At US congressional hearing, panellists express deep concern over the unceasing decline of religious freedoms in India
The hearing discussed the issue of increased religious intolerance against minorities in India and how the US government can work with the Indian government to address violations.
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RECENTLY, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) hosted a congressional hearing on 'Advancing Religious Freedom within the US India Bilateral Relationship'.
The hearing discussed the issue of increased religious intolerance against minorities in India and how the US government can work with the Indian government to address violations.
About the hearing
The hearing began by taking note of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Washington in June, which was reflective of a growing closeness between the US and India.
Sounding a note of caution, the hearing notes that over the last decade, the Indian government has enacted and enforced discriminatory policies targeting religious minorities.
The hearings lists some of these policies as anti-conversion laws, many of which require permission from government authorities to validate conversions; cow slaughter laws, which prohibit the slaughter of cows and transport of their meat, and prescribe punishments up to life imprisonment in some states; legislation granting citizenship based on religion (the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019) (CAA); and restrictions on foreign funding of civil society organisations, which are hounded for violations of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), 2010, the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 and, in certain cases, even the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), 1967.
The USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the US Congress to monitor, analyse and report religious freedom abroad. The recommendations made by USCIRF are not binding on the US State department. The hearing was open to the members of the U.S. Congress, the media, and the public.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Ministry Issues, Fernand de Varennes was invited as one of the panellists to testify.
The other panellists included Tariq Ahmad, a foreign law specialist; Sarah Yadav, Director of the Human Rights Watch; Irfan Nooruddin, Hamad bin Khalifa Professor of Indian Politics; and Sunita Viswanath, Executive Director of Hindus for Human Rights.
Viswanath was also representing the Dalit Solidarity Forum, the Federation of Indian American Christian Organisation of North America, the Indian American Muslim Council, India Civil Watch International and the New York State Council of Churches.
During the hearing, witnesses gave testimony exploring policy options for the US to work with India in combating religious freedom violations and other human rights in the country.
At the conclusion of the hearing, the USCIRF issued a statement in which its chair Abraham Cooper noted: "Religious freedom conditions in India have notably declined in the recent years."
Cooper continued: "Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Dalits, and Adivasis are experiencing increased levels of attacks and acts of intimidation. Authorities have continued to suppress minority voices and those advocating on their behalf. These trends, and their implication for foreign policy, should not be ignored."
According to Frank. R Wolf Freedom of Religion or Belief Victims List, a public database of individuals known to have been detained on the basis of the peaceful exercise of their freedom of religion or belief, includes 37 individuals across multiple faiths imprisoned in India.
The USCIRF Vice Chair Frederick A. Davie said that during the hearing, two specific cases of Meeran Haider and Rupesh Singh, who were detained for protesting religious freedom conditions, were brought to the attention of the committee.
Davie said: "Haider was targeted for leading peaceful protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019, and was charged with offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967."
He continued: "Singh is a freelance journalist known for his reporting on state violence and discrimination against Adivasis. He has been detained since July 2022, also under the UAPA."
Davie has called on the Indian government to evaluate these cases and release all prisoners of conscience.
Written statements
The hearing also received written statements from Hindus for Human Rights, the Sikh Coalition, and by John Newton, Aid to the Church in Need International.
In their written statement, Hindus for Human Rights raised other issues as well such as the hijab ban in Karnataka, cow vigilantism in the form of gau rakshaks, and the attitude towards the LGBTQIA+ community exemplified in the attack on the maker of the film Kaali.
The statement asserts that the Bharatiya Janata Party-promoted notion of "Hindu rashtra, or Hindu nation, envisioned by the Hindu nationalist movement, there is only one way to be a 'true' Hindu, and that way is inextricably intertwined with fear, suspicion, and even outright hatred towards Muslims and other minorities, including Dalit (oppressed caste) and Adivasi (Indigenous tribal) communities."
It references the Dharma Sansad held "in the north Indian city of Haridwar in December 2021, where saffron-robed Hindu leaders called for Hindus to take up arms and commit genocidal violence against Indian Muslims," and extols the US government to use its growing bilateral bonhomie to put pressure on the government of India to "respect the rights of all the people in India".
In their written statement, the Sikh Coalition highlights "the alarming trend of authoritarianism and targeting of Sikhs". The statement substantiates its claims by giving the example of a week-long military mobilisation and internet and information clampdown in March this year, and the example of the farmer's protests in September 2020.
The Sikh Coalition statement also points towards the growing trend of "transnational censorship from India" in the form of punitive action against foreigners and people of Indian origin if they write anything critical of the Modi government or the doctrine of Hindutva.
These punitive measures usually come in the form of cancellation of travel permissions to India, withdrawal of Overseas Citizens of India privileges and trolling by the large and well-oiled right-wing Hindu juggernaut present online.
The statement also underscores the growing domestic concerns of Hindu nationalism and foreign interference in the US. "Hindu nationalists and White supremacists are also worryingly becoming further aligned to advance their respective agendas of prejudice in establishing racially pure societies," the statement reads.
The written statement by John Newton, Aid to the Church in Need International, highlights the attack on churches and Christians in Manipur and provides graphic details of the "ethnic cleansing" taking place in the state.
Background
The issue of worsening religious freedom in India has been a bone of contention between the Modi-led BJP government and the US for many years now.
While the US government, mostly prompted by rights groups and minority organisations within the country, have expressed concern over the decline in freedoms in India, the Modi government has adopted a policy to respond strongly to such allegations.
The congressional hearing comes mere weeks after the US President Joe Biden, in his official visit to Vietnam, said that he raised the issue of "the importance of respecting human rights with PM Modi" during his visit to India to attend the G20 Summit in New Delhi.
It was rumoured that he was not "allowed" to hold the press conference in India.
In 2022, in an end-of-the-year country update, the USCIRF said that religious freedom and related human rights in India are under an "ongoing threat".
The Ministry of External Affairs termed these remarks "biased and inaccurate observations".
The spokesperson of the ministry, Arindam Bagchi, said: "Their tendency to consistently misrepresent facts shows a lack of understanding of India, its constitutional framework, plurality and robust democratic system".
In May, the US State department released an annual report on the status of religious freedom in India.
The India 2022 International Religious Freedom Report tabulated incidents of violence in 2022 against religious minorities in India.
The USCIRF recommended designating India as a "country of particular concern" for its systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom under the International Religious Freedom Act, 1998.
It was the fourth consecutive time such a recommendation was made.
The report refers to the Freedom in the World ranking in which India, with a score of 67 out of 100, is considered as "partly free".
In 2019, the United States House Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee on Asia and Pacific held a hearing on the human rights violations in the backdrop of the de-operationalisation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution.
The hearing focused on the arrests of political activists in Kashmir and the blanket suspension of telecom services.
The hearing also criticised the enactment of the CAA.
In 2005, Modi, who was then the Chief Minister of Gujarat, was denied visa for his alleged involvement in the 2002 Gujarat riots under the US International Religious Freedom Act, 1998.
In June this year, in the context of Modi's trip to the US, former US President Barack Obama had said that there was "a strong possibility that India at some point starts pulling apart" because of religious tensions.
His statement was widely ridiculed by right-wing Hindus on the internet and in the media.
In an apparent reference to Obama's Muslim antecedents, Himanta Biswa Sarma, the chief minister of Assam, had tweeted at that time, "There are many Hussain Obama in India itself. We should prioritise taking care of them before considering going to Washington."
