>> this is al jazeera, and these are the top stories. a suspect has confessed to burying two men who went missing in the amazon. body parts have been found. the two went missing within a week ago. we have been following the latest developments from rio de janeiro. >> one of the two suspects, the one they detained more recently, he confessed.

they took him, he said he had taken the two men. he said they had submerged their boat, had killed them, and taken them to bury them inside the forest. three kilometers inside the forest. that means to carry their bodies, you would have to go with a small canoe through these rivers. after confessing, the police accompanied the man to the site where said two people had been buried. there, they found human remains. >> the u.s. federal reserve has announced an entrance -- an interest rate rise of . 75%, the highest in more than three decades. the climate is currently challenging and unsettling. the u.s. house committee investigating the capitol hill riots says a man who was on a tour of the building the day before the attack returned on

the day of the insurrection. the committee has released video of the tour, which was organized by a republican congressman who denies wrongdoing. he denies anything, adding he has been vindicated by police. the european union has signed an energy agreement with the eu and egypt. the deal will allow israel to send its natural gas to egypt for processing. a yemeni journalist has died in a bombing. his vehicle exploded while he was on the main road near the city of aden. he worked near the ministry of information and was also a producer for a foreign channel. those are the headlines. the news continues here on al jazeera, after inside story. >> no matter where you call

home, al jazeera brings news to you. al jazeera. >> is india's governing party to blame for reports of rising islamophobia? rights groups say attacks against muslims have in creased since the bjp took power. what does this mean for the future of india? this is "inside story." ♪ >> hello, and welcome to the program. left homeless for protesting against hate speech in india -- that's what dozens of people whose houses have been demolished say is happening to them. most are muslims. the state province maintains the houses were built illegally, but the demolitions took place as

emotions were running high across india. in the past week, people rallied in several cities, rallying against offensive comments that the government bjp made about the prophet muhammad. our reporter is in northern india. >> muhammad cries in pain. his says his arm was broken as he pleads for mercy. he was arrested for allegedly taking part in a protest. his mother says the accusations are false and authorities are threatening to demolish her family's home. >> my sister-in-law visited him. she said his hands were swollen. he told her the swelling was even worse a few days ago. he begged for her to get him out . he was crying like a child. >> hundreds of thousands of people across india recently protested. she was suspended from the

bjp for making islamophobia remarks. now, the state is cracking down on dissenters. authorities have been demolish ing homes along into muslims. they say the houses were built illegally. authorities reportedly threatened the family as they arrested him. >> we were terrified. i locked the door, but they demanded we open it. i went to the terrace and they had already arrested my son. i asked if they wanted to kill me. that is when they switched on the bulldozer. >> 300 people have been arrested nationwide, others have been booked for hate speech. many of them are hindus. they have received news of dozens of protesters and will begin examining their homes for irregularities. more demolitions could be carried out. courts have recently condemned

similar demolitions, but the authorities say this is part of a larger anti-enforcement drive in the state. >> certain legalities in their houses and in their occupational premises. the list, the authorities, the civic authorities, it has been done against one of the main instigators. >> many people are protesting against these demolitions. this year, the government is trying to intimidate dissenters and is seeking out muslims. mohammed and his -- mohammed's mother is trying to free him. >> monitoring groups say there has been an increase in attacks on muslims since hindu

nationalist modi became prime minister in 2014. the only muslim majority state has its constitutional autonomy revoked in 2019. rights organizations have documented mass graves, torture, and extrajudicial killings carried out by the military. laws against slaughtering cattle, anti-conversion legislation, and bans on headscarves have legitimized discrimination against religious minorities. prime minister modi has been criticized for his silence on hate speech, which often comes from in his own party. let's bring in our guest in new delhi. we also have a lawyer at the supreme court of india and the katella harcourt. also in new delhi, a journalist

and author, a warm welcome to you all. thank you for joining us today on inside story. let me start with you today. demonstrators in different cities have been protesting against the demolition of homes owned by muslims. the local government says the buildings have been constructed illegally, but rights groups say this is part of an attempt to intimidate muslims. is there any legal justification for the demolishing of these homes? >> you have to look at this in context to what has been happening in the country for the last couple of months. just in the last couple of months, there has been a lot of this exact same thing happening. some violence in communities, or some small-scale riot or clash. the next day after, muslim houses are demolished. the justification given, on the

one hand, this is a way to punish those creating violence in society, but on the other hand, they are giving justification, saying none of -- saying these are illegal houses. it's a bizarre coincidence and it is not lost on anyone why these are taking place, why those accused of said violence are being punished in this way. i would like to reiterate that none of these people have been convicted of any crime. very few have had anything filed against them, so these are accusations leveraged by the state police, and many of them, in fact, the houses demolished, -- both of them are activists. the local government, so when their houses are demolished like

this overnight, the notice was put on that house after 10:00 p.m. on saturday night and sunday afternoon, the house was demolished. even legally, there is so much discrepancy because they were not even given enough time. when something like this happens , you are also sending out a message to all the muslims across the country that if you speak up too loudly against the government, your house, the one place you are supposed to feel secure in, will be demolished and strirazed to the ground. >> you have heard thought he might talk about -- five team a -- fatima talk about houses that were destroyed, and there are politicians known for their

views against the muslim minority. they have been calling on authorities to demolish homes of people accused of crimes. doesn't that violate constitutional laws that ban collective punishment? >> there is a case pending in the high court, and that is that these bulldozers were being run -- india -- various places in various states. so the fact is, as for the fact that people are on the wrong end of the stick and the administration is punishing them, it's also a fact that this reason of illegal construction was given back in may, at least

in the case of the center of everyone's attention. his daughter was also involved in the protest at university a couple of years back. they have a history of them speaking on issues, the government has no citizenship amendment act, and all things being said, it is a fact that these activities have a history of disturbing law & order in different places in the country, and there is also a history that these houses were given notices a month back. this was on the 11th of june. the authority's justification is, he had not been applying to a series of notices, and the last notice did say, if you

don't reply, we are going to demolish your home. so the fact is, they had gone to the court and the court deems this had been done illegally, in the cases of a few individuals, but those were muslims, but i think when it is similar demolishing went on, the court stop the government in its tracks. >> i see that you want to jump in. i want to go to our next guest to get a legal perspective on this. we have heard from many in india and those who have said these demolitions are being done because of illegal construction. we have heard from many activists to say these demolitions are being done because it is a crackdown on dissent and activism. from your perspective, when these homes are being demolished, is that actually legal?

>> thank you for the question. that's the largest concern. no law permits demolishing without sufficient notice. secondly, laws do not permit an action of taking revenge by the state in this manner. in response to certain practices, made clear by members of muslim communities. i think these aspects are extremely important to note. we are still a democracy and there is a right to peaceful protest that is guaranteed under the constitution, there is a space for dissent in the country. you can criticize and disagree with the government. every time you disagree with the government, if this is the way the government reacts, using its police power to go over and bulldoze your homes, i think india is becoming much less of a

democracy than it ever was. that is the larger problem we are facing too. on the law, it is completely antithetical to the legislative rights that are in place for due process, due notice, and the majority of other rights which are part and parcel of the principles of the council of justice. none of them have been applied in most of these cases. these are people whose houses have already been demolished to do not know on what account has this happened, on the base of which particular participation has this action been taken by the state? you can see there is an absolute documentation as far as that is concerned, and the cost imposed on the people, who are only accused of certain offenses, is quite large. have essentially been rendered

homeless in a country that is not doing so well on welfare to begin with. overnight, being rendered homeless for actions that you do not have any clue that you have done, is a tragedy of the day. i think that global leaders and the global citizenry need to take note of what is happening, because it is extremely scary and frightening for indian muslims. >> fatima, i know you wanted to respond to what ashlyn was saying, so go ahead. >> one, i know a younger sister who has been living in that other life, 20 years of war. it was a gift from her maternal grandfather, through her mother, and she tells me that the family has been dedicated league paying all of its taxes -- house taxes, water taxes, everything in the mother's name one, it's the father that has been accused of

the crime. it's the mother who owns the house. if it is the mother who owns the house, why is she being punished? the father has actually done something wrong. but if it is in fact this house, why has the administration been excepting all the house taxes for years? why would this illegality never be considered until months before in all of these 20 years? let's say it is an illegal house -- you are saying this house has been demolished because it's illegal, but the speaker on your ballot also said that the police, while demolishing, gay bites to the media, saying oh, you know, these people are -- -- gave bites to the media, saying

oh, you know, these people are here illegally. but once you start thing that, you are effectively saying that this is a revenge by the state against its citizens. i would like to reiterate, in fact, even this right goes ahead to demolish the houses, it doesn't do the demolition of houses against its own citizens of palestinian ethnicity, so this is even worse. this is the state being vengeful against its own suppose it citizens -- supposed citizens. >> you wanted to jump in? go ahead. >> i don't want to jump in, i just want to make a few clarifications. i don't know why we are equating the charges with illegal construction. first of all, the house has been

not demolished. second, they are two completely separate issues. this has been pursued for over a month and it was said to be the mastermind. i respect her opinion, but she says the police actually says these people were behind it and that is why it was being done. the police had no role to play in it. the police are only there is a protection to the local authorities, the local government authorities whose job it is to ensure these illegal constructions are destroyed. we could say this happened because people were held responsible for -- what has

happened. [inaudible] so, these are two separate issues, but in case you want to say, let the court decide whether it was done, whether they are issues that, as luck would have it, would have an on-site. >> this week, letters were sent to the indian supreme court. there are prominent judges and six senior leaders that say the government has acted illegally by demolishing the house of a muslim activist following the protest. i want to ask you first, how significant is this that the letter is being sent? and in your opinion, could the judiciary in india have done more to stop these evictions, the demolishing of these home? has the judiciary been passive when it comes to allowing anti-muslim policies to keep going on? >> that's a very important

question. i think we should first look at the context in which this activism operates in india. it's important to know that courts in india, particularly the supreme court, is an interventionalists and activist court. as much as the courts do in the u.k., germany, or european countries. this is the context in which we are talking about, we have a very active, eager judiciary. if you look at how they are reacting to something that i would describe as a fundamental political crisis in india, i would think they would not be optimistic about it. since 2014, the supreme court has been extremely deferential towards the central government. it has been adopting several

tactics to not hear cases, and there have been instances where there have been substantial rights violations and the government was supposed to lead the country, and the courts refused to have a clear look at it. this is the context you are talking about, where we should assess, we should keep some optimism, we should keep some hope in favor of supports. i would think no. some of these judgments have come from the court in the past years, considering various judgments, we will see that the court has been quite active in aspects of civil authority. the judge said this is no longer an offense. we have the judgment that said

unnatural sex, as it is called, is unconstitutional. but when it comes to concrete political issues, where they are at the helm of affairs, the court had been quite hesitant. i would not have any optimism on the supreme court, on any of the courts in this political juncture. >> fatima, i want to take a step back for a moment and ask you a broader question. from your perspective, what does growing religious intolerance mean for the future of india? >> in the last eight years, it has really descended into absolute nations that most of us would not even recognize. it's heartbreaking. at the same time, as reporters, it's our job to cover the issues

. this is just one of many issues of religious discrimination by the state. in many cases it is done by dash, which means muslims are rendered second-class citizens and in effect, they feel they are unable to love the country they chose. today, 75 years later, when things like this happen and they are not safe in their home because we don't know if it will be raised to the ground, when this becomes commonplace, effectively all of these things, little by little, they make you less and less optimistic about the state of this country, especially the muslims. i cannot tell you the number of

muslims in the past five years who have left this country or are thinking of leaving this country, because that's how difficult it has become to survive and live as dignified equal citizens. >> we only have a couple of minutes left. there have been protests held in several cities against two former officials of the bjp. they made remarks about the prophet muhammad many considered offensive. prime minister modi has not controverted -- commented on the controversy over these remarks. why has he not said anything, especially when there is so much criticism of the government's stance? >> he knew about the politician that was dismissed and said to be a fringe element by the bjp. his reputation in the middle east, the arab world is quite high, and it has struck a very big note across the spectrum.

so i say, when you say there will be other people who have made remarks against the prophet , i am not aware of it. i am simply not aware of it. if you are saying so, it must be true. modi at this juncture would not like to derail what he has done in the last eight years. whatever schemes have been initiated, and there have been many, there has not been any discrimination [inaudible] one particular issue -- hindus have come to power and retain power in the form of jp in 2014. this rise of hinduism definitely is troubled because it is not a new thing.

latent fears of minorities, it is very natural, and when none of their mps are elected, it intensifies. a small remark and 1.3 billion people is made, it is made as a declaration against muslims. whenever there is an attempt to say that -- is [inaudible] but you can also say it about the targeted killings. this came on a particular day at a particular hour, people started hurting people. it is also a concern for the neutral citizen, because he knows the prophet's remark was made by a bjp -- >> i'm sorry to interrupt you,

but we have run out of time, so we will have to leave the conversation there. thank you to all of our guests. and thank you for watching. you can see the program again at any time on our website, aljazee ra.com, and you can also go to our inside story page, at @ajinsidestory. ♪ qqqqqqqaaiiiayyykkkkkkkkkkkkkkkc

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