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ISLAMABAD: A UN watchdog on racial discrimination has renewed scrutiny of India&rsquo;s treatment of Bengali-speaking Muslims in the Indian state of Assam, a long-running controversy rooted in citizenship verification and identity politics in India&rsquo;s northeast.&nbsp;The dispute centres on Assam&rsquo;s National Register of Citizens process, which&nbsp;has disproportionately targeted Bengali-speaking Muslims, leaving many at risk of exclusion, statelessness, or prolonged legal uncertainty.&nbsp;The Chair of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), Michal Balcerzak, in a Jan. 19 letter addressed to India&rsquo;s Permanent Representative in Geneva, Arindam Bagchi, said CERD was following up on its earlier communication of May 12, 2025, on the same issue.&nbsp;According to the letter, CERD acknowledged India&rsquo;s response and noted India&rsquo;s position on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 and the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules 2024, including the claim that the framework does not deprive eligible foreigners of the right to apply for citizenship through registration or naturalization.&nbsp;However, CERD said it regrets a lack of information on key allegations previously raised. These include claims of racial discrimination against Bengali-speaking Muslims during the NRC update and exclusion from the final list due to procedural irregularities, difficulty obtaining required documents, and stricter verification standards applied to people classified as &ldquo;non-original inhabitants,&rdquo; a term the committee said lacks a clear definition.&nbsp;The committee also cited allegations of systematic forced evictions without adequate housing or compensation, along with reports of rising hate speech and incitement to violence, and allegations of excessive use of force by law enforcement, causing recurrent killings and injuries, plus violent attacks by civilians or organized groups in mid-2024.&nbsp;CERD called on India to take &ldquo;all necessary measures&rdquo; to protect the community&rsquo;s rights and asked India to provide detailed information during its upcoming periodic reporting, including steps to prevent discriminatory nationality deprivation, halt forced evictions, combat hate speech online and offline, and investigate alleged lethal use of force.

India

A UN anti-racism committee told India its reply was incomplete, seeking details on alleged discrimination against Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam, including NRC exclusion, evictions, hate speech, and excessive force.

UN watchdog questions India on discrimination of Bengali Muslims in Assam

ISLAMABAD: Kashmir&rsquo;s press corps is warning that routine reporting is being suppressed through a new cycle of police summons and &ldquo;good behavior&rdquo; bonds in Srinagar, in what journalists describe as an attempt to control the narrative rather than answer questions. At least four reporters working for major national publications have been summoned by police in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu &amp; Kashmir&nbsp;in recent days. According to online news outlet Scroll, the most detailed account involves senior Indian Express journalist Bashaarat Masood, who was made to report to the Cyber Police Station on four separate days and was asked to sign a bond promising he would not &ldquo;disturb peace,&rdquo; according to Scroll.&nbsp; <div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2013609422506074370&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F3673%2F&sessionId=3b47bd4b4e929eda4be7a391aacab61c410b9ee5&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 696px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" data-tweet-id="2013609422506074370"></iframe></div></div> The action was initiated without a formal police report and invoked Section 126 of India&rsquo;s Criminal Procedure Code, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, a preventive provision used to seek bonds from those deemed &ldquo;likely&rdquo; to breach peace.&nbsp; Masood said that when he refused, an officer warned that he could be sent to Srinagar central jail. The Indian Express reported that he was arbitrarily detained for over 15 hours over four days. The immediate trigger appears linked to reporting on a controversial administration exercise to profile mosques and imams.&nbsp; The Hindustan Times reported that the Jammu &amp; Kashmir police issued verbal summons to journalists, including its Srinagar correspondent, over a report on profiling mosques and imams after the Nov. 10 Red Fort blast, and said it sought a written summons stating reasons.&nbsp; The pressure is drawing political condemnation.&nbsp; Summoning reporters and asking them to sign bonds is a &ldquo;new low,&rdquo; multiple Kashmiri leaders said, according to The Times of India.&nbsp; Senior Indian journalist Ruhi Tiwari called it &quot;a serious insult to free speech.&quot; The pattern seems to be broader than this week&rsquo;s cases. <div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-1" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-1&features=eyJ0ZndfdGltZWxpbmVfbGlzdCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOltdLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2ZvbGxvd2VyX2NvdW50X3N1bnNldCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOnRydWUsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdHdlZXRfZWRpdF9iYWNrZW5kIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6Im9uIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd19yZWZzcmNfc2Vzc2lvbiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfZm9zbnJfc29mdF9pbnRlcnZlbnRpb25zX2VuYWJsZWQiOnsiYnVja2V0Ijoib24iLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X21peGVkX21lZGlhXzE1ODk3Ijp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6InRyZWF0bWVudCIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3Nob3dfYmlyZHdhdGNoX3Bpdm90c19lbmFibGVkIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6Im9uIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd19kdXBsaWNhdGVfc2NyaWJlc190b19zZXR0aW5ncyI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdXNlX3Byb2ZpbGVfaW1hZ2Vfc2hhcGVfZW5hYmxlZCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdmlkZW9faGxzX2R5bmFtaWNfbWFuaWZlc3RzXzE1MDgyIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6InRydWVfYml0cmF0ZSIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfbGVnYWN5X3RpbWVsaW5lX3N1bnNldCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOnRydWUsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdHdlZXRfZWRpdF9mcm9udGVuZCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9fQ%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2014079780761559523&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F3673%2F&sessionId=3b47bd4b4e929eda4be7a391aacab61c410b9ee5&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 873px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" data-tweet-id="2014079780761559523"></iframe></div></div> Indian digital media platform Newslaundry reported that six journalists were summoned this month, and said the Kashmir Press Club linked the summons to mosque-profiling coverage, describing it as &ldquo;intimidation&rdquo; and alleging journalists were told to stop covering the issue on instructions from higher authorities.

Police summons and 'good behaviour' bonds are being used to suppress journalism in Srinagar. Multiple reporters have been questioned over mosque-profiling stories, allegedly without police reports, sparking political condemnation and press freedom concerns.

Articles tagged with "Minority Rights"

UN watchdog questions India on discrimination of Bengali Muslims in Assam

The Indian ‘peace bond’ gag order: How Kashmiri reporters are being silenced