Major rights issue, curbs on media in India: US Report

India has "significant human rights issues" such as "restrictions on free expression and media, including violence" and "threats of violence, or unjustified arrests or prosecutions against journalists", a report by the US State Department has said.

Titled '2021 Country Report on Human Rights Practices' and released late Tuesday, the India chapter of the report also cited "terrorists and extremists perpetrating killings, violence, and intimidation" against journalists critical of the government.

"There were reports from journalists and NGOs that government officials at both the local and national levels were involved in intimidating critical media outlets through physical harassment and attacks, pressuring owners, targeting sponsors, encouraging frivolous lawsuits, and in some areas blocking communication services, such as mobile telephones and the internet, and constraining freedom of movement," the report said.

The report noted India was downgraded from free to partly free in the Freedom in the World 2021 report, and said the government had blocked Twitter accounts of several journalists who covered the farmers' protest last year. On challenges faced by journalists from J&K, the report said they "continued to face barriers to free reporting through communications and movement restrictions".

It said at least six journalists from the region were "assaulted, detained or questioned by police". The report touches upon terrorists targeting forces and the status of Kashmiri Pandits. It spoke about the excesses committed by insurgents.