Democratic groups, including international organizations, widely condemned Indian state forces for its abduction and torture of seven activists. These human rights violations cases occurred on July 9, 11, and 19 in the context of the counterinsurgency campaign in India.

State forces separately and without warrant picked up three young Indian activists from the group Bhagat Singh Chhatra Ekta Manch (bsCEM) in Delhi on July 9. The victims were identified as Gurkirat, Gaurav, and Gauraang.

On July 11, the same state forces unit abducted Ehtmam-ul Haque and Baadal in Delhi. Both are members of the Forum Against Corporatization and Militarization (FACAM), an organization made up of various sectors and mass organizations, including bsCEM.

On the same day, the same unit picked up psychologist and social worker Samrat Singh in Yamunanagar, Haryana, which is around three to four hours away from New Delhi. Various groups insist that the arrest exceeded the said police unit’s authority and jurisdiction.

More than a week later, state forces abducted the young activist Rudra upon his arrival at the train station in Delhi from Kolkata on July 19. He went to the city to meet with fellow activists.

According to the Campaign Against State Repression (CASR), an organization in India fighting state repression, police illegally detained all victims in a special cell in New Delhi. “This is not a proper police station but rather resembles a torture centre of special cell, where they were subjected to brutal torture,” the group said.

They suffered various forms of torture, including beatings, forced stripping, threats of rape, their heads held down in toilet bowls, electrocution, and psychological torture. According to CASR, victims said they experienced the worst forms of torture in the first three days of their detention. They also narrated that they heard screams from other cells of their detention.

CASR said that after their release for varying durations of detention, victims continue to suffer the effects of severe torture and abduction.

The group called on other organizations to condemn the abductions of youth and student activists and to join the call for justice. Relatedly, international organizations, including the International Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self-Determination and Liberation, People’s Coalition on Food Sovereignty, Asia-Pacific Research Network, and Peoples Forum on Peace for Life, issued statements of support. They urged others to sign the unified statement that they initiated.

In this statement, they emphasized that the series of abductions and torture is linked with the Indian state’s campaign against its so-called “war on the Naxals” (the Maoist movement in India) and the accusation that organizations act as “legal fronts” for revolutionary groups. They added that this constitutes what is called the Surajkund Scheme that started in 2022 and Operation Kagaar that began in January 2024, both under the national counterinsurgency campaign in India known as Operation SAMADHAN-Prahar.

“The Narendra Modi regime’s operations openly borrows from the U.S. Counterinsurgency (COIN) playbook used by states in many parts of the world where people’s movements are challenging imperialist dominance,” the statement said.

They encouraged all democratic forces and peace-loving people worldwide to join in condemning the series of illegal arrests, abductions, and torture against Indian activists. They said they must call for an end to the Modi regime’s fascist violence against the Indian people.