South Asia Human Rights Journalist Association

September 21, 2021: In India, a student of Visva-Bharati University (VBU) in West Bengal has alleged that an upper-caste professor refused to interact with him and called him ”impure”. The police have filed an FIR against the professor on the basis of a complaint submitted by the student who is identified as Somnath Sow.Sow told PTI news agency that he came across professor Sumit Basu at a tea stall in Syambati area of Santiniketan. It was at that time, Basu “called me a Dalit and said he did not want to talk to me”, Sow said.

 Koppal (Karnataka), Sep 22, 2021: The parents of a Dalit boy were fined Rs 23,000 after the two-year-old entered a Hanuman temple at Miyapura village near Hanumasagar in Koppal district of southern Indian state Karnataka. The toddler was taken to the temple by his father on his birthday. As members of the Dalit community here are unofficially not allowed inside the temples, they always pray from outside.

 New Dehli, September 21, 2021: The Indian English language daily The Indian Express in its editorial  has said that a new order issued by the IIOJK administration on the conduct of government employees will lead to further alienation in Jammu and Kashmir.  The editorial said.  the new order by the administration  on the conduct of government employees will likely produce more governance paralysis and lead to further alienation in the territory. The editorial titled ‘State of Suspicion’ said that it was hard to fathom the reasoning behind this egregious order, which comes on the heels of others indicating a toughening stance against Kashmiris in government employment. It added that the alienation in the Valley is no secret. That is why young boys are still running away from home to join militant groups, the editorial said and added that the order is a tacit acknowledgement of this widespread disaffection.

 SRINAGAR, September 21, 2021: The Indian National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted multiple raids and harassed families in Srinagar , Kulgam, Islamabad and Baramulla areas in the Kashmir Valley. The NIA raided the residence of Mohammad Shafi Wani and his son Rayees Wani in Lasjan area of Srinagar and other places in south and north Kashmir districts.Sources here said NIA sleuths raided the residence of Mohammad Shafi Wani, a resident of Lasjan in Srinagar district.

NEW DELHI ,September  20 : In India, the  Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind (Mahmood Madani group) has demanded that policemen involved in the custodial death of 32-year-old Qasim Abdullah Hayat in Gujarat’s Godhra be booked. Qasim was arrested on  last week for allegedly transporting cow meat. The following day, he was found dead before he could be produced before a magistrate. Citing the video footages, the police claimed that he had committed suicide while family members said he was tortured by police leading to his death. A delegation of Jamiat’s Gujarat unit met with Godhra Superintendent Police Leena Patil  demanded action against the erring police officers.

 September 15, 2021 Shamli, India UP: The news of lynchings, fake encounters, malicious arrests, and prosecution of Muslims are making headlines daily but the killing of a 20-year-old Muslim youth in  Banat town of Shamli district is alarming when the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh are only a few months away.  
Reportedly, Hindu goons belonging to the right-wing outfit terror Bajrang Dal of Sangparivar have been deployed to attack innocent Muslims in the region which had become communally sensitive after communal riots in 2013. The outfit has indoctrinated youths with hate and they are used to unleash a reign of terror among Muslims, Dalits, and other vulnerable communities.The killing of Sameer seems to be a result of the conspiracy of terrorizing Muslims as a community. It has been widely reported in the area that there was no personal reason behind the heinous attack on Sameer. It is also a fact that there are no  enmity  in the neighborhood as Muslim and Hindu families coexist harmoniously and peacefully for generations. The town also has a record of amicable relations between the communities. While the Muslim population in the town is only 1/3rd, several people from minority community have held the chairmanship of the town area more than once. All India Lawyers Council (AILC) general secretary Adv Sharfuddin Ahmad, VP Adv R Sevvilam Parithi with Sameer family

India, MYSURU, September 16, 2021:In India, theBJP and Pro-Hindutva group Hindu Jagarana Vedike on Thursday assaulted and manhandled a journalist of an Urdu daily at a protest called by Hindu Jagaran Vedike in Karnatka state .  The protest at Mysore Palace North Gate protest was called against the demolition of temples, especially the Adishakti Mahadevamma temple at Huchgani village in Nanjangud taluk recently.

India, MYSURU, September 16, 2021:In India, theBJP and Pro-Hindutva group Hindu Jagarana Vedike on Thursday assaulted and manhandled a journalist of an Urdu daily at a protest called by Hindu Jagaran Vedike in Karnatka state .  The protest at Mysore Palace North Gate protest was called against the demolition of temples, especially the Adishakti Mahadevamma temple at Huchgani village in Nanjangud taluk recently.

NEW DELHI September 16, 202 : In India, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) sleuths on Thursday conducted a raid on the office and home of  a prominent human rights activist and former IAS officer,Harsh Mander in New Delhi. The raid, according to The Quint, came hours after Mander and his wife left for Germany for a nine-month fellowship offered by Robert Bosch Academy in Berlin.