“India is on a negative trajectory in terms of religious freedom,” the U.S Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has said, and recommended to the U.S. government that its bilateral contacts with New Delhi, “including the framework of future Strategic Dialogues,” must integrate this concern.
India maintains that the USCIRF has “no locus standi to comment on the state of Indian citizens’ constitutionally protected rights,” and the commission has been denied permission to visit India for the preparation of its annual reports since 2009. It was a USCIRF recommendation that formed the basis of U.S. government denying a visa to Mr. Modi when he was Gujarat Chief Minister.
The 2016 annual report of the commission released on Monday said “religious tolerance deteriorated and religious freedom violations increased in India” in 2015, correlated it to the BJP’s victory in 2014 and named Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Vishva Hindu Parishad for “numerous violent attacks and forced conversions.”
Amit Shah named BJP president Amit Shah finds mention in the report for advocating a law against conversion. “The BJP is a Hindu nationalist party that was founded in collaboration with the RSS, and the two maintain close ties at the highest levels,” the report said.
The report places India in the Tier 2 category of countries, which is defined as those “where the violations engaged in or tolerated by the government are serious and are characterised by at least one of the elements - ‘systematic, ongoing or egregious.’ If the situation in a country is characterised by all three features, it is designated a ‘country of particular concern.’ India has been a Tier 2 country since 2009, but the commission will monitor the situation closely during the year ahead to determine if India should be recommended to the U.S. State Department for designation as a ‘country of particular concern,’ the report said.
The commission noted that in mid-February 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated “publicly, for the first time, that his government “will ensure that there is complete freedom of faith and that everyone has the undeniable right to retain or adopt the religion of his or her choice without coercion or undue influence.” This statement is notable given long- standing allegations that, as Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2002, he was complicit in anti-Muslim riots that occurred in that state.”
“While Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, and other minority communities recognise that religious freedom issues in India predate the current government, these communities report that targeting of them has increased under the BJP government,” the report said.
The commission noted that during the past year, the Muslim community in India reported increased harassment, violence, and targeted hate campaigns. “Muslims often are accused of being terrorists; spying for Pakistan; forcibly kidnapping, converting, and marrying Hindu women; and disrespecting Hinduism by slaughtering cows,” the report said. According to the commission, there were “at least 365 major attacks on Christians and their institutions during 2015, com- pared to 120 in 2014,” and Sikhs are often harassed and pressured to reject reli- gious practices and beliefs that are distinct to Sikhism.
The USCIRF recommended to the government that the U.S. embassy in New Delhi must increase its attention to issues of religious freedom and the ambassador and other officials must visit areas where communal violence takes place. It also sought the U.S government to press for the repeal of anti-conversion laws in several Indian states or to “amend them to conform with internationally-rec- ognized human rights standards.”
