IAMC Weekly India Human Rights Monitor (January 23, 2026)
This Week at a Glance
This week, the names of Muslim voters in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Assam were deleted en masse from electoral rolls under the Special Intensive Revision, raising renewed accusations of targeted disenfranchisement. In Uttar Pradesh, police detained and fined Muslim men for praying inside a private home, while journalists in Kashmir faced intimidation for reporting on police profiling of mosques. An interfaith couple was murdered in Moradabad, a Christian pastor in Odisha was assaulted and humiliated by Hindu militants, and multiple reports flagged police inaction and selective justice in cases involving minorities.
Top Stories
Targeted Muslim Voter Deletions in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Assam
Hundreds of Muslim voters in Ahmedabad’s Jamalpur have been declared “dead” and removed from the electoral rolls during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process in Gujarat, triggering allegations of targeted voter disenfranchisement. In Jaipur, Rajasthan, testimonies from officials and documents have revealed the role of BJP leaders in mass Muslim Voter deletions. In Assam, an investigation found “forged” forms aimed at deleting thousands of Muslim voters.
12 Muslim men detained, fined in Uttar Pradesh for praying inside a private home
The police in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly detained and fined 12 Muslim men for offering prayers inside a private house “without permission.” A video of the prayer was made viral online by several Hindu extremist accounts, accompanied by hateful comments targeting Muslims.
(Andalou Agency)
Police censor journalists in Kashmir for reporting mosque profiling
Police in Jammu and Kashmir have ordered at least three journalists to sign a pledge vowing not to “disturb peace” in the region. The summons were issued after they had reported that police in the region were seeking information from mosques about their funding, management and budgets. A third journalist, an assistant editor with The Indian Express newspaper, was summoned to a police station in Srinagar, but did not sign the pledge. India has imposed several restrictions in the Muslim-majority region after revoking its constitutional autonomy in 2019, including heavy censorship.
Interfaith couple murdered in Uttar Pradesh, Woman’s brothers arrested
A Muslim man and a Hindu woman who were in an interfaith relationship for over two years, were brutally murdered by the woman’s brothers in Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad. Meanwhile, in Jhansi, a Muslim man and a Hindu woman dressed in bridal attire were found dead after allegedly hanging themselves.
Hindu militants assault Pastor, forces him to eat cow dung and chant ‘Jai Sri Ram’
A pastor from Odisha’s Dhenkanal was assaulted, forced to chant Jai Sri Ram, and made to eat cow dung by members of the Hindu militant group Bajrang Dal. The pastor, Bipin Bihari Naik, was attending a prayer meeting along with his wife and a few other Christians, when a mob of around 40 people gathered outside and assaulted him.
Hate crimes and discrimination in India
This week, a fact-finding report by the Association of Protection of Civil Rights on recent violence in Uttarakhand documented a pattern of targeted attacks on Muslims, citing police inaction, selective application of the law since late 2023. In Uttar Pradesh, three police officials were held responsible for the custodial torture of a farmer at Agra and judge who had earlier ordered a case against police officials over the 2024 shooting of a Muslim man was transferred by the Allahabad High Court. In Karnataka, a Hindu extremist leader and murder accused Puneeth Kerehalli was released on bail after being detained for trespassing into houses of migrants. In Madhya Pradesh, Hindu rituals were held at the disputed Bhojshala–Kamal Maula Mosque complex in Dhar; and in Maharashtra, Shrikant Pangarkar, an accused in the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh, won the Municipal Corporation election as an independent candidate.
Resistance & Organizing
Bombay High Court Grants Bail to Activists Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor After Four Years
The Bombay High Court granted bail to activists Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor in the Elgar Parishad Bhima Koregaon case, more than four years after their arrest. The court said they were entitled to bail on the same grounds as other accused who have already been released. With this order, all accused in the case except lawyer Surendra Gadling have now been granted bail. Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy, who was also an accused, died in custody in July 2021 while awaiting trial.
Defenders of the Week
This week, we’re spotlighting Shaik Salauddin, a Hyderabad-based trade union leader who led one of the most consequential labour mobilizations in India’s gig economy. As founder-president of the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union (TGPWU), Salauddin organised strategic flash strikes in December 2025 that mobilised over 40,000 delivery workers across cities to challenge the “10-minute delivery” model pushed by quick commerce apps. By combining advance strike notices, coordinated work stoppages, and public-facing demands for safer conditions and fair pay, the protests disrupted services and forced national attention on worker safety.
Voices from the Ground
“The lynching of Indian Muslims has become so brutally normalised that the country has learned to live with it. Not just news channels and reporters, but even opposition parties have stopped pretending to care. Worse is, even social media, which is known to outrage on such incidents, now looks away. It is as if mob violence against Indian Muslims has been accepted as routine, something which is not even worth condemning.”
– Mohammed Zubair, Co-founder, AltNews
IAMC in Action
- The latest episode of our podcast, Beyond the Taj, features a discussion with Professor Arjun Singh Sethi on the history of Muslim-Sikh solidarity in the diaspora. Watch or stream on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.
What to Watch Next Week
- Our upcoming episode of Beyond the Taj features a conversation on building Hindu-Muslim unity in the diaspora with Ria Chakrabarty, Senior Policy Director at Hindus for Human Rights. Be sure to subscribe on all streaming platforms so you don’t miss the drop!
