WASHINGTON, D.C. [April 29, 2026] — As the people of West Bengal await the results of the legislative assembly elections, Hindus for Human Rights denounces the Election Commission of India’s Special Intensive Revision process as well as the Home Ministry’s deployment of more than 200,000 law enforcement officers to the state during elections.
No matter the results of the election, the Government of India took measures to disenfranchise millions of voters in West Bengal and intimidate the rest of the state in a blatant attempt to engineer the results of this election. What unfolded over April is nothing less than the destruction of Indian democracy.
The ECI insisted that the SIR it conducted in West Bengal was designed to identify “illegal voters,” but as data from SABAR and other analysts reveal, the ECI disproportionately disenfranchised Muslim and marginalized voters. The ECI has joined the BJP in raising the question of who really counts as an Indian.
We roundly reject this debate, and we urge India’s opposition parties to stand steadfastly with the civil society organizations fighting for Indian democracy and with India’s 200 million Muslims, who are equal citizens under the Indian constitution. Together, in India and abroad, we must fight against the authoritarian capture of India’s elections and protect India’s sacred democratic traditions.
