New Delhi, June 12 (EFE).- A global rights body urged the new Indian government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday to reverse laws and policies that discriminate against religious minorities and marginalized groups and end the crackdown on civil society and the media.
In a letter to Modi, who was sworn in as prime minister for his consecutive third term in office on June 9, Human Rights Watch said the government should adopt an agenda that “actively promotes and protects human rights.”
The government should advance the rule of law, strengthen democratic institutions, and uphold the right of every Indian to an adequate standard of living, including food, education, health, and social security.
“India’s new government should end the use of counterterrorism laws and other abusive measures that deprive activists, journalists, and others of their rights,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
“The government should engage with its critics, protect freedom of expression and assembly, and provide room for dissent instead of silencing opponents.”
The letter urged the Indian government to take concrete steps to protect fundamental civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights.
These include free expression and association for civil society. They encompass digital rights, including the right to privacy. Efforts should focus on ending violence and discrimination against religious minorities and vulnerable groups, the rights group said.
Additionally, it is crucial to end violence against women and girls and improve access to education, it said. Another priority is ending impunity for security forces.
Protecting the rights of people with disabilities is essential, said the rights body.
The rights of refugees and asylum seekers must also be safeguarded. It is important to ensure that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people can experience all fundamental rights without discrimination.
“Adopting a rights-focused foreign policy,” the group said, was necessary. EFE
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