IAMC Weekly India Human Rights Monitor (May 8, 2026)
This Week at a Glance
This week, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) held an in-person hearing on religious freedom conditions in India. In India, post-election violence in West Bengal left at least five political workers dead amid clashes, vandalism, and communal tensions following the BJP’s landmark victory in the state. The Union Cabinet also moved to criminalise insulting or disrupting the singing of Vande Mataram, raising concerns over free expression and religious freedom, while the Allahabad High Court granted bail to a Muslim man jailed for seven months over an “I Love Muhammad” social media post. Elsewhere, an elderly Muslim hawker in Uttar Pradesh was allegedly assaulted and told to “Go to Pakistan,” as reports of housing discrimination, demolitions in Muslim-majority areas, and protests over eviction notices added to growing fears of systemic targeting and intimidation of Muslims across the country.
Top Stories
USCIRF Holds In-Person Hearing on Religious Freedom Conditions in India
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) held an in-person hearing on religious freedom conditions in India. Witnesses addressed the continued persecution of religious minorities in India including Christians, Muslims, and Sikhs. They examined the increasing role of transnational repression to target religious minorities beyond India’s borders.
Bengal Erupts After BJP Victory; 2 Dead, Hundreds Arrested in Post-Poll Violence
West Bengal witnessed widespread violence after the BJP’s sweeping Assembly election victory, with at least five political workers killed and clashes, vandalism, and communal tensions reported across several districts. Police have registered over 200 FIRs and arrested 433 people as allegations of targeted attacks, forced shop closures, and intimidation continue to surface.
India Moves to Criminalise Refusing or Disrupting ‘Vande Mataram’
India’s Union Cabinet has approved a proposal to make insulting or obstructing the singing of “Vande Mataram” a punishable offence. The law already criminalises insults to the national anthem, flag, and Constitution, carrying penalties of up to three years in prison. The move is expected to deepen concerns over freedom of expression and religious rights, particularly among Muslim groups that have long objected to the song’s Hindu religious imagery and compulsory use.
(PTI)
“I Love Muhammad” Post Leads to Seven Months Jail in India
The Allahabad High Court has granted bail to a Muslim man who spent nearly seven months in jail over a social media post linked to the “I Love Muhammad” campaign, a Muslim expression of faith that grew into an act of defiance after Hindu extremist groups objected to its public display in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
Elderly Muslim hawker assaulted and robbed, alleges communal abuse
An elderly Muslim hawker, Maqsood Ali, was allegedly assaulted, robbed, and subjected to communal slurs in Uttar Pradesh’s Pratapgarh district. The attacker abused Ali, pulled his beard, snatched his skullcap, beat him with sticks and rods, threatened and looted him, and told him to “Go to Pakistan.”
Hate crimes and discrimination in India
This week, in Uttarakhand’s Rudrapur, a Muslim man alleged that local leaders stopped him from building a home on legally purchased land, reportedly declaring that “no Muslim shall reside” in the area, while in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain, demolition drives in the Muslim-majority Begum Bagh locality left families fearful and uncertain after five buildings were razed. Meanwhile, protests erupted in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal after Muslim families were ordered to vacate government housing, and violence broke out at the University of Hyderabad after a student theatre performance critical of caste hierarchy and campus politics was allegedly disrupted by members linked to the Hindu extremist student group ABVP.
Resistance & Organizing
APCR Launches Website to Track Hate Crimes in India
The Association for the Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) launched a new website to document and track hate crimes in India, amid growing concerns over rising incidents of communal violence and hate speech.The platform, apcrhct.org, allows citizens to report incidents through a detailed online form.
AIMPLB Opposes Union Govt’s Move on “Vande Mataram”, Calls It Violation of Religious Freedom
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) strongly opposed the Union Cabinet’s decision to grant ‘Vande Mataram’ the same legal protection as the national anthem. The Board called the move unconstitutional and argued that several stanzas of the song contain references to Goddess Durga and other Hindu deities, which it said conflict with Islamic beliefs regarding the oneness of God.
Defenders of the Week
This week, we’re featuring Fathima Thahiliya, who made history by defeating senior CPI(M) leader T. P. Ramakrishnan in Kerala’s Perambra constituency, a long-time Left stronghold, winning by over 5,000 votes. A lawyer practising at the Calicut District Court and a State Secretary of the Muslim Youth League, Thahiliya faced intense misogynistic and Islamophobic online abuse throughout her campaign, with attackers targeting her hijab, faith, and identity as a young Muslim woman in politics. Despite coordinated cyber harassment and attempts to communalise her candidacy through the “Kauminte Kutti” controversy, she emerged victorious, marking a significant breakthrough for Muslim women’s political representation in Kerala.
Voices from the Ground
“Targeted violence against Muslims after the Bengal election results exposes the complete failure of the state to protect its own citizens. Political victory is being turned into a license for mobs to attack homes, threaten families, and terrorize minorities while authorities look away. If perpetrators continue to enjoy impunity, this normalization of anti-Muslim violence will only grow more dangerous for the future of democracy and rule of law.
– Mohammad Jawed, Congress leader
IAMC in Action
- A coalition of leading civil rights and advocacy organizations, including IAMC condemned the Hudson Institute for platforming senior leaders of India’s Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a foreign organization that a U.S. congressionally-mandated federal panel has explicitly called to be sanctioned for its role in religious persecution of minorities in India. Read the statement here.
- IAMC’s Executive Director Rasheed Ahmed published an OpeEd on VHPA’s connection to Hindu nationalists. Read here.
What to Watch Next Week
- IAMC Boston along with coalition partners ASDSA, BSAC and SAPAN have organized an event “ Stories the State Wants Erased” featuring Neha Dixit, award winning author and journalist, happening on May 2, 2026.
