• The SAC, along with Minority Rights Group International, has begun supporting 18 local-level, short-term initiatives that seek to address issues faced by South Asia’s minorities. Click here for a brief overview of these projects.
  
  The grants were featured in an article entitled 'Targeting false information on COVID-19: What the funding data shows', published by Devex. 
   
• The SAC’s emergency assistance fund for human rights defenders working to advance the freedom of religion or belief in South Asia remains active. Click here for more details.
   
• In response to a call in June 2020 by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) on the relationship between intolerance and discrimination based and the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 16, the SAC made a joint submission (available here) highlighting the drivers of discrimination and their impact on minorities in each country. 
   
• The SAC organised a webinar titled ‘Minority rights in South Asia: before, during and after COVID-19’ on 6 May, 2020. The event was organised around the release of the South Asia State of Minorities Report 2019 (available here). Fernand de Varennes, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, was the keynote speaker. Click here for a full recording of the event. 
  
  The SAC has also commenced work on the South Asia State of Minorities Report 2020. The 2020 Report, scheduled to be released in 2020, will focus on the theme ‘shrinking civic space for minorities and minority rights defenders in South Asia’. 
   
• The SAC and Minority Rights Group International contributed to a report titled ‘Will COVID-19 increase religious hostilities and discrimination?’, published by OpenGlobalRights.
   
• The SAC’s partner organisations would like to announce the publication of the following reports and articles:
  
  Citizens Against Hate (India): ’Hit Job: Using COVID-19 to Deepen Anti-Muslim Bias and Weaken Muslim Voice' 
  Civil Society & Human Rights Network (Afghanistan): ‘Guidebook: Achieving an Inclusive Peace in Afghanistan’
  Formation, Awareness and Community Empowerment Society (Pakistan) : 'The Invisible Workforce: A Situation Analysis of Pakistan's Domestic Workers'
  Law & Society Trust (Sri Lanka): (i) 'Civil society statement: disposal of bodies of deceased persons who were infected with and suspected of being infected with covid-19', (ii) 'The Worker in the Post-COVID 19 Economy', (iii) 'Garment Sector and State Responsibility in Economic Crisis', (iv) 'Civil Society Statement on the Presidential Task Forces', (v) 'Brief Note: Presidential Task Force for Archaeological Heritage Management in the Eastern Province', and (vi) 'Land Acquisitions for a Public Purpose in Post-War Sri Lanka'

During the period under review, South Asia’s various minority groups continued to face violent targeting and discrimination from non-state actors and, in some cases, from state actors. Across all countries in the region, these acts have been followed by state failures to hold perpetrators to account and uphold the rule of law. 

In Afghanistan, the beleaguered Shia Hazara community faced a deadly attack on a maternity ward that claimed 24 lives, including new-born babies. The Sikh community too faced repeated targeting. In Bangladesh, the Hindu, Ahmadiyya and indigenous peoples communities faced various forms of targeting. Local leaders of mainstream political outfits were implicated in some of the attacks, including on women. In India, authorities continued the targeting of critics of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in an effort to silence dissent, while the country’s Muslims, Christians, Dalits and Sikhs faced continued violence and discrimination. The Indian government also continued to deny rights and freedoms in Muslim-majority Kashmir. In Nepal, a series of attacks on Dalits led to widespread protests. In Pakistan, the Ahmadiyya, Christian and Hindu communities came under attack, by both non-state and state actors. The levelling of frivolous blasphemy allegations also continued. And in Sri Lanka, two prominent Muslim voices faced arbitrary detentions. Click here for these and other stories that have impacted or have the potential to impact South Asia’s minorities.