Freedom of association encompasses both an individual’s right to join or leave groups voluntarily and the right of the group in question to take collective action in the interests of its members. Freedom of Association is both an individual right and collective right. It is also protected under articles 20 and 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1 , under Article 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 2 and Article 11 under the UK’s 1998 Human Rights Act 3.
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In recent years there has been increasingly violent repression of dissent in India by its government. In particular, this issue has has been exemplified by the arbitrary detention and harassment of activists and human rights defenders by the state in relation to their participation in peaceful protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 (CAA), the National Population Register and the National Register of Citizens, among many other national and international agreements.