11 September 2012 | Voice of America

NEW DELHI — A new group of Pakistani Hindus has arrived in India, seeking refugee statusciting religious persecution. A steady stream of Pakistani Hindus has come into India since last month and want to remain in the country.   

Crossing the border
The group of about 170 Hindus came by train to Jodhpur city, close to India’s western border with Pakistan. Most of them were agricultural laborers in Pakistan. 

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Pakistani Hindus Flee to India, Seeking Refugee StatusRead More »

20 September 2001 | Voice of America

In India, human rights groups and opposition political parties strongly oppose a tough new anti-terrorism law the government wants to pass in the current session of Parliament.

The Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance was passed last month under emergency constitutional provisions, but must be ratified by Parliament to remain in force. It was framed by the Bharatiya-Janata Party-led government after the September 11 attacks in the United States.

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Critics Denounce Indian Anti-terror MeasureRead More »

27 October, 2009 | Voice of America

More than 2,000 years ago, Hindu priests, in what is now modern-day India, divided society into four distinct castes. The four original castes have now been subdivided into about 3,000 categories. Caste distinctions remain strong. Many lower-caste Indians – known as Dalits – say those distinctions reinforce discriminatory practices. Dalit activists recently sought to highlight the issue of caste at the United Nations-sponsored World Conference Against Racism. There are deep divisions in India about whether caste practices are racist or not.

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Caste Discrimination Endures in IndiaRead More »

21 Feb 2002 | Voice of America

In addition to Islamic extremism, India faces a host of pressures, including a militant Hindu revival, and separatist activity in some states.

In 1992, militant Hindus destroyed a 16th century mosque in the city of Ayodhya. Since then, they have been trying to build a Hindu temple on the ruins over the opposition of India’s Muslims. The controversy helped bring the BJP party to power as the leader of India’s current coalition government.

Hindu fundamentalism is a serious challenge to Indian democracy, says Ravi Nair, executive director of the South Asia Human Rights Documentation Center in New Delhi.

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India Faces Militant Hindu Revival, SeparatismRead More »

28 March 2009 | HindToday

New Delhi: 28 March (RINA): Torture of Muslims in police custody is commonplace. Although India is rising a world power and is under a spell of tremendous economic boon, however, on the other side of the coin there are gross human rights violations in the country. India fares badly in human rights records. In fact in the case custodial tortures it is placed fairly high on the international index. According to the Ravi Nair, Director of South Asian Human Rights Association, “In the Indian context it is custodial torture is a normal practice and is not looked down upon”.

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Torture Muslims In Police Custody Is A Commonplace In IndiaRead More »