US body recommends declaring India "country of concern"

Washington: The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), for the second year running, has recommended the United States State Department on Monday to declare India as a "country of particular concern". The US body gives such a designation to those countries whose governments engage in "systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations" of religious freedoms, IANS reported.

The report USCIRF report suggested that the US should impose targeted sanctions on individuals and entities who are responsible for religious freedom violations by freezing their assets or cancelling their entry into the United States.

The USCIRF report said, "The Indian government escalated its promotion and enforcement of policies -- including those promoting a Hindu-nationalist agenda -- that negatively affected Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, and other religious minorities. The government continued to systemise 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".

"In 2021, the Indian government repressed critical voices -- especially religious minorities and those reporting on and advocating for them -- through harassment, investigation, detention, and prosecution under laws such as the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) the Sedition Law," it had added.

However, its suggestion to declare India 'a country of particular concern' was not accepted then since the commission's recommendations were not binding to the US government or Congress.

USCIRF has recommended the designation for 15 countries this time: Myanmar, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, Syria, and Vietnam.

The USCIRF head Nadine Maenza said in a statement, "We are disheartened by the deterioration of freedom of religion or belief in some countries, especially Afghanistan, under the Taliban's de facto government since August. Religious minorities have faced harassment, detention, and even death due to their faith or beliefs, and years of progress toward more equitable access to education and representation of women and girls have disappeared."