The 104-page report unveiled last week examines Hindu nationalist vigilante attacks and said 36 of the dead were members of India’s large Muslim minority. Modi has previously condemned vigilante violence and said killing people because of cow worship “is not acceptable.” In India’s federal structure, law and order is a state subject. Since the partition of British India in 1947, which created Muslim-majority Pakistan, the sizable Muslim minority in Hindu-majority India have suffered discrimination and violence. Economic ActivityThe Human Rights Watch report notes the country’s rural economy has been disrupted by the vigilante violence, which also hurts many Hindus. Farmers have generally sold unproductive livestock to slaughterhouses — some of which have been targeted by Hindu nationalist politicians.

Source: National Post February 25, 2019 19:30 UTC