Refugee Review Tribunal AUSTRALIA RRT RESEARCH RESPONSE Research Response Number: IND32349 Country: India Date: 2 October 2007 Keywords: India – Haryana – BJP – Congress Party – Caste violence This response was prepared by the Research & Information Services Section of the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the RRT within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. This research response may not, under any circumstance, be cited in a decision or any other document. Anyone wishing to use this information may only cite the primary source material contained herein. Questions 1. Please provide brief information about the BJP and a brief description of BJP / Congress relationship in Haryana, including election results at local, state and federal level. 2. Also briefly, is there any evidence of caste clashes and religious clashes in Haryana? RESPONSE 1. Please provide brief information about the BJP and a brief description of BJP / Congress relationship in Haryana, including election results at local, state and federal level. The two main parties in Haryana are Indian National Congress (INC) and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD). Currently INC is in power, having won the 2005 State Assembly elections. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has usually aligned itself with INLD, although in the last elections it contested alone, winning only a small number of seats (‘The wave and what caused it” 2005, The Hindu, 6 March http://www.hindu.com/2005/03/06/stories/2005030603371600.htm – Accessed 10 April 2007 – Attachment 1). For general information on the BJP and the INC, see: RRT Research & Information 2007, ‘Political Parties’, The Republic & States of India at a Glance, July – Attachment 2. In the 2005 State Assembly elections, INC “won a landslide victory” in Haryana, winning 67 seats, while BJP won two seats. UK Home Office cites a BBC news item which states: Congress took 67 seats in the 90-member assembly in Haryana, while the incumbent Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) got just nine, election Commission officials said. The result in Haryana means that Congress is back in power in the state for the first time in nine years, unseating the INLD and its allies in the right-wing Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) (UK Home Office 2007, Country of Origin Information Report – India, May, p. 17 – Attachment 3). See also: ‘Elections in Haryana’ 2005, Rediff.com website, 6 March http://in.rediff.com/election/har05.htm – Accessed 6 July 2007 – Attachment 4. In the 2004 national Lok Sabha elections, INC won nine seats in Haryana, while BJP won one seat. Nationally, the INC-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) obtained the largest number of seats in the Lok Sabha and formed a minority government under the prime ministership of Dr. Manmohan Singh, the leader of the INC (RRT Research & Information 2007, The Republic & States of India at a Glance, July – Attachment 2). Violence between INC and BJP in Haryana There have been reports of clashes between all major parties during elections in Haryana, including clashes between INC and BJP: Articles reporting on the 2005 local body elections report a number of violent incidents. An article dated 15 April 2005 details a poll-related incident in which Rajbir, a BJP supporter, was allegedly assaulted by Congress workers. The article quotes a former BJP MLA who states that Rajbir was assaulted during canvassing. “He was on his motor cycle and was waylaid by four Congress persons. He was beaten up by them at which he lost consciousness.” An article dated 10 April 2005 states that there had been clashes involving a BJP leader and that four BJP supporters had been hospitalized (‘MC poll: BJP activist thrashed during canvassing’ 2005, The Tribune (Chandigarh), 15 April http://www.tribuneindia.com/2005/20050415/haryana.htm#8 – Accessed 29 June 2007 – Attachment 5; ‘Three dead in Haryana panchayat poll violence’ 2005, The Tribune (Chandigarh), 10 April http://www.tribuneindia.com/2005/20050410/main4.htm – Accessed 12 July 2007 – Attachment 6). According to articles in the 11 May 2004 Chandrigarh Tribune, “[o]ver 60 per cent polling was reported from various Lok Sabha constituencies in Haryana which went to the polls today. At least one murder, a firing incident in which one person was injured and the arrest of a former minister were the major incidents of the day.” These article mention a number of violent incidents between BJP and Congress supporters, including the murder of a BJP supporter (‘60 pc polling reported in state’ 2004, The Tribune (Chandigarh), 11 May http://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/20040511/haryana.htm – Accessed 2 July 2007 – Attachment 7). For more reports on the 2004 and 2005 elections in Haryana, see: RRT Research & Information 2007, Research Response IND31942, 12 July (Questions 4-5) – Attachment 8. 2. Also briefly, is there any evidence of caste clashes and religious clashes in Haryana? Evidence of caste clashes in Haryana was found in the available information. The situation, and mistreatment, of Dalits in Haryana has been addressed in a number of previous research responses (provided below). Some information regarding religious clashes in Haryana was found in the sources consulted. No information on persecution of Hindus generally in Haryana was found. According to the available information, the religious demography of Haryana is as follows: Hindu 89.3%; Sikh 6.2%; Muslim 4.1%; Jain 0.27%; Christian 0.08% (RRT Research & Information 2007, ‘Haryana’, The Republic & States of India at a Glance, July – Attachment 2). According to the Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) 2007 human rights report on Haryana, “[r]uled by the Indian National Congress, Haryana remained a lawless state especially with regard to the Dalits” (Asian Centre for Human Rights 2007, ‘India Human Rights Report 2007: Haryana’, ACHR website, May http://www.achrweb.org/reports/india/AR07/haryana.htm – Accessed 1 June 2007 – Attachment 9). Caste clashes A recent research response, dated 10 September 2007, provides information on, and examples of, the discrimination and harassment of low caste members by higher class members in Haryana. The response also includes information on the relationship between castes and political parties in Haryana (RRT Research & Information 2007, Research Response IND32303, 10 September – Attachment 10). A research response, dated 14 June 2007, provides information on the treatment of Dalits in Haryana (RRT Country Research 2007, Research Response IND31878, 14 June – Attachment 11). A research response, dated 4 April 2007, provides information on the caste system, and also provides examples of caste clashes in Haryana (RRT Country Research 2007, Research Response IND31565, 4 April – Attachment 12). The ACHR 2007 human rights report includes information on caste clashes involving Dalits (Asian Centre for Human Rights 2007, ‘India Human Rights Report 2007: Haryana’, ACHR website, May http://www.achrweb.org/reports/india/AR07/haryana.htm – Accessed 1 June 2007 – Attachment 9). US Department of State report on human rights for 2005 states that: “In August 50 dalit houses in Gohana, Haryana, were set on fire by a mob after dalits were accused of murdering a caste Hindu. Police intervened to disperse the crowds, and no one was injured” (US Department of State 2006, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2005 – India, March, Section 5 – Attachment 13). Religion In regard to religious clashes, there have been some reports of persecution of Christians in Haryana. For example, in February 2007, the All India Christian Council reported that a number of female missionaries had been “attacked by Hindu fanatics in Haryana” (‘Women missionaries attacked by Hindu fanatics in Haryana’ 2007, All India Christian Council website, 8 February http://www.aiccindia.org/newsite/0804061910/news/haryana%20attack%20-08-02-07.htm – Accessed 2 October 2007 – Attachment 14). In 2005 the US Department of State reported that: On July 31, 2003, 250 persons, most of whom were members of the VHP, attacked students and staff members of a Bible school in Dabwali, Haryana, burning Bibles and Christian literature, vandalizing the school, and beating students. The assailants accused the school of converting local Hindus. No new developments in this case occurred during the reporting period (US Department of State 2005, International Religious Freedom Report for 2005 – India, November, Section 3 – Attachment 15). List of Sources Consulted Internet Sources: Google search engine http://www.google.com.au/ Databases: FACTIVA (news database) BACIS (DIAC Country Information database) REFINFO (IRBDC (Canada) Country Information database) ISYS (RRT Research & Information database, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, US Department of State Reports) RRT Library Catalogue List of Attachments 1. ‘The wave and what caused it’ 2005, The Hindu, 6 March http://www.hindu.com/2005/03/06/stories/2005030603371600.htm – Accessed 10 April 2007. 2. RRT Research & Information 2007, The Republic & States of India at a Glance, July. 3. UK Home Office 2007, Country of Origin Information Report – India, May. 4. ‘Elections in Haryana’ 2005, Rediff.com website, 6 March http://in.rediff.com/election/har05.htm – Accessed 6 July 2007. 5. ‘MC poll: BJP activist thrashed during canvassing’ 2005, The Tribune (Chandigarh), 15 April http://www.tribuneindia.com/2005/20050415/haryana.htm#8 – Accessed 29 June 2007. 6. ‘Three dead in Haryana panchayat poll violence’ 2005, The Tribune (Chandigarh), 10 April http://www.tribuneindia.com/2005/20050410/main4.htm – Accessed 12 July 2007. 7. ‘60 pc polling reported in state’ 2004, The Tribune (Chandigarh), 11 May http://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/20040511/haryana.htm – Accessed 2 July 2007. 8. RRT Research & Information 2007, Research Response IND31942, 12 July. 9. Asian Centre for Human Rights 2007, ‘India Human Rights Report 2007: Haryana’, ACHR website, May http://www.achrweb.org/reports/india/AR07/haryana.htm – Accessed 1 June 2007.