In a significant development, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) report-2022 has accused the Government of Indiaof promoting the “Hindu nationalist agenda” affecting religious minorities and Dalits. The panel has also recommended India be designated as a ‘country of particular concern’ based on severe religious violation in 2021.
Syed Khalique Ahmed
NEW DELHI—Stating that the “religious freedom conditions in India worsened significantly in 2021”, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) report-2022 has accused the Government of India of promoting the “Hindu nationalist agenda.”
The accusations have been levelled in USCIRF report-2022 released yesterday.
However, India has not reacted to the report so far.
According to the report, “During 2021, the Indian government escalated its promotion and enforcement of policies-including those promoting a Hindu-nationalist agenda-that negatively affect Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, and other religious minorities.”
“The government continued to systemize its ideological vision of a Hindu state at both the national and state levels through the use of both existing and new laws and structural changes hostile to the country’s religious minorities,” claims the report.
The report said that “In 2021, the Indian government repressed critical voices— especially religious minorities and those reporting on and advocating for them—through harassment, investigation, detention, and prosecution under laws such as the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and the Sedition Law.”
“The UAPA and Sedition Law have been invoked to create an increasing climate of intimidation and fear in an effort to silence anyone speaking out against the government,” it pointed out.
It gives the examples of how Father Stan Swamy, an 84-year-old Jesuit priest and longtime human rights defender of Adivasis, Dalits, and other marginalized communities, was arrested on dubious UAPA charges in October 2020 and never tried.
Fr Stan Swamy died in custody in July 2021 despite repeated concerns raised about his health.
“The government arrested, filed complaints against, and launched criminal investigations into journalists and human rights advocates documenting religious persecution and violence, including Khurram Parvez, a prominent Muslim human rights advocate who has reported on abuses in Jammu and Kashmir,” the report noted.
The report says that the government also targeted “individuals documenting or sharing information about violence against Muslims, Christians, and other religious minorities.”
Giving examples, the report said that complaints under UAPA were filed against individuals for tweeting about attacks on mosques in Tripura.
The report also highlights the concerns raised by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in September 2021 about the use of UAPA throughout India, with the highest cases under UAPA registered in Jammu and Kashmir.
The report has also pointed out about Indian government creating problems for religious and charitable NGOs seeking international funding.
The reports accuses the government of collaborating with non-state actors against interfaith marriage and conversion of Hindus to Christianity and Islam.
“In October 2021, Karnataka’s government ordered a survey of churches and priests in the state and authorized police to conduct a door-to-door inspection to find Hindus who have converted to Christianity,” says the report.
“In June 2021, Yogi Adityanath, chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, warned that he would invoke the National Security Act, which allows for the detention of anyone acting in any manner that threatens the security of state, and that he would also deploy a team of over 500 officials to counter those (including, by his account, children) who were carrying out conversion activities,” the report goes on.
Recommends India to be designated a ‘country of particular concern’
USCIRF report also recommended Inia to be designated as a ‘country of particular concern’ (CPC) based on religious freedom conditions in 2021.
Other countries designed as CPC this year are Afghanistan, Syria, Vietnam and Nigeria, for “engaging in and tolerating systemic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.”
The countries that have been redesignated as CPC are Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.
CPC is reserved for the countries that indulge in worst violation of religious freedom.
The USCIRF was set up under International Religious Freedom Act(IRFA), 1998 and amended in 1999.
IRFA empowers the US Secretary of State to impose sanctions on the particular countries to address the issues of religious violations in those countries.
