India: Rights Report Highlights Rising Killings of Muslims and Police Violence

India: Rights Report Highlights Rising Killings of Muslims and Police Violence
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A new human rights report has documented a rise in violence and abuses targeting India’s Muslim minority, recording at least 16 Muslim deaths and 118 injuries in incidents involving police gunfire between August and October 2026.

According to the India Persecution Tracker, affiliated with the South Asia Justice Campaign, eight Muslims were killed in incidents involving security forces: three were shot dead by police, while five died in detention centres or prisons. Another eight Muslims were reportedly killed by extremist groups, including organisations known as “cow vigilantes.”

The report said the number of Muslims killed by state-affiliated actors since the beginning of 2026 had reached at least 27. It also described 2026 as the deadliest year for victims of violence attributed to non-state actors since monitoring began in 2022.

Uttar Pradesh accounted for 103 of the 146 documented incidents. Police reportedly shot 105 Muslims in the state in what the report described as “staged encounters,” out of 118 such cases recorded nationwide. The report also documented 29 incidents of anti-Muslim hate speech in Uttar Pradesh, 13 of which it attributed to the state’s Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath.

The report further recorded the complete or partial demolition of six mosques in September and the eviction of more than 1,100 families, most of them Muslim, in Assam in October.

The rights organisation warned that discrimination against Muslims is worsening amid rising violence, forced evictions, and measures concerning citizenship and electoral rolls. It said these developments pose a growing threat to the security and fundamental rights of India’s Muslim minority.