From Himanshu Kumar: India's investigative and security agencies are deeply plagued by casteism and communalism. As a result, these agencies often implicate innocent people in false cases. They also consistently target social activists who oppose the government's capitalist policies by framing them in fabricated lawsuits.

During interrogations, officials from government investigative agencies have asked young Muslim men why they continue to live in India when they already demanded Pakistan. One young man was questioned by NIA officials for sharing a video on Facebook showing laborers walking back home during the COVID-19 lockdown and for supporting the Shaheen Bagh women’s protest. After arresting journalists from NewsClick, officials interrogated them about their support for the farmers' movement. Recently, Uttar Pradesh poet and writer Manish Azad was illegally arrested, and ATS officers questioned him for writing in support of Muslims and tribals despite being a Hindu.

Masihuddin Sanjari from Uttar Pradesh authored a book documenting 14 cases in which government agencies falsely implicated innocent Muslim youth. Later, these young men were proven innocent in court. Shockingly, the Bar Association of Lucknow banned its members from representing these Muslim youth in court. When human rights lawyer Shoaib Ahmed decided to defend one such Muslim youth, communal lawyers blackened his face, garlanded him with shoes, and paraded him in the court complex. Eventually, the accused Muslim youth was proven innocent.

In an earlier wave, young Muslims were falsely accused of being terrorists linked to the SIMI organization. Journalist Ajit Sahi of Tehelka investigated 18 such cases and found all of them to be fabricated. Following his reporting, the government ceased using SIMI’s name and instead started implicating Muslims under a fictitious organization called the Indian Mujahideen, spreading fear among the public.

A while ago, I wrote about a Muslim engineer from Uttar Pradesh who was falsely accused and jailed after the BJP demolished the Babri Masjid. During interrogation, his fingernails were forcibly removed with pliers. Similarly, tribal activist Soni Sori from Bastar was subjected to heinous torture, with stones being inserted into her private parts by the police superintendent.

The government engages in such acts to suppress public dissent and ensure unrestricted control for corporate exploitation. By creating a false narrative of terrorism, the government convinces the public that they are under threat and only the government can protect them, thereby discouraging people from questioning its actions.

In tribal regions, when the government seizes land rich in minerals for corporate interests, it imprisons tribal activists who oppose these actions. Writers, lawyers, poets, and journalists critical of such policies are also falsely labeled as Maoists and incarcerated for years.

Recently, Chandigarh-based lawyer Ajay Kumar was jailed under fabricated charges. Similarly, Uttar Pradesh lawyer Kripashankar Singh, his wife Binda Sona, his brother Brajesh Singh, and Brajesh’s wife Anita Singh were also falsely accused and jailed. Anita Singh, who was pregnant and advised bed rest, suffered a miscarriage due to her imprisonment. In Jharkhand, Rupesh Kumar Singh, a journalist reporting on tribal human rights abuses, has been jailed twice and remains imprisoned for the past two years.

In Chhattisgarh, tribal activists opposing deforestation and pollution of rivers in Bastar have been targeted. The Moolvasi Bachao Manch, an organization of tribal youth, was recently banned, and many of its members, including vice-president Sunita Potam, were jailed under fabricated charges. Other tribal leaders like Surju Tekam, law student Rubji Salam, and Bijender Korram have also been falsely implicated.

The Bhima Koregaon case is another example of a fabricated case used to imprison 16 human rights activists, lawyers, professors, and journalists six years ago. Five of them are still in jail, while others have been released on bail. At least three prominent human rights activists—Father Stan Swamy, G.N. Saibaba, and Pandu Narote—have died due to such false imprisonment.

These actions by the Indian government have severely damaged India’s international reputation. The United Nations downgraded India’s Human Rights Commission from an A status to a B, while Pakistan’s status remains A. This unprecedented situation shows that Pakistan has been declared better than India in protecting its citizens' human rights.

India must work diligently to restore its democracy and international standing.

- Himanshu Kumar