The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has listed India and thirteen other countries as Countries of Particular Concern (CPCs). This is the second time in row that India has been on this list. The USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan US government advisory body, that monitors and reports on religious freedom abroad and makes policy recommendations to the President, Secretary of State, and Congress.
The report raises concerns over various incidents from the past year, beginning with “the passage of the religiously discriminatory Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA)—a fast track to citizenship for non-Muslim migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan residing in India—led to nationwide protests against the CAA and spurred state and nonstate violence, largely targeting Muslims.” There was a mention of the February, 2020 pogroms of Delhi, which the report referred to as “the worst Hindu-Muslim mob violence in more than three decades”.
The efforts to prohibit inter-faith marriages relationships using the false narrative of “forced conversion”, made it to the report. Sates like Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have passed ordinances voiding these marriages and are being pushed in other states like Haryana, Assam and Karnataka.
Making reference to the Tablighi Jamat Markaz of March 2020, the report said, “At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, disinformation and hateful rhetoric—including from government officials—often targeted religious minorities, continuing familiar patterns.”
Another alarming question the report raises is that of the acquittal of all accused in Babri Demolition. “Government action—including the acquittal of all individuals accused of demolishing the Babri Masjid mosque—as well as government inaction to address religious violence contributed to a culture of impunity for those promulgating hate and violence toward religious minorities.”
Citing all these instances along with a few others in the report, the US Commission has recommended to the US Government that it designates India as a “country of particular concern” or CPC for engaging in and tolerating systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations, as defined by the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA).
In another recommendation in the report, the Commission has asked the US government to, “Impose targeted sanctions on individuals and entities responsible for severe violations of religious freedom by freezing those individuals’ or entities’ assets and/or barring their entry into the United States”.
The US government has been recommended to “condemn ongoing religious freedom violations and support religious organizations and human rights groups being targeted for their advocacy of religious freedom”. And in its last recommendation, it has suggested that the US Congress continues to raise religious freedom concerns in the U.S.-India bilateral relationship and highlight concerns through hearings, briefings, letters, and congressional delegations.
Concerns regarding religious freedom in the Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir have been raised. The report says that “the restrictions on freedom of movement and assembly negatively impacted religious freedom, including the observance of religious holy days and the ability to attend prayers. The shutdown of the internet for nearly 18 months—the longest-ever shutdown in any democracy—and other restrictions on communications caused significant disruption and limited religious freedom.”
Johnnie Moore, The President of The Congress of Christian Leaders, expecting from the Indian government and the populace that it preserves social harmony and protects the rights of everyone, added, “Of all the countries in the world, India should not be a ‘country of particular concern,’ or CPC. It is the world’s largest democracy and it is governed by a pristine constitution. It is diversity personified and its religious life has been its greatest historic blessing. Yet, India does seem to be at a crossroads.”
As mentioned earlier, this is the second consecutive year that the US Commission has asked the state department to add India to the list. But the state department did not accept the recommendation. This year’s report alleged that the religious freedom in India “continued their negative trajectory”.