India — Online Journal — Columbia Undergraduate Law Review

To Obstruct India’s Ongoing Muslim Genocide the Nation’s Courts Must Determine the Constitutionality of Right-Wing Love Jihad Laws

Muslims in India, the world’s largest democracy and second most populous nation, are currently facing a genocidal crisis. Constituting approximately 14 percent of India’s population, compared to the nation’s Hindu majority of 80 percent, Muslims living under the rule of India’s far-right, Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have become direct targets of government measures put in place to prevent a “demographic imbalance,” in which Hindus no longer make up a majority of India’s population. These measures include religious leaders calling for mass killings, attacks on Muslim-owned businesses, and a series of laws and policies that outrightly target and exclude Muslims from Indian society. [1]

Anusha MerchantDecember 28, 2022Love Jihad, India, Freedom of Religion, Womens’ Rights, Right to Marry

The Abrogation of Article 370 and the Fate of Kashmir: Can States Stop Being States?

Nestled between India and Pakistan, Kashmir has been involved in a tug of war between the two countries since its formation on October 26, 1947. As a Muslim majority state which acceded to India, a Hindu majority nation, Kashmir was given special status and considerable autonomy as conditions to this accession. For years, this arrangement allowed Kashmir to preserve its cultural autonomy. However, on August 5, 2019, the Indian government revoked this special status, rendering Kashmir’s constitution invalid and demoting it from the status as a state to that of a union territory.

Karuna VikramJune 8, 2020constitution, Constitutional law, Kashmir, India, Article 370

What India’s Decriminalization of Gay Intercourse Means for the Future of LGBTQIA+ Rights

n many countries around the world, LGBTQIA+ individuals are jailed and executed for being gay. In Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Uganda, being LGBTIA+ can result in life sentences in prison.[1] In other countries, such as Afghanistan, Nigeria, Tonga, and Malaysia, LGBT individuals can be whipped or executed for their same-sex relations. In Tanzania, HIV services for LGBTQIA+ people were shut down since they were cited as promoting homosexuality. But what do all of these countries have in common?