America
India slams US panel report on religious freedom
New Delhi, May 1
India has slammed a US
government panel report that claims direct link between the 2014 general
elections in India and the spike in attacks on religious minorities in
the country.
The report said since the 2014 elections, religious
minority communities in India have been "subject to derogatory comments
by politicians linked to the ruling BJP" as well as "numerous violent
attacks and forced conversions by Hindu nationalist groups, such as RSS
and VHP".
External affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup said, "Our
attention has been drawn to a report of the USCIRF which has passed
judgement on religious freedom in India. The report appears to be based
on limited understanding of India, its constitution and its society."
"We take no cognizance of the report," he said.
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released its 2015 Annual Report on April 30.
USCIRF
is an "independent, bipartisan US federal government commission, the
first of its kind in the world, dedicated to defending the universal
right to freedom of religion or belief abroad," the website says.
"USCIRF
reviews the facts and circumstances of religious freedom violations and
makes policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State,
and Congress. USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the president and
the Congressional leadership of both political parties," says the
website.
The annual report, which devoted five pages to India,
has recommended that India along with 10 countries be placed as Tier 2
countries as "those countries whose governments engage in or tolerate at
least one of the elements of the 'systematic, ongoing, and egregious'
standard, but do not fully meet the CPC standard."
CPC stands for
"Countries of Particular Concern" -- defined under law as countries
where particularly severe violations of religious freedom are tolerated
or perpetrated: Central African Republic, Egypt, Iraq, Nigeria,
Pakistan, Syria, Tajikistan, and Vietnam.
The eight Tier 2
countries are: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Cuba, India, Indonesia,
Kazakhstan, Laos, Malaysia, Russia, and Turkey.
Other countries monitored include Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Cyprus, Kyrgyzstan, and Sri Lanka.
The
report, which devotes a section to "Hindu Nationalist Groups and Forced
Conversions", mentions the proposed "Ghar Wapsi" plan of RSS leader
Mohan Bhagwat on Christmas Day last year as well as the other reported
incidents of "ghar wapsi" (re-co0nversions) by Hindu rightwing groups.
On
the anti-conversion law passed by some states, it claims the law is
"one-sided" and is "only concerned about conversions away from Hinduism
but not towards Hinduism".
It says: "Observers note they create a
hostile, and on occasion violent, environment for religious minority
communities because they do not require any evidence to support
accusations."
The report also notes US President Barack Obama's
comments on religious freedom in India, including during his visit to
India in January and during the US National Prayer Breakfast address in
February.
Obama in his town hall event in New Delhi had
"underscored the importance of religious freedom to India's success",
urging the country to not be "splintered along the lines of religious
faith".
Among its six recommendations to the US government are:
"Integrate concern for religious freedom into bilateral contacts with
India, including the framework of future Strategic Dialogues, at both
the federal and provincial level"; "Increase the US embassy's attention
to issues of religious freedom and related human rights, including
through visits by the Ambassador and other officials to areas where
communal and religiously-motivated violence has occurred or is likely to
occur and meetings with religious communities, local governmental
leaders, and police; "Urge the central Indian government to press states
that have adopted anti-conversion laws to repeal or amend them to
conform with internationally-recognized human rights standards"; "Urge
the Indian government to publicly rebuke government officials and
religious leaders that make derogatory statements about religious
communities."