IAMC Weekly India Human Rights Monitor (June 12, 2026)
This Week at a Glance
This week, the Delhi High Court granted bail to Kashmiri human rights activist Khurram Parvez after nearly five years in prison under UAPA. A report by the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) documented 46 anti-Muslim hate crimes around Eid Al-Adha, including three deaths. Separately, a Muslim man was murdered in Maharashtra’s Parli, a Muslim man in Bihar died in jail amid allegations of torture, two Muslim youths were shot at with an air gun over alleged cattle theft in Assam, and two Muslim men were publicly humiliated by a mob in Shimla. Demolition drives continued, with a 45-year-old mosque razed in Jaipur, and over 100 homes demolished in Surat in a “ghost demolition” that no government agency has claimed responsibility for. In Sambhal, police booked eight Muslims after recovering “I Love Muhammad” posters from a demolished mosque, while in Assam, a school moved to expel five Muslim students over allegations of bringing beef to school, with one student’s widowed mother arrested. Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court quashed the FIR and Enforcement Directorate probe against news portal NewsClick, calling it a “gross abuse of the process of law,” and the Indian government repealed Lakshadweep’s 47-year liquor prohibition despite opposition from the Muslim-majority island community.
Top Stories
Muslim men killed and attacked across multiple states
In Maharashtra’s Parli, a 36-year-old Muslim man was murdered by two of his friends following a monetary dispute and his body dumped on railway tracks to stage it as a suicide. In Bihar, a Muslim man died after being sent to jail in a passport fraud case, with his family alleging torture and claiming he was branded a “terrorist.” In Assam’s Patharkandi, two Muslims aged 17 and 18 were attacked by a Hindu mob and shot at with an air gun over allegations of cattle theft while they were simply looking for their stray cattle. In Shimla, two Muslim men were publicly humiliated and paraded through the streets of Sanjauli by a mob of Hindu extremists.
APCR documents 46 anti-Muslim hate crimes around Eid Al-Adha, three killed
The Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) has documented 46 incidents of violence, intimidation, hate speech and harassment targeting Muslims between May 11 and May 29, citing a sharp spike in communal hostility during the fortnight around Eid Al-Adha. Three Muslims died during the period: one Muslim man died following alleged custodial torture in Gujarat after being accused of cow slaughter, and two Muslims were lynched by a mob in Assam over allegations of cattle theft.
Mosque demolished in Jaipur, over 100 homes razed in Surat
In Jaipur, a 45-year-old mosque was demolished as part of a road-widening drive, with around 3,000 personnel deployed and mobile internet services suspended across parts of the city. In Surat, Gujarat, over 100 homes in the Nasir Nagar area were demolished leaving several families homeless, but no government agency has accepted responsibility for ordering the operation. Around 50 people were detained when they gathered outside the Municipal Commissioner’s residence demanding answers.
(PTI)
Muslims booked over posters in demolished mosque; Assam school moves to expel Muslim students over beef
In Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal, police booked eight Muslim men, including a mosque caretaker, after claiming to have recovered 49 “I Love Muhammad” posters and a green flag from inside a roughly 150-year-old mosque during a demolition drive. In a separate incident in Assam’s Goalpara district, a government school moved to expel five Muslim students after allegations that one of them had brought beef in his tiffin box. Police detained the minor student and arrested his mother, a widowed single parent.
Kashmir activist Khurram Parvez granted bail after nearly five years in prison
The Delhi High Court granted bail to Kashmiri human rights activist Khurram Parvez, ending over four and a half years of imprisonment in a terror funding case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). A division bench of Justice Navin Chawla and Justice Ravinder Dudeja set aside a December 2024 trial court order that had denied him bail, noting that his prolonged incarceration and the slow progress of trial proceedings warranted his release.
Hate crimes and discrimination in India
This week, filmmaker Anand Patwardhan’s National Award-winning 1995 documentary Father, Son and Holy War, which examines anti-Muslim violence in the context of the Babri Masjid demolition, was removed from YouTube. The Indian government repealed Lakshadweep’s 47-year-old liquor prohibition, despite opposition from the Muslim-majority island community. In UP’s Shamli, a Muslim woman’s father was arrested in an alleged conversion case, even as the man involved publicly stated he had willingly converted to Islam. Friday prayers were disrupted in UP’s Khoda amid anti-Muslim sloganeering by Hindu extremist groups. West Bengal’s BJP government moved to exclude voters deleted during the controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls from ration benefits. In Kerala, a complaint alleged that a school headmistress denied admission to Muslim children, telling them “Muslims not allowed.” Meanwhile, Muslim women and a child from West Bengal were detained in Maharashtra’s Thane and held as “Bangladeshis” before being released after protests.
Resistance & Organizing
Delhi High Court quashes FIR and ED probe against NewsClick, calls it “abuse of power”
The Delhi High Court quashed the FIR registered by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) as well as the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) proceedings against news portal NewsClick and its editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha over allegations of foreign funding. Justice Neena Bansal Krishna held that the continuation of such an FIR was “nothing but a gross abuse of the process of law” and called the ED’s actions “not only mala fide, but also an arbitrary attack and abuse of powers on the free and impartial journalism of the Petitioners.”
APCR delegation visits lynching victims’ families in Bihar; Maharashtra Muslim collective launches hate crime task force
An APCR delegation visited the families of mob lynching victims in Bihar to document their accounts and demand justice. Separately, a Maharashtra Muslim collective announced plans to launch a dedicated task force to provide legal assistance and support to victims of hate crimes in the state.
Defender of the Week
This week, we’re spotlighting Khurram Parvez, a prominent Kashmiri human rights defender who was granted bail by the Delhi High Court after spending more than 54 months in prison. Internationally acclaimed for documenting abuses through the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society, Parvez’s imprisonment had been condemned as a deliberate attempt to silence dissent and cripple civil society in Kashmir with international organizations like the United Nations and Amnesty International repeatedly calling for his immediate release.
Voices from the Ground
“In Assam’s Goalpara, five Muslim school students face expulsion, a minor has been detained, and the widowed mother of one of the children has been arrested over the food allegedly brought to school. Under BJP rule in Assam, even schoolchildren are not spared from an atmosphere of fear, discrimination, and polarisation. Schools should nurture young minds, not become sites of exclusion and prejudice.”
– Syed Naseer Hussain, Opposition lawmaker
IAMC in Action
- IAMC Minnesota Chapter hosted an event titled “Community Resistance to Hate and Extremism” on June 7, 2026, at the Islamic Center of Minnesota in Fridley. The programme featured Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar, alongside state senators Jim Abeler, Zainab Mohamed, and Zarina Baber.
