BJP introduces bill to bias India’s Election Commission in its favor
In an authoritarian move, India’s ruling Hindu supremacist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has introduced a bill that would bias India’s Election Commission, a constitutional body that regulates elections, in the BJP’s favor.
The bill removes the Chief Justice of India from a three-member panel tasked with selecting the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners. Opposition leaders have slammed this move as “blatant attempt at making the Election Commission a total puppet” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
United Nations statement criticizes detention of Muslim human rights defenders
An official United Nations statement has criticized the ongoing detention of Kashmiri Muslim human rights defenders Irfan Mehraj and Khurram Parvez, both of whom have been charged with terrorism for their human rights work.
“We express our serious concern at the arrest, detention and accusations brought against Mr. Mehraj and Mr. Parvez, which would appear to gravely conflate their legitimate human rights work with terrorism,” the statement read. “We express our fear that… [these arrests] are designed to delegitimize their human rights work and obstruct monitoring of the human rights situation in India-administered Jammu and Kashmir.”
Hindu supremacists in Australia show support for Hindu militant Monu Manesar
A group of Hindu supremacists in Sydney, Australia released a video extending support to Monu Manesar, a fugitive Hindu militant leader accused in the gruesome mob lynching of two Muslim men. In the video, the men express support for cow vigilantism – which has resulted in skyrocketing mob lynchings across India – with one man suggesting that people who slaughter cows should be shot down.
Far-right Hindu leader threatens violence against Muslims in Maharashtra
Hindu supremacist leader Shirish More made a hate speech against Muslims at an event organized by a Hindu extremist group in Maharashtra state. In a video of the incident, More can he heard using anti-Muslim slurs, threatening violence against them, and demanding that Muslim-owned homes be demolished.
