India has reacted sharply to a report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) projecting the country negatively on religious tolerance. The Government on Tuesday made it clear that it does not need any certification from any US agency on the religious freedom it provides to its citizens and that the report
fails to show proper understanding of India, its Constitution and society.
“Our attention has been drawn to the recent report by the USCIRF, which once again fails to show proper understanding of India, its Constitution and its society. India is a vibrant pluralistic society founded on strong democratic principles. The Indian Constitution guarantees fundamental rights to all its citizens including the right to freedom of religion. Government does not see the locus standi of a foreign entity like USCIRF to pronounce on the state of Indian citizens’ Constitutionally protected rights. We take no cognisance of their report,” External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said on Tuesday.
The USCIRF report alleged that members of ruling BJP party supported Hindu groups to trouble minorities in India and use religiously-divisive language to further inflame tensions while saying last year religious tolerance in India deteriorated. The report has named BJP president Amit Shah among those who championed an anti-conversion law that harasses Christians. It also mentioned BJP parliamentarians Yogi Adityanath and Sakshi Maharaj for fuelling hate campaigns against Muslims.
“Minority communities, especially Christians, Muslims, and Sikhs, experienced numerous incidents of intimidation, harassment, and violence, largely at the hands of Hindu nationalist groups,” the report alleged and asked the Indian Government to publicly rebuke officials and religious leaders who make derogatory statements about religious communities.
It also says that in May last year, a meeting of Christians that had been cleared by Madhya Pradesh officials found its permission revoked “due to what the community believes was RSS pressure”.
USCIRF says it will continue to monitor the situation closely during the year ahead to determine if India should be recommended to the US State Department for designation as a “country of particular concern,” (CPC).
India sees any such report by another country as interference in its internal matter. Members of USCIRF were denied visas by Indian Government early this year on the argument that religious freedom is enshrined in the Constitution and any foreign third party has no locus standi to comment or investigate on it.
The USCIRF report, however, has appealed to the Barack Obama administration to designate Pakistan among nations listed as worst violators of religious freedom due to the current state of minorities in the country. “In 2015, the Pakistani Government continued to perpetrate and tolerate systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations,” USCIRF said in its annual report.
The report has recommended US Government to put Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Central African Republic, Egypt, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Syria, and Vietnam among countries of particular concern. It has put India in the Tier 2 countries with Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Cuba, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, laos, Malaysia, Russia, and Turkey for increased US Government attention.