Modi govt targets Amnesty International

NEW DELHI: Indian officials on Friday raided the offices of renowned human rights group Amnesty International on trumped up charges of foreign funding from the United Kingdom that violate local law, according to a report published by international media.

It is widely believed that the investigation into the funding sources of the respected human rights group is a pressure tactic being employed by the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop the group from highlighting grave human rights violations in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK).

According to Al-Jazeera, officials from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided the offices of Amnesty International India in Bengaluru and New Delhi after direct complaints from the home affairs ministry. Amnesty was accused of the same offence last year.

"Over the past year, a pattern of harassment has emerged every time Amnesty International India stands up and speaks out against human rights violations in India," the Amnesty group said in a statement, apparently referring to their campaigns for Occupied Kashmir. Back in September, Amnesty International had launched the #LetKashmirSpeak campaign and called on Indian PM Modi to lift the inhuman military curfew in Occupied Kashmir that has crippled the lives of millions of Muslims since August.

Modi had revoked the constitutional autonomy of Occupied Kashmir on August 5 this year and imposed a military curfew in the area, imprisoning millions of people. Thousands of ordinary citizens were detained after the move. The detained included former chief ministers and the mayor of Srinagar. Widespread allegations of torture and abuse of these detainees by the Indian security forces were published by the international media in the following weeks, as Delhi showed no signs of easing restrictions.