In its annual report on religious freedom, the US Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recommended the US State Department to list India, along with five other countries, as a “country of particular concern” (CPC) for “engaging in or tolerating particularly severe violations of religious freedom.”
The Commission requested the US President Joe Biden’s administration to implement targeted sanctions, including asset freezing, on Indian government institutions and persons involved. Since 2020, USCIRF has made similar recommendations to the State Department, none of which have been approved.
Overview
According to this year’s USCIRF report, religious freedom in India “continued to worsen” as compared to last year. The report highlighted that throughout the year, “the Indian government at the national, state, and local levels promoted and enforced religiously discriminatory policies, including laws targeting religious conversion, interfaith relationships, the wearing of hijabs, and cow slaughter, which negatively impact Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, and Adivasis (indigenous peoples and scheduled tribes).”
Throughout the year, the Indian government increased the atmosphere of intimidation and fear by invoking the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Sedition Act to target freedom of religion and speech. Only 92 of more than 700 cases had reached trial as of 2022, and many of those detained under the UAPA were still in jail.
According to the report in March 2022, Karnataka’s state government banned the hijab in public schools. Despite protests, the state high court judges maintained the prohibition because they sided with the government’s claim that wearing a hijab is not essential to practising Islam.
In its Uttar Pradesh (UP) election agenda for 2022, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) pledged to impose tougher penalties for interfaith marriages.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has asked the US Department of State to designate India as a “country of particular concern” over serious violations. pic.twitter.com/iqtUGC1iJF
— Economy.pk (@pk_economy) May 2, 2023
The report stated that violent acts were committed all over India to prevent the alleged transport or slaughter of cows, which is forbidden in 18 states. In Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi, incidents of violence against Dalits, Christians, and Muslims have been recorded in connection with allegations of cow smuggling.
The report further highlighted that property damage, which included attacks on places of worship in neighbourhoods with a significant number of Muslims and Christians, persisted throughout the year.
Following protests against the BJP members’ offensive language, local authorities in UP demolished the homes of three Muslim families in June. Due to their reluctance to accept Hinduism, Hindu nationalists stormed, plundered, and damaged the homes of hundreds of Christians in December and demolished a Catholic centre close to Mangalore in February.
Social media platforms have continued to promote misinformation, hate speech, and inspire violence against religious minorities. The report provides examples, such as in February, Twitter deleted a cartoon uploaded by the Gujarat BJP’s verified account, which portrayed Muslim persons hanging by a noose.
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) continues to regurgitate biased and motivated comments about India, this time in its 2023 annual report. We reject such misrepresentation of facts, which only serves to discredit USCIRF itself: MEA Spokesperson… pic.twitter.com/08MISTWYum
— ANI (@ANI) May 2, 2023
Key Recommendations to the US Government
The Commission proposed to the US government many recommendations, including designating India as a CPC, for violating religious freedom in a systematic, ongoing, and egregious way, as defined by the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA).
The report suggested condemning continued breaches of religious freedom and assisting oppressed religious organisations and human rights organisations to promote religious freedom.
It also proposed that the US government should impose targeted sanctions on Indian government organisations and officials accountable for severe violations of religious freedom by freezing their assets and preventing their entry into the US under financial and visa laws related to human rights.
India’s Response
According to Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the Commission “continues to regurgitate” such views, and the Indian government rejects the report’s “misrepresentation of facts,” which only helps to “discredit USCIRF itself.”
Bagchi stated that the USCIRF should “desist from such efforts and develop a better understanding of India, its plurality, its democratic ethos and its constitutional mechanisms.”
The report, according to Khanderao Kand of the Foundation of Indian and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS), “conveniently lists delays in court cases but conveniently omits the fact that the Assam High Court actually ordered the implementation of the NRC, not the government.” He added that the report disregards the constitutional ban on cow slaughter and cows’ cultural and economic importance to Indian villages.