Religious freedom on the decline
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According to a new report released by the the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), religious freedom is in decline in India where religious freedom recognized as a fundamental right of citizens by the Constitution. The report also points out incidents of attacks against Muslims and Christians in the country and provocative speeches and actions of many including top leaders. The report, which was released on Wednesday, states that religious freedom has taken a further beating this year which causes concern. According to the Indian Constitution, every citizen of India has the right to believe, practise and propagate religion. But in the new India, attempts to mark people's religion and isolate them are not a new phenomenon. Since the first Narendra Modi-led government came to power in 2014, the country's graph has been on a downward trend on various fronts, especially in the areas of religious freedom, civil rights, food security, employment and media freedom.
The government is countering this by using extreme communalism as a trump card and by reiterating that the reports are not factual and the standards applied are not correct. From January to March 2024, the USCIRF cites 161 incidents, including 47 attacks against Christians in Chhattisgarh. It also mentions the imprisonment of 20 Christians in Uttar Pradesh between June and July on charges of forced conversion. There is also a mention that after the results of this year's general elections, there have been numerous cases of attacks targeting Muslims. The report also indicates that the increase in the number of anti-Muslim attacks came on the heels of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's election campaigns. Since the third phase of the elections, the Prime Minister has made harsh communal remarks against minorities, especially Muslims, in at least over 100 public meetings.
Although the electorate rejected Modi's candidates in most of those constituencies where Modi delivered such speeches, they succeeded in making the atmosphere of the country toxic, and there has been no let-up in violence against minorities since the election results. The report provides details of the number of people killed and cases of torture, lynching, and demolition of houses and places of worship in the country throughout 2024. Hate speeches and spreading of fake news with call to action against minorities also happen. Bulldozer justice, demolition of a 600-year-old mosque in Delhi, Waqf Amendment Act, anti-conversion laws, cow slaughter ban law, anti-terrorism laws etc. are being applied to oppress religious minorities. The report also states that a legal framework is being prepared to target religious minorities through such legislations as Citizenship Amendment Act, Uniform Civil Code, cow slaughter prohibition laws.
In August, the Federation of Indian-American Christian Organizations had written to the US State Department to include India in the list of countries where religious freedom is facing the greatest challenge in the world. The letter also pointed out that violence against Christians has increased massively after the racist party, the BJP came to power. Amnesty International, the human rights watchdog, had pointed out even earlier that intolerance is on the rise in India, that the government is failing to prevent religious attacks, and that leaders are fueling discord through polarizing speeches. Regardless of whether the US Commission is vouching for it or not, there is no doubt about the fact that religious freedom is under threat in the country. And as for the main tool used to achieve this, i.e. bulldozer justice, it was only the other day that the Supreme Court issued guidelines against the indiscriminate resort to demolition of property as a weapon.
However, despite the apex court's decree that no demolitions should be made until the matter is decided by the court, hundreds of houses were demolished in Gujarat and Assam. Churches also met the same fate without any one seeing it. But it is difficult to say to what extent justice can be ensured by judges who openly participate in the meetings of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.
It appears that although the government toes the US stand in any matter to the point of being servile to it, the report of the US Commission does not deter Modi and his team from the communal agenda. The model of the hate campaign made during the general elections is also being replicated in the states that are going to the polls shortly. In a public meeting held in Jharkhand on Thursday, Narendra Modi sounded the dog-whistle against the minorities by saying that the tribal population is decreasing and the intruders and Bangladeshis are multiplying. Even as different commissions and organizations point out the deterioration of the country in various fields, the response and actions of the right-wing and fascist organizations in India continue as if they do not affect them. The only way out for secular India is to defeat such policies that threaten democracy itself and those who pamper to them at every possible opportunity.