India

When asked to provide more context about who was particularly unlikely to enjoy their right to education in 2022, our respondents mentioned all of the following:

• The pandemic affected schooling and education for almost all groups
• Efforts made by different states for providing quality education to students are inconsistent
• Students from Dalit, Adivasi, and denotified tribal (DNT) communities
• Women and girls, especially Muslim girls due to restrictions imposed by families as well as government policies
• People in Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, and Rajasthan
• Lack of inclusive curriculum for people with disabilities
• Homeless and unsupervised children
• Children of refugees and sex workers
• Young girls who are forced into early or child marriages
• Problems with access to learning include physical barriers, distance, and quality and safety of buildings, playgrounds, and leisure spaces
• There is a gap between the quality of education provided by private and public schools
• Tribal communities who do not speak Hindi, especially in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal
• School dropout rates are high for migrant children who do not speak the same language as the majority community in a region
• Children from low socio-economic background
• Private schools do not provide places for students with low socio-economic status
• There was a sharp drop in the budgetary allocation for the Ministry of Minority Affairs, leaving a significant adverse impact on educational schemes supporting minority community students; some of these schemes were cancelled

When asked to provide more context about who was particularly unlikely to enjoy their right to food in 2022, our respondents mentioned all of the following:

• People from marginalised communities, especially daily-wage labourers
• People living in poverty, especially women and children
• Dalit and Adivasi communities, especially women and girls
• People from DNT (denotified tribes) communities
• Communities in Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and parts of Uttar Pradesh
• Domestic migrants in metro cities in search of employment
• People directly affected by the climate crisis and natural disasters
• The food provided by government welfare schemes, especially for children, fulfilled calorie content primarily through rich carbohydrates and starch, with little to no other nutritious elements

When asked to provide more context about who was particularly unlikely to enjoy their right to health in 2022, our respondents mentioned all of the following:

• Almost all people were badly affected during the Covid-19 pandemic
• Out of pocket expenditure for healthcare is high
• People from Dalit, Adivasi, and denotified tribal (DNT) communities, especially women and girls
• People with socio-economic status, especially labourers and women
• People in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Assam, among other states
• People who are homeless, especially children and youth
• People from LGBTQIA+ communities, especially for reproductive and gender-affirming healthcare
• Prisoners, especially those in cramped, unsanitary locations
• Women and girls, especially in remote areas where traditional practices are still common
• Nutritional deficiency diseases, such as anaemia, are higher among women and girls
• Access to primary health care centres and wellness centres in geographically remote areas is challenging
• Doctors and other medical staff reportedly do not visit or remain available at appointed healthcare centres in non-urban, remote places

When asked to provide more context about who was particularly unlikely to enjoy their right to housing in 2022, our respondents mentioned all of the following:

• The pandemic and lockdown forced reverse domestic migration of a large number of people
• People from Dalit and Adivasi communities, especially labourers and women
• Muslim families are at a higher risk of not being able to rent houses, being evicted, and their houses being demolished
• Poor migrants living in informal settlements and slums are at a higher risk of abrupt eviction and demolition of their homes, especially in the Delhi-NCR region
• Corruption and red-tape prevents many eligible individuals and families in need from accessing government housing schemes
• Disaster prone areas and lack of access to material for rebuilding are determinants for the inability to have safe housing
• 'Unauthorised’ or temporary settlements are routinely demolished with no prior notice, especially during the visits of foreign leaders during India’s G20 presidency
• People were forcibly evicted from their houses and lands in certain mineral rich areas, especially Adivasi people
• Many people, especially those belonging to Tea Tribe Communities from Dolu tea garden in Assam, are evicted from their homes and lands

When asked to provide more context about who was especially vulnerable to arbitrary or political arrest and detention by government agents in 2022, our respondents mentioned all of the following:

• People who resist or oppose those in power, including those who engage in peaceful protests
• Anybody can be arrested and detained, especially those who oppose the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government or criticise Prime Minister Modi
• Some state governments suppress political opponents with arrests and detention
• Oppressed caste Hindus face systemic discrimination
• Anyone suspected of being an "Urban Naxal" is at risk of being arrested and detained, specifically under anti-terror laws
• Adivasi people
• Political opponents were raided, arrested, and harassed for making satirical comments, or criticising the government and its affiliates, while leaders of the ruling party were not prosecuted for hate speech or even for inciting violence, assaults, and killings
• Human rights defenders (HRDs), especially those advocating for land rights in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Odisha
• HRDs, activists, journalists, and lawyers, especially Muslim lawyers and activists, as well as reporters and editors from the independent media
• Journalists, activists, and academics were arrested and detained under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for long periods of time by fabricating charges and electronic evidence under provisions that make securing bail for them difficult
• Some activists, arrested and charged with UAPA in the Bhima Koregaon case, remained in detention pending trial
• A Muslim journalist was arrested under anti-terror laws while reporting a crime against a Dalit girl; he was accused of being affiliated to a banned organisation, and released on bail after spending nearly 28 months in prison
• Muslims are especially at risk of being arrested on false and fabricated charges of possession of beef or cow slaughter, inter-faith marriages (‘love jihad’), or praying in public and private spaces
• Students are accused of violent protests even when they are peaceful, and detained for extended periods without trial
• Kashmiri people, especially HRDs and journalists, are detained under preventative detention provisions and anti-terror laws in reprisal of their work
• There were reports of students being detained for screening a banned BBC documentary critical of PM Modi at Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi University, and other academic institutions
• There were reports of fact-checkers being arrested and detained as they fact-checked images that hurt the sentiments of the Hindu majority
• Rohingya refugees or irregular migrants, especially in Manipur, Nagaland, and Tripura were arrested and detained; there were reports that some Rohingya refugees were deported in violation of the principle of non-refoulement

When asked to provide more context about who was especially vulnerable to disappearance by government agents in 2022, our respondents mentioned all of the following:

• People living in areas with conflict or high military presence, especially men and boys
• Muslims, especially men and boys
• People living in Kashmir, especially men and boys, as well as people living in Uttar Pradesh and the North-eastern states, particularly Manipur
• Adivasi people living in the tribal belt of Central India
• People suspected of terrorist activities, insurgency, or being a part of the Maoist-Naxalite groups

When asked to provide more context about who was especially vulnerable to death penalty executions by government agents in 2022, our respondents mentioned all of the following:

• Dalit and Bahujan people
• Whistleblowers

When asked to provide more context about who was especially vulnerable to extrajudicial killing by government agents in 2022, our respondents mentioned all of the following:

• Activists or community leaders working with marginalised communities and educating them about their rights
• Muslim people in Uttar Pradesh
• People living in Kashmir
• Dalit and Adivasi people, especially in the tribal belt of Central India
• People in conflict zones, especially Adivasi people in the Naxalite areas
• People living in Assam, Manipur, Nagaland, and Jammu and Kashmir under the regime of the Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA)
• Extrajudicial killings take place in the name of goon cleaning, that is, eliminating criminals, gang members, or those accused of crimes by the government and police, especially in Uttar Pradesh
• People in Assam, including suspected terrorists, criminals, and drug dealers, particularly in Nagaon and Karbi Anglong districts
• Muslim people were at risk of being killed by non-State actors on allegations of rape, ‘entrapment of Hindu girls’, and cow slaughter without a fair investigation or judicial process
• Areas with conflict, militancy, and insurgency, especially Jammu and Kashmir, the North-eastern states, and Central India
• Innocent people suspected to be militants or terrorists are at risk of being killed in cross firing and police encounters
• People in police custody, especially in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and West Bengal
• Protestors were subjected to excessive use of force such as tear-gas, firing, and baton charge by police, particularly in Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, and Telangana
• Convicted criminals, people accused of crimes, or those who surrender are at risk of 'fake encounters' (police claiming a killing was in self-defence, or accidental death), with especially high numbers being reported from Jammu and Kashmir, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand

When asked to provide more context about who was especially vulnerable to restrictions on their rights to assembly and association by the government or its agents in 2022, our respondents mentioned all of the following:

• Peaceful protests are regularly disrupted
• Protestors are required to get permission from the authorities, which is denied in many cases
• Police used excessive force such as tear gas, guns, and baton charges against protestors in Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, and Telangana
• Dalits and Adivasi people, especially women, human rights defenders, journalists, and political leaders
• Adivasi people living in Central India and areas affected by left wing extremism
• Tribal people in North-east India and Chhattisgarh
• Muslim people, especially from Kashmir
• Non-profit organisations in Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, and Delhi
• Members of labour union organisations in Jharkhand
• People of minority communities, especially Muslim people, were harassed and targeted for participating in peaceful protests; there were instances of their homes being demolished without following the due process of law
• Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), which prohibits gatherings of more than four people in a specified area to prevent possible unrest, was excessively imposed in many areas, including the national capital
• There were instances of students being suspended to prevent and penalise them for participating in political protests
• There were reports of students being detained for screening a banned BBC documentary critical of PM Modi at Jamia Millia Islamia and Delhi University, and prevented from screening it at Ambedkar University by cutting the electricity supply
• People were put under house arrest to stop them from participating in protests
• The rights to assembly and association in Kashmir were restricted for a prolonged time following the revocation of Article 370 of the Constitution which granted the state a special status
• State and political actors received no consequences for detention and suspension of rights of those who protested against demolition of their homes in Jamia Nagar (2022), Mehrauli in Delhi (2023), and Khori Village in Faridabad, Haryana (2021)
• Seminars and conferences organised by universities that had invited speakers perceived as critical of the government were suspended. For example, renowned human rights activists were not allowed to speak at Tata Institute of Social Sciences at Mumbai, Maharashtra, and a Law college in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
• Reputed international researchers such as Fillipo Osella were deported from the country without any explanation
• There were reports of Muslim people being threatened and attacked when coming together to pray or celebrate their festivals
• There were reports of Christian people being attacked around Christmas and churches being vandalised, especially in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Assam, and Karnataka
• Curfews and internet shutdowns were commonly imposed, especially in Kashmir
• The government cancelled Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licences for over 6000 non-profit organisations to restrict international funding, in addition to searching and raiding their offices
• Popular Front of India (PFI) and its affiliates were banned for five years for their alleged links to terrorist groups and subversive activities
• Sikh protesters were interrupted during their protests and accused of being linked with separatist groups