Weekly News Roundup – June 26, 2020
Rights groups, activists ask US to designate India as CPC for religious violence, impose sanctions
More than a thousand civil rights organizations, academicians and activists have written to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urging him to designate India as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), which is the US Government’s list of the world’s worst offenders of religious freedom, and impose sanctions on the perpetrators in India. In an open letter submitted to the Department of State this week, they urged Secretary Pompeo to implement these recommendations that have been made by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), a federal body that advises US Congress and President, in regards to India in its Annual Report 2020. Implementing the recommendations “will send a clear message that the US believes religious freedom and peaceful coexistence of multiple faiths are the lynchpin of global stability.”…Read more
Just hours after Kapil Mishra delivered a speech near the Jaffrabad metro station in northeast Delhi, threatening to clear protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act of 2019, the Bharatiya Janata Party leader led a rampage by an armed mob less than two kilometres away, in Kardampuri, according to two complaints lodged with the Delhi Police. The complaints noted that on the afternoon of 23 February, Mishra gave an incendiary speech in Kardampuri, calling upon a mob to attack Muslim and Dalit protesters in the area. One of the complainants accused Mishra of brandishing a gun as he instigated the crowd. A third complaint stated that on the morning after Mishra’s speech, police officials attacked protesters in Chand Bagh on his instructions.…Read more
India: Journalist killed after exposing controversial sand-mining deals
Tripathi, a 25-year old journalist with Kampu Mail, was covering controversial land mine disputes prior to his death. He actively posted online and petitioned local authorities to stop a member of ‘land mafias’, from claiming large sections of government land.… Tripathi received several threats online from locals following his investigation into the illegal actions of the ‘land mafia’ and had expressed fears on his Facebook page that there would be harsh retaliation for his work. On June 19, he was shot multiple times by assailants while riding home and died from his injuries.… The protections for Indian journalists have long been lacking and impunity persists as justice has rarely been brought for any journalists who are killed for their work. Nine journalists were killed in India in 2019.…Read more
Announcement
Rights groups, activists ask US to designate India as CPC for religious violence, impose sanctions
Communal Harmony
Malad man sells SUV, gives oxygen cylinders to 250 families
News
Delhi police accused of filing false charges over February riots
Delhi Riots Exclusive: RSS Members Arrested for Murder, Rioting
India: Journalist killed after exposing controversial sand-mining deals
8 Hospitals in 15 Hours: A Pregnant Woman’s Crisis in the Pandemic
Pinjra Tod member Natasha Narwal alleges violence in Tihar
Lucknow: BJP MLA Surendra’ Singh’s son, nephew booked for rioting
BJP IT Cell Head Amit Malviya Peddles 2017 Pic As Gandhis’ 2008 China Visit
In Pulwama, an 8-Year-Old Pellet Victim Awaits Eye Surgery
U.S. protests spur calls for India to wake up to anti-Dalit discrimination
Opinion
OpIndia: Hate speech, vanishing advertisers, and an undisclosed BJP connection – By Ayush Tiwari
For Dantewada’s Adivasis, jail is only a false allegation away – By Prateek Goyal
