Arsalan
THINK TANK CHAIRMAN
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The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) have recommended downgrading India's designation to "Countries with Particular Concern" due to deteriorating conditions of Religious Freedom under the extremist BJP government.
USCIRF is not the only watchdog to have raised this concern and brought attention of the international community towards the crisis situation of religious freedom and the plight of minorities, specially Muslims in India under the current extremist hindutva government led by Narendra Modi.
In July 2019, the United Nations experts expressed their grave concern over the ongoing update of the National Register of Citizens in Assam, India, and its potential to harm millions of people, most of whom belong to minorities. The experts issued warnings on the rise of hate speech directed against these minorities in social media, and the potential destabilizing effects of the marginalization and uncertainties facing millions in this part of the country. In June 2018, more than 4 million people in Assam were excluded from the amended draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) list, in particular Muslims and Hindus of Bengali descent. United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteurs warned that exclusion from the NRC could result in “statelessness, deportation, or pro-longed detention.” and with Home Minister Amit Shah refering to migrants as “termites” to promising to throw them into Bay of Bengal the situation is bleak for these minorities.
It is also not the first time USCIRF have raised this issue, previously in December 2019 the USCIRF suggested sanctions against Indian leadership if the Citizen Amendment Bill (now Act) is passed. In a statement issued in December they said "if the CAB passes in both houses of parliament, the United States government should consider sanctions against the Home Minister and other principal leadership." UNCIRF along with other relevant bodies have been condemning what have happened in India ever since. The country that have claimed itself to be a secular state have seen severe backlash from international community, calling for it to be black listed for violation of religious freedom rights and called as "dangerous for minorities".
In a detailed report published by USCIRF they reported "religious freedom conditions in India experienced a drastic turn downward, with religious minorities under increasing assault. Following the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) re-election in May, the national government used its strengthened parliamentary majority to institute national level policies violating religious freedom across India, especially for Muslims".
Things took a turn for worst in past few months after passing of Citizen Amendment Act. The CAA’s passage in December sparked nationwide protests that police and government aligned groups met with violence; in Uttar Pradesh (UP), the BJP chief minister Yogi Adityanath pledged “revenge” against anti-CAA protestors and stated they should be fed “bullets not biryani.” In December, close to 25 people died in attacks against protestors and universities in UP alone. According to reports, police action specifically targeted Muslims.
Even though this is all came to light mainly after CAA but the history is of India which claims to be a secular state is filled with violence against minorities. Whether it be the communal violence of 1969 (around 700 Muslims killed in a week) or 2002 Gujrat riots where over a 2000 Muslims were killed. In 1984 there riots against Sikh community claimed lives of around 8000-17000 people and the Indian government arrested about 150000 people without due process. Christian churches have been ransacked and Christians forcibly converted to Hinduism. In October 2008 Pope Benedict XVI criticized the continuing anti-Christian violence in India, the Vatican called for an end to the religious violence in Orissa. Even Hindu dalits have been oppressed and subjected to violation of Human Rights in India. The Cow slaughter law and forces conversions have been a tormenting reality for Muslim minority of India where people have been lynched and murdered in front or law enforcement authorities by angry Hindu mobs.
This have already started to get ugly under this current extremist hindutva government and are on trajectory get even worst. During 2019, government actions like passing the Citizen Amendment Act, continued support of enforcement of cow slaughter and anti-conversion laws by street vigilante charged up mob, Supreme Court ruling on the Babri Masjid site etc have created campaigns of harassment and violence against religious minorities. Mob lynchings of persons suspected of cow slaughter or consuming beef continued, with most attacks occurring within BJP-ruled states. Lynch mobs often took on overtly Hindu nationalist tones. In June, in Jharkand, a mob attacked a Muslim, Tabrez Ansari, forcing him to chant “Jai Shri Ram (Hail Lord Ram)” as they beat him to death. Police often arrest those attacked for cow slaughter or conversion activities rather than the perpetrators. Violence against Christians also increased, with at least 328 violent incidents, often under accusations of forced conversions. These attacks frequently targeted prayer services and led to the widespread shuttering or destruction of churches.
In February 2020, violence erupted in Delhi with mobs attacking Muslim neighborhoods. At least 50 people were killed and there were reports of police watching it all unfold as mere spectators.
As the recently published USCIRF report claims "discriminatory policies, inflammatory rhetoric, and tolerance for violence against minorities at the national, state, and local level increased the climate of fear among non-Hindu communities."
https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2020/04/28/list-india-top-religious/
https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24781&LangID=E
https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/India.pdf
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/28/india-religious-freedom-narendra-modi-us
https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/india/anti-sikh-riots-what-happened-in-1984-and-after-1.60501721
USCIRF is not the only watchdog to have raised this concern and brought attention of the international community towards the crisis situation of religious freedom and the plight of minorities, specially Muslims in India under the current extremist hindutva government led by Narendra Modi.
In July 2019, the United Nations experts expressed their grave concern over the ongoing update of the National Register of Citizens in Assam, India, and its potential to harm millions of people, most of whom belong to minorities. The experts issued warnings on the rise of hate speech directed against these minorities in social media, and the potential destabilizing effects of the marginalization and uncertainties facing millions in this part of the country. In June 2018, more than 4 million people in Assam were excluded from the amended draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) list, in particular Muslims and Hindus of Bengali descent. United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteurs warned that exclusion from the NRC could result in “statelessness, deportation, or pro-longed detention.” and with Home Minister Amit Shah refering to migrants as “termites” to promising to throw them into Bay of Bengal the situation is bleak for these minorities.
It is also not the first time USCIRF have raised this issue, previously in December 2019 the USCIRF suggested sanctions against Indian leadership if the Citizen Amendment Bill (now Act) is passed. In a statement issued in December they said "if the CAB passes in both houses of parliament, the United States government should consider sanctions against the Home Minister and other principal leadership." UNCIRF along with other relevant bodies have been condemning what have happened in India ever since. The country that have claimed itself to be a secular state have seen severe backlash from international community, calling for it to be black listed for violation of religious freedom rights and called as "dangerous for minorities".
In a detailed report published by USCIRF they reported "religious freedom conditions in India experienced a drastic turn downward, with religious minorities under increasing assault. Following the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) re-election in May, the national government used its strengthened parliamentary majority to institute national level policies violating religious freedom across India, especially for Muslims".
Things took a turn for worst in past few months after passing of Citizen Amendment Act. The CAA’s passage in December sparked nationwide protests that police and government aligned groups met with violence; in Uttar Pradesh (UP), the BJP chief minister Yogi Adityanath pledged “revenge” against anti-CAA protestors and stated they should be fed “bullets not biryani.” In December, close to 25 people died in attacks against protestors and universities in UP alone. According to reports, police action specifically targeted Muslims.
Even though this is all came to light mainly after CAA but the history is of India which claims to be a secular state is filled with violence against minorities. Whether it be the communal violence of 1969 (around 700 Muslims killed in a week) or 2002 Gujrat riots where over a 2000 Muslims were killed. In 1984 there riots against Sikh community claimed lives of around 8000-17000 people and the Indian government arrested about 150000 people without due process. Christian churches have been ransacked and Christians forcibly converted to Hinduism. In October 2008 Pope Benedict XVI criticized the continuing anti-Christian violence in India, the Vatican called for an end to the religious violence in Orissa. Even Hindu dalits have been oppressed and subjected to violation of Human Rights in India. The Cow slaughter law and forces conversions have been a tormenting reality for Muslim minority of India where people have been lynched and murdered in front or law enforcement authorities by angry Hindu mobs.
This have already started to get ugly under this current extremist hindutva government and are on trajectory get even worst. During 2019, government actions like passing the Citizen Amendment Act, continued support of enforcement of cow slaughter and anti-conversion laws by street vigilante charged up mob, Supreme Court ruling on the Babri Masjid site etc have created campaigns of harassment and violence against religious minorities. Mob lynchings of persons suspected of cow slaughter or consuming beef continued, with most attacks occurring within BJP-ruled states. Lynch mobs often took on overtly Hindu nationalist tones. In June, in Jharkand, a mob attacked a Muslim, Tabrez Ansari, forcing him to chant “Jai Shri Ram (Hail Lord Ram)” as they beat him to death. Police often arrest those attacked for cow slaughter or conversion activities rather than the perpetrators. Violence against Christians also increased, with at least 328 violent incidents, often under accusations of forced conversions. These attacks frequently targeted prayer services and led to the widespread shuttering or destruction of churches.
In February 2020, violence erupted in Delhi with mobs attacking Muslim neighborhoods. At least 50 people were killed and there were reports of police watching it all unfold as mere spectators.
As the recently published USCIRF report claims "discriminatory policies, inflammatory rhetoric, and tolerance for violence against minorities at the national, state, and local level increased the climate of fear among non-Hindu communities."
https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2020/04/28/list-india-top-religious/
https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24781&LangID=E
https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/India.pdf
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/28/india-religious-freedom-narendra-modi-us
https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/india/anti-sikh-riots-what-happened-in-1984-and-after-1.60501721
