[Source: Reuters]

The U.S. State Department’s annual human rights assessment, opens new tab found “significant” abuses in India’s northeastern Manipur state last year and attacks on minorities, journalists and dissenting voices in the rest of the country.

Manipur has seen fierce fighting, opens new tab between its tribal Kuki-Zo and majority Meitei populations after a court order a year ago suggested the Kuki’s minority privileges be extended to the Meitei. More than 200 people have been killed.

The State Department report said over 60,000 people were displaced between May and November in Manipur.

There was no immediate comment on the report from the Indian embassy in Washington.

In the rest of India, the State Department reported “numerous instances” in which the government and its allies “allegedly pressured or harassed media outlets critical of the government.”

For example, the Income Tax Department searched the BBC’s offices, opens new tab in early 2023 after it released a documentary critical of Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Indian government said at the time the search was not vindictive, opens new tab.