Freedom of religion: India
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Contents |
Religious Freedom in India
ARFA JAVAID, April 23, 2021: Jagranjosh
Articles 25-28 of the Indian Constitution grants religious freedom in India and Articles 29 and 30 of the Indian Constitution deals with the protection of interest of minorities.
Article 25: Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion.
Article 26: Freedom to manage religious affairs.
Article 27: Freedom as to payment of taxes for promotion of any particular religion.
Article 28: Freedom as to attendance at religious instruction or religious worship in certain educational institutions.
Article 29: Any citizen/section of citizens having a distinct language, script or culture have the right to conserve the same. No discrimination would be done on the ground of religion, race, caste, or language.
Article 30: All minorities, whether based on religion or language, shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.
U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom’s annual reports
2020
SUHASINI HAIDAR, April 28, 2020: The Hindu
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has downgraded India to the lowest ranking, “countries of particular concern” (CPC) in its 2020 report. The report, released in Washington by the federal government commission that functions as an advisory body, placed India alongside countries, including China, North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. India was categorised as a “Tier 2 country” in last year’s listing. This is the first time since 2004 that India has been placed in this category.
“India took a sharp downward turn in 2019,” the commission noted in its report, which included specific concerns about the Citizenship Amendment Act , the proposed National Register for Citizens, anti-conversion laws and the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. “The national government used its strengthened parliamentary majority to institute national-level policies violating religious freedom across India, especially for Muslims.” The panel said that the CPC designation was also recommended because “national and various State governments also allowed nationwide campaigns of harassment and violence against religious minorities to continue with impunity, and engaged in and tolerated hate speech and incitement to violence against them”.
The Centre reacted sharply to the USCIRF report, terming it “biased and tendentious” and rejected its observations.
“We reject the observations on India in the USCIRF Annual Report,” official spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said. “Its biased and tendentious comments against India are not new. But on this occasion, its misrepresentation has reached new levels. It has not been able to carry its own Commissioners in its endeavour. We regard it as an organisation of particular concern and will treat it accordingly,” Mr. Srivastava added.
Three of the 10 USCIRF commissioners, including Gary Bauer, Johnnie Lee, and Tenzin Dorjee, dissented with the panel’s recommendation on India as being ‘too harsh’ and that ended up placing the country alongside what they termed as “rogue nations” like China and North Korea.
“I am confident that India will reject any authoritarian temptation and stand with the United States and other free nations in defence of liberty, including religious liberty,” wrote Commissioner Bauer in his dissenting note.
The commission also recommended that the U.S. government take stringent action against India under the “International Religious Freedom Act” (IRFA). It called on the administration to “impose targeted sanctions on Indian government agencies and officials responsible for severe violations of religious freedom by freezing those individuals’ assets and/or barring their entry into the United States under human rights-related financial and visa authorities, citing specific religious freedom violations”. In 2005, Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was at the time the Chief Minister of Gujarat was censured by the USCIRF. The commission had recommended sanctions against Mr. Modi for the 2002 riots and the U.S. government had subsequently cancelled his visa.
The USCIRF 2020 report makes a specific mention of Home Minister Amit Shah, for not taking what it deemed as sufficient action to stop cases of mob lynching in the country, and for referring to migrants as “termites”. In December 2019, the USCIRF had also asked the U.S. government to consider sanctions against Mr. Shah and “other principal leadership” over the decision to pass the Citizenship Amendment Act. The Ministry of External Affairs had rejected the USCIRF statement as neither “accurate nor warranted” and questioned the body’s “locus standi” in India’s internal affairs. The MEA had also criticised the USCIRF for a tweet on religious segregation in hospitals while treating COVID-19 patients, saying that the U.S. body made “peremptory commentary on religious freedom in India” and spread “misguided reports”.
2021
ARFA JAVAID, April 23, 2021: Jagranjosh
The United Nations Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has recommended putting India on a list of CPCs or Countries of Particular Concern for the second year in a row due to the violations of religious freedoms in the year 2020. Earlier, in its 2020 Human Rights Report, the US State Department pointed out several Human Rights issues in India.
International Religious Freedom Report 2021
The report focuses on two groups of countries, namely, Countries of Particular Concern and Special Watch List Countries. It also focusses on the Entities of Particular Concern.
Countries of Particular Concern
1- Burma
2- China
3- Eritrea
4- India
5- Iran
6- Nigeria
7- North Korea
8- Pakistan
9- Russia
10- Saudi Arabia
11- Syria
12- Tajikistan
13- Turkmenistan
14- Vietnam
Special Watch List Countries
1- Afghanistan
2- Algeria
3- Azerbaijan
4- Cuba
5- Egypt
6- Indonesia
7- Iraq
8- Kazakhstan
9- Malaysia
10- Nicaragua
11- Turkey
12- Uzbekistan
Entities of Particular Concern
1- Al-Shabaab
2- Boko Haram
3- The Houthis
4- Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)
5- Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS)
6- Jamaat Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM)
7- Taliban
Key Findings of USCIRF for India:
The report stated that religious freedom conditions in India continued their negative trajectory in 2020. The report highlighted that the present government led by Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) promoted Hindu nationalist policies which resulted in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.
1- Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA): In early 2020, the government passed CAA which is a fast track to citizenship for non-Muslim migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan residing in India. The country witnessed widespread protest against the religiously discriminatory Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and state and non-state violence, largely targetting Muslims.
2- Delhi Riots: The national capital witnessed the worst Hindu-Muslim mob violence in more than three decades, leaving over 50 dead and 200 injured. The report further stated that the mobs sympathetic to Hindu nationalism operated with impunity, using brutal force to single out Muslims, attack mosques, and destroy homes and businesses in majority-Muslim neighbourhoods. As per Delhi Minorities Commission, the violence and allegations of police brutality and complicity were 'seemingly planned and directed to teach a lesson to a certain community which dared to protest against a discriminatory law'.
3- National Register of Citizens (NRC): The USCIRF in its report underscored that in conjunction with the proposed NRC, CAA could subject Muslims, in particular to statelessness, deportation or prolonged detention. In 2019, statewide NRC was implemented in the northeastern state of Assam. It excluded around 1.9 million residents (both Hindus and Muslims) from the citizenship register. The major area of concern is the large detention camp being built in Assam and the potential impact the said law may have if extended nationwide.
4- Anti-conversion Law in Uttar Pradesh: In late 2020, UP Government passed an ordinance to void any marriage conducted for the sole purpose of unlawful conversion or vice-versa. Inflammatory campaigns decrying interfaith relationships were launched, leading to attacks and arrests of non-Hindus and to innuendo, suspicion, and violence toward any interfaith interaction Similar legislations are being pushed in states such as Haryana, Assam and Karnataka while it is approved in Madhya Pradesh.
5- Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA): In September 2020, the Indian Parliament amended the FCRA, imposing restrictions on NGOs, leading civil socities, religious and human rights organizations to shut down. UAPA and other legislations were used by the government to detain advocates, media and academics, including religious minorities. In recent years, the FCRA licenses of hundreds of NGOs were revoked or suspended by the government.
6- Dissemination of false information: At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, government officials and non-state actors continued to harass and spread hatred and disinformation against minority communities, including Muslims, Christians, and Dalits. Also, images with false information on social media implicated religious communities in cow slaughter and other alleged offences. This resulted in more than 120 cases of violence.
7- Individuals accused of demolishing Babri Masjid: All the individuals accused of demolishing Babri Masjid were acquitted, contributing to a culture of impunity for those promulgating hate and violence toward religious minorities.
8- Crackdown on expressing dissent: The government detained and accused individuals of sedition on expressing dissent on governmental inactions.
9- Religious freedom in Jammu and Kashmir: Restrictions on freedom of movement and assembly negatively impacted religious freedom in Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir. The region also witnessed an internet shutdown for nearly 18 months-- the longest-ever shutdown in any democracy.
Recommendations of USCIRF:
1- It has recommended the US government to designate India as a CPC for engaging in and tolerating systematic ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations.
2- The US Government must 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.
3- It has recommended the US administration advance the human rights of all religious communities in India and promote religious freedom, dignity and interfaith dialogue through bilateral and multilateral forums and agreements.
4- The US government must condemn ongoing religious freedom violations and support religious organizations and human rights groups being targeted for their advocacy of religious freedom.
5- The US Congress should continue to raise religious freedom concerns in the U.S.-India bilateral relationship by hosting hearings, writing letters and constituting Congressional delegations.
2022
SRIRAM LAKSHMAN, April 25, 2022 : The Hindu
Saying religious freedom conditions in India had “significantly worsened“ in 2021, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), a bipartisan, independent body, recommended, for the third year in a row, that India be designated a ‘Country of Particular Concern’ (CPC), i.e., the category of governments performing most poorly on religious freedom criteria.
The State Department, which has its own Office of International Religious Freedom, is not bound by the Commission’s recommendations and has not accepted the CPC recommendation for India for the two years.
“During the year, 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 report said. “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.”
The report section on India said that the government had “repressed critical voices”, especially minority communities and individuals reporting on them. It mentions the arrest of rights activist Khuran Pervez in Kashmir, and the July 2021 death of octogenarian Father Stan Swamy, arrested in October 2020 under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). The report touches on challenges faced by Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs), especially with regard to foreign funding. It also highlights anti-conversion laws.
“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,” the report said.
Other countries recommended for the CPC designation were: Afghanistan, Nigeria, Syria and Vietnam. USCIRF recommended that the State Department redesignate Myanmar, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan as CPCs.
The government has, previously, pushed back against the USCIRF’s grading, questioning its locus standi. In 2020, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar called the Commission an “Organisation of Particular Concern.”
Mr Jaishankar, who was in Washington two weeks ago for the 2+2 U.S.-India defence and foreign ministry dialogue, said that the state of human rights in India had not been raised at the dialogue. At an April 11 joint press conference of officials from both countries, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had made the general point that the U.S. remains concerned about human right violations in India.
2023
A federal U.S. commission has urged the Biden administration to impose targeted sanctions on Indian Government agencies and officials responsible for “severe violations” of religious freedom in the country by freezing their assets.
The U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) also recommended to Congress to raise the issue of religious freedom during U.S.-India bilateral meetings and hold hearings on it.
In its annual report on religious freedom, the USCIRF asked the U.S State Department to designate India as a “country of particular concern” on the status of religious freedom along with several other nations.
The USCIRF has been making similar recommendations to the State Department since 2020, which have not been accepted.
The recommendations of USCIRF are not mandatory for the State Department.
‘Misrepresenting facts’: India
India has previously slammed the USCIRF for "misrepresenting" facts. India has also described it as an "organisation of particular concern."
In July, in a strong reaction, the Ministry of External Affairs said that "These comments reflect a severe lack of understanding of India and its constitutional framework, its plurality and its democratic ethos."
“We have seen the biased and inaccurate comments on India by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF),” it said.
"Regrettably, USCIRF continues to misrepresent facts time and again in its statements and reports in pursuance of its motivated agenda. Such actions only serve to strengthen concerns about the credibility and objectivity of the organisation."
Laws target freedom of religion and press: USCIRF
In its India section of the latest report, the USCIRF alleged that in 2022, religious freedom conditions in India continued to worsen.
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.
“The national government also continued to suppress critical voices -- particularly religious minorities and those advocating on their behalf -- including through surveillance, harassment, demolition of property, and detention under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and by targeting nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA),” the USCIRF alleged.
Report fails to capture cultural nuance: expert
Responding to questions, State Department’s Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters that USCIRF is not a branch of the State Department, or the Executive Branch and its report reflects the importance of religious freedom to the American people.
“While the report's recommendations for designations overlap to some extent with the State Department's lists of countries of particular concern, it is not entirely conclusive. Governments or other entities with questions or comments about this report should reach out to the Commission directly,” Mr. Patel said on Monday.
The U.S.-based non-profit organisation, Foundation of Indian and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS) slammed the USCIRF for its “biased” report.
“While the USCIRF is predictably attempting to revive its annual case against India for inclusion in the CPC, it does so with a weaker set of data points that are predictably filled with both omission and commission,” Khanderao Kand of FIIDS said in a statement.
“It 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,” Mr. Kand said.
Furthermore, the report fails to acknowledge the cultural and economic significance of cows to Indian villagers, not to mention the constitutional ban on cow slaughter.
It conveniently ignores the fact that the bulldozed houses were illegal and notified, and the list of omissions goes on. Astonishingly, the USCIRF fails to mention the beheadings of Hindus and their targeted killings by jihadi Muslims in Kashmir, he said.
“Moreover, there seems to be a biased agenda of USCIRF generalising isolated incidents without considering the complexities of India's diverse population of 1.3 billion people. It is clear that the USCIRF's renewed effort lacks the necessary objectivity and fairness, and it raises questions about their true intentions and credibility," Kand said.
Muslim body welcomes report
The Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) welcomed the USCIRF’s decision to recommend that India be designated as a country of particular concern for the fourth consecutive year.
“This decision reaffirms what IMAC has been saying for years that India's government, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has continued to systematically violate the religious freedom of minority communities, particularly Muslims and Christians,” said Rasheed Ahmed, IAMC executive director.
“It is high time that the State Department acts on USCIRF’s recommendation and holds India accountable as the ground situation becomes increasingly more violent and dangerous for its religious minorities. We particularly welcome that the report highlights the systematic and appalling harassment of Journalists,” Mr. Ahmed said.
