The Government of India has raised at least 334 major incidents of violence against minorities with Pakistan and flagged 3,582 such cases in Bangladesh since 2021, Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh told Parliament.
In a reply to a Rajya Sabha query, Mr Singh said the government regularly “follows” reports of violence and atrocities against religious minorities in neighbouring countries, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.
On Pakistan, MoS Singh said, “Since 2021, the Government of India has raised at least 334 major incidents with the Government of Pakistan, urging it to discharge its constitutional obligations towards its citizens, including those from minority communities, and to end sectarian violence, extreme prejudices and religious intolerance.”
He added that India has also highlighted the conditions of minorities and human rights violations in Pakistan at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.
In July, the United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner’s office said in a statement, “UN human rights experts today called on the government of Pakistan to take concrete measures to prevent extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and attacks against places of worship and cemeteries amid ongoing violence and discrimination against religious minorities, including the Ahmadi community.”
“We are shocked at reports of increasing violence against vulnerable communities on grounds of their religion or belief,” the experts said. “These communities have witnessed relentless attacks, killings and unending harassment for months in the context of hostility and advocacy of hatred against them,” the statement added.
The UN experts also urged Pakistan to “break the pattern of impunity that has allowed perpetrators of attacks and incitement to hatred and violence to act without restraint.”
According to the statement, they said, “These attacks take place with tacit official complicity whilst the cycle of fear prevents people and institutions from upholding the rights and dignity of these minorities.”
On Bangladesh, Mr Singh said that at least 3,582 incidents of violence against Hindus and other minorities have been reported since 2021. “The Government of India has shared its concerns on the matter with the Government of Bangladesh, including at the highest levels, with the expectation that the Government of Bangladesh will take all necessary measures to ensure safety and welfare of Hindus and other minorities,” he said.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch has reported that Bangladesh’s interim government, led by Nobel laureate Mohammed Yunus, is struggling to implement promised human rights reforms a year after mass protests toppled Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year rule. It said arbitrary detentions and politically motivated arrests continue, while security sector reform remains stalled.
Mob and political violence remain high. In July, a mob damaged at least 14 homes belonging to Hindus in the Rangpur district, while attacks on minorities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts persist.
Although the government has set up 11 reform commissions and ratified the UN Convention on enforced disappearances, accountability for past abuses is slow, with security forces resisting investigations.
Human Rights Watch has called for urgent steps to end arbitrary detention, prosecute rights violators, and ensure women’s full participation in political processes.
“The Government of India continues to impress upon the respective Governments that the primary responsibility of the protection of life, liberty and rights of all citizens, including from the minority communities, rests with them,” Mr Singh added in his reply.