoned at an alarming rate which is a step by the current government in being answerable to no one. Also the crimes against minorities have surged. She further tells us about 55 journalists being arrested for reporting on the pandemic and about the arrest of three female students for protesting against controversial Citizenship Amendment Act, one of whom was pregnant. On the other hand hateful, violence-inducing speeches by ministers of ruling party were ignored by the police and the law authorities. She further tells the readers about Indian Supreme Court acquitting all 32 Hindu nationalists accused of the demolition of the Babri Mosque in 1992 (My Summary on this). This clearly shows the double standards of the ruling government and the inability of judiciary to act impartially. Singh then tells us about the rape of a girl from marginalized Dalit Community by four upper-caste men and her forceful cremation by the police. The article then discusses about Amnesty India's condemnation of alleged Indian Government human rights violation in Kashmir. This might also be the reason for government reprisals against them. She finishes by saying
The world should realise that there are two Indias – one that is served by and for the BJP and advocates of Hindu nationalism, and another in which free speech, a constitutional right, is continually infringed upon, in which dissent is dubbed “antinational”, and in which violence against women and minorities is excused or ignored.