IAMC Weekly India Human Rights Monitor (November 14, 2025)
This Week at a Glance
This week, the Indian state responded to a car explosion in Delhi with intensified Islamophobia and repression. At Kolkata’s Indian Statistical Institute, walls were vandalized with the phrase “Muslims and dogs should not enter,” while Gurugram police ordered housing societies to list Kashmiri and foreign residents. In Lucknow, the family of Dr. Shaheen Shahid, a young Muslim doctor arrested under terror charges, claimed she was falsely implicated amid a wave of mass detentions across Jammu and Kashmir and Assam. The Supreme Court drew criticism for denying bail to a Muslim man under UAPA, even as hate preacher Yati Narsinghanand openly called for bombing Muslim universities. In Gujarat, protests against the demolition of a Muslim shrine led to 13 arrests, and a local court handed three men life sentences for cow slaughter. On the US front, IAMC called for justice for victims of the Delhi blast and urged an impartial investigation. IAMC also appeared on two panels this week – one on bridging divides created by Hindutva in the diaspora, and another hosted by Rutgers Law School’s Center for Security, Race, and Rights (CSRR) on Hindutva in America.
Top Stories
RSS hired U.S. lobbyists for congressional influence campaign, investigation finds
An investigation by the independent news outlet Prism found that India’s largest Hindu supremacist paramilitary group, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), hired one of the United States’ top lobbying firms for a congressional influence campaign in early 2025. The investigation discovered that Squire Patton Boggs registered as a lobbyist for the RSS in January, and received $330,000 to lobby officials in the Senate and House of Representatives on the paramilitary group’s behalf – marking the first time the RSS has hired American lobbyists. Experts interviewed by Prism stated that “the focus on relations between the two countries strongly suggests that the firm’s activities should be registered under FARA,” or the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Graffiti saying “Muslims and dogs should not enter” found at university
A day after a car explosion in Delhi, anti-Muslim graffiti reading “Muslims and dogs should not enter the premises” and “No dogs and Muslims” surfaced on the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) campus in Kolkata. In Jammu and Kashmir, police carried out raids across Kulgam, Sopore, and Shopian, targeting over 200 locations, and questioning around 500 individuals, many of whom have been detained. Meanwhile, in Assam, police detained a Muslim school principal and five others over social media remarks about the blast, while in Gurugram, police have directed all residential societies in the city to submit lists of residents from Jammu and Kashmir and foreign nationals living there.
Supreme Court Denies Bail to Muslim Man, Hatemonger Calls for Blowing Up Muslim Colleges
The Supreme Court denied bail to a Muslim man accused under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), observing that it was the “best morning to send a message.” The remark came a day after the Red Fort blast in Delhi, a completely unrelated incident.
Meanwhile, Yati Narsinghanand, a serial hatemonger, called for Al-Falah University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Aligarh Muslim University and Darul Uloom Deoband to be “blown up with cannons.”
13 Arrested Over Protesting Against Officials Demolishing Muslim Shrine
At least 13 people have been arrested after violent clashes erupted in Gujarat’s Somnath, when nearly 100 women and children gathered to protest the destruction of the boundary wall of a Muslim shrine. In Assam’s Goalpara district, the government has deployed bulldozers, excavators, and more than 900 personnel, including police, paramilitary forces, and forest guards, to clear what it calls encroachments.
(Raimond Klavins/ Unsplash)
Gujarat Court Sentences Three Men to Life for Cow Slaughter, Imposes $20,000 Fine
A court in Amreli, Gujarat, sentenced three men to life imprisonment for cow slaughter under the Gujarat Animal Preservation Act. Special Public Prosecutor Chandresh Mehta said this was the first case in Gujarat where three people were convicted and given life sentences in a single cow slaughter case.
This week, the Delhi High Court dismissed a petition seeking a fair probe into FIRs against Muslims for displaying “I Love Muhammad” posters, while reports from Varanasi detailed continued bulldozer demolitions targeting Muslim neighbourhoods despite court orders. In Saharanpur, nearly 300 Muslim families, including beneficiaries of a federal housing scheme, have been given three days to vacate their homes. In Delhi, a Muslim woman in a burqa was denied entry to Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital despite valid identification, prompting outrage over Islamophobia in public institutions. Meanwhile, in Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda district, a 36-year-old Dalit man died in Railway Protection Force custody, his family accusing custodial torture.
Resistance & Organizing
New Documentary Revisits the Human Cost of False Terror Charges After 2006 Mumbai Blasts
Where My Freedom Lies, a new documentary produced by Millat Times and directed by award-winning journalist Meer Faisal, will premiere on November 18. The film explores the long shadow of the 2006 Mumbai train bombings, and tells the story of 13 men who were arrested and branded as terrorists in the aftermath of the attacks. Through their personal accounts, it exposes how they were tortured into giving false confessions and spent years behind bars before being acquitted by the courts. Watch the trailer here.
Defender of the Week
This week, we’re spotlighting Afrozbanu Sipai, who at just 22 years old, overcame legal challenges and persistent intimidation from right-wing groups to reclaim her rightful role as the elected sarpanch of Gujarat’s Gilosan village. Declared winner in June, she faced immediate disqualification attempts triggered by a clerical error in her birth date and hostility from local Hindu extremists, who threatened her father with a repeat of the 2002 Godhra violence. Undeterred, Afrozbanu took her case to the Gujarat High Court, which on October 19 quashed the disqualification for lacking due process, reinstating her despite the delays.
Voices from the Ground
“Almost all reporting is profiling Muslims. The internet is full of anti-Muslim vitriol and hatred. The last two days have shown how a grieving and shocked nation is manipulated by the media to hate Muslims in all instances.”
– Sabika Abbas, Poet and Lawyer
IAMC in Action
- IAMC expressed deep sorrow and grave concern over the deadly car explosion near Delhi’s historic Red Fort, extended heartfelt solidarity to the victims and their families, and called for an impartial investigation into the horrific incident. Read our full statement here.
- Our Associate Media Director Safa Ahmed spoke at a panel hosted by Rutgers Law School’s Center for Security, Race, and Rights (CSRR) on Hindutva in America, which saw over 70 attendees.
- IAMC also joined our coalition partners at Savera for the second event in our webinar series addressing the urgent need for bridge-building in a diaspora that has long been under attack from Hindu supremacists.
What to Watch Next Week
- On September 29, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued a new interim final rule that bars broad categories of immigrants who are lawfully present in the U.S. and authorized to work from getting and maintaining their commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) and commercial learner’s permits. As a result of the rule, 194,000 drivers are expected to lose their licenses – and their livelihoods – over the next two years as their licenses come up for renewal. Stand up for immigrants’ rights by submitting a public comment opposing the rule, using Sikh Coalition’s template comment for members of the public.
- Diaspora Indians for Liberation is a new national network for young Indian Americans interested in community organizing. Learn more about their mission by reading their zine here, fill out their interest form here, and follow them on Instagram @wearedil.
