New Delhi: Amnesty International has criticized Indian authorities for contributing to a climate of growing intolerance for dissent by carrying out or supporting a series of arbitrary arrests, caste-based discrimination, extrajudicial executions and attacks on freedom of expression.
The human rights watchdog took the Indian government to task for failing to prevent hundreds of incidents of communal violence, usually involving members of the Hindu majority pitted against Muslims or other minorities, as ruling party lawmakers and politicians fuel religious tensions with provocative speeches and justifications for the violence.
Amnesty's annual international report, published Wednesday, highlights the government's continued harassment of civil society groups critical of official policies, as well as government legal action aimed at controlling foreign funds for nongovernmental organizations.
