OTTAWA, Canada: Two Canada-based rights groups have urged the Canadian government to impose sanctions on eight Indian officials, including Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, over serious human rights violations against Muslims in the northern Indian state.
Justice For All Canada and the Canadian Forum for Human Rights and Democracy in India (CFHRDI) submitted a joint civil society petition to the Global Affairs Canada Sanctions Bureau on Monday.
The confidential submission calls for action under Canada’s existing sanctions framework, including the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act and the Special Economic Measures Act, the groups said.
The organisations alleged a sustained pattern of abuses in Uttar Pradesh, including extrajudicial killings, police violence and torture, punitive demolitions, mass arrests and crackdowns targeting Muslim communities.
The submission names Adityanath, a senior leader of India’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), along with current and former senior police officials.
𝗖𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗱𝗮 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽𝘀 𝗦𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗔𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝗴𝗶 𝗔𝗱𝗶𝘁𝘆𝗮𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗵
Canadian rights groups Justice For All Canada and CFHRDI have urged Global Affairs Canada to sanction Yogi Adityanath and seven officials, citing alleged abuses against… pic.twitter.com/aHSJKKMgYy— Kumar R Talukdar🇮🇳 (@Kumarjyoti49291) August 14, 2026
Adityanath, a Hindu monk and politician, has served as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh since 2017.
The groups alleged that the officials named in their submission were linked to a broader pattern of abuses carried out with state support and impunity.
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“Canada cannot deepen trade ties with India while looking away from credible evidence of state-backed abuses against Muslims,” said Taha Ghayyur, executive director of Justice For All Canada.
“If human rights are absent from Canada’s relationship with India, then accountability becomes optional for officials named in the submission,” he said.
Ghayyur said Canadian sanctions remained among the few avenues available when domestic accountability mechanisms had failed.
The groups called on Global Affairs Canada to independently review the evidence and consider targeted sanctions against the eight officials.
They also urged Canadian MPs and federal officials to meet affected communities and civil society organisations and ensure human rights remained central to Canada’s engagement with India.
Concerns over India’s Uttar Pradesh state
The groups said Uttar Pradesh had been the focus of repeated concerns over the treatment of Muslims since Adityanath became chief minister.
They cited allegations of police violence, extrajudicial killings, punitive demolitions and mass arrests.
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They also pointed to recent measures affecting university students and campuses, which they said had raised concerns over restrictions on dissent and minority communities.
The submission referred to previous concerns raised by international rights organisations and institutions, including the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, United Nations human rights experts, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the Panel of Independent International Experts.
Those organisations have raised concerns over discrimination, repression and violence affecting Muslims and other minority communities in India.
Last week, more than 40 Canadian civil society, human rights, labour and faith-based organisations separately urged Canada’s public safety minister to deny entry to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat over similar allegations.
