Amid a debate over whether intolerance is on the rise in India, secretary general of NGO Amnesty International, Salil Shetty , was in New Delhi to issue a “statement of concern” over what he terms the “chilling” marginalisation of the minority community in India. Excerpts from an interview.

Why the statement of concern?

There has been a ratcheting up of the issue of communalism… which is having a chilling effect on minorities. It’s a phenomenon we are seeing across the world. The difference is that unlike Duterte in Philippines, Erdogan in Turkey or Trump in the US, with the top leaders making outrageous statements, you will never see that of PM Modi. So he has never come under the scanner internationally.

The PM has spoken against cow vigilantism many times.

I hope it has an impact, it’s the right thing to do, and he should have done it much earlier.

Actions like beef ban have played a part?

Ten or more lynchings since April of this year, almost all Muslims. It is clearly a discriminatory law, as it impacts Muslims and Dalits.