Amnesty India launches website to document hate crimes
New Delhi: Amnesty International India on Thursday launched an interactive data website 'Halt the Hate in order to draw attention to alarming number of alleged hate crimes against marginalised groups in the country.
The website documents hate crimes against Dalits, Adivasis, members of racial or religious minority groups, transgender persons, and other marginalised people which are reported in mainstream English and Hindi media, the rights group said in a release
The first step to ensuring justice and ending impunity for hate crimes - where people are targeted because of their membership of a particular group - is to highlight their occurrence, said Aakar Patel, Executive Director, Amnesty International India.
"Our website aims to draw attention to some of these crimes by tracking and documenting them. Many of these incidents are deeply disturbing: Dalits have been attacked for merely sporting moustaches, and Muslims lynched for transporting cattle. Dalit women have been branded as witches, and raped and killed.
"Unfortunately, the extent of hate crime in India is unknown because the law - with some exceptions - does not recognise hate crimes as specific offences. The police need to take steps to unmask any potentially discriminatory motive in a crime, and political leaders must be more vocal in denouncing such violence," he said, as per the release.
The website documents alleged hate crimes from September 2015, when Mohammad Akhlaq was killed in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh, for allegedly killing a cow.
Cow-related violence and so-called ‘honour' killings were among the common instances of alleged hate crimes, it added.
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Davangere: Two policemen injured in stone pelting during Ganesha procession
Davangere: Reports state that two groups engaged in stone pelting at each other during Ganesha idol immersion ceremony in Davangere on Thursday. Two police personnel were injured in the incident.
Few days ago, two groups of youth engaged in verbal altercation regarding raising of a flag for Eid Milad celebration. On account of the clashes, police had heightened security for the Ganesha procession. Despite the additional security, stones were pelted at the procession, sources stated. Inspector Gururaj and constable Raghavendra were injured in the incident. The procession continued after the police brought the situation to control. However, the stone pelting resumed once again as the procession surged forwards.
Security has been tightened up in the area and all shops have been closed down by the police. The two police personnel, who were injured in the stone pelting, are undergoing treatment at a hospital.
