Reema Shaukat
CALL it late may be, but at least there is some hope
with the recent report by the United States Com
mission on Religious Freedom to put India on the Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) list over the drastic downturn in religious freedoms under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCRIF) in its new annual report has once again placed India into its list of ‘Country of Particular Concern’ for engaging in and tolerating methodical, fragmentary and abysmal religious freedom violations. US as a superpower and watchdog of the world penned down this organisation under the 1998 act of International Religious Freedom. According to US claims this USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan US Federal Government Commission, the first of its kind in the world, dedicated to defending the universal right to freedom of religion or belief abroad.
USCIRF reviews the facts and circumstances of religious freedom violations and makes policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and Congress. USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the President and the Congressional leadership of both political parties. In this year report it has highlighted that the Indian Government “allowed violence against minorities and their houses of worship to continue with impunity and also engaged in and tolerated hate speech and incitement to violence”. The report also stated that “mob lynching of persons suspected of cow slaughter or consuming beef continued with most attacks occurring within the BJP-ruled states”. Report also highlights India’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5 Aug 2019, in which Indian govt-imposed security measures, including restricting freedom of movement and assembly, cutting Internet and phone access and arresting Kashmiri leaders, including religious leaders.
This report seems little respite that at least it talks sense about what Pakistan is highlighting about Indian atrocities in the IoK since decades and in PM Modi’s second term tenure more of religious card is played against Muslims living in India and Muslims in IoK are not only targeted heartlessly but the demographic changes in IoK are a matter of grave concern for all Kashmiris. Certainly the recommendations of the reports are consistent with the facts on ground and Pakistan’s stance that the Modi regime is deliberately discriminating against minorities in pursuit of its extremist right-wing Hindutva agenda and saffronization of India. While New Delhi rejected this USCIRF report saying it is US hatred and growing confusion on India while Pakistan condemning New Delhi’s response said that it is an evidence not only to India’s failure to take responsibility for its own actions but also to India’s delusional self-perception. As the report discloses that the present Indian government used its strengthened parliamentary majority to institute national-level policies violating religious freedom across India, especially for Muslims, most notably, enactment of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the present year in the wake of Covid-19 is another troubling time for Muslims in India and Occupied Kashmir because of Modi’s discriminatory policies. In the time of global emergency when the world is fighting against Coronavirus and there is a need for joint coordinated support as virus knows no boundaries, religion or ethnicity but this situation is quite different in India. As the virus has started spreading in India, they blamed Muslims for its spread and deprived Muslim patients of treatment in hospitals. So much so that Indian Health Ministry declared Muslims in India as human bombs and Corona Jehad.
Muslims are beaten, lynched, banned from places as they are branded as spreaders in India. What Western media also says is that here in India, no other group has been demonized more than country’s 200 million Muslims, minorities in a Hindu-dominated land of 1.3 billion people.Analysts and Muslims in India particularly see this new India citizenship law against Muslims and believe Modi certainly is planning on bigger scale to damage Muslim population throughout India. In the coming times, Muslim population will be scrapped out from the map of India via this so-called NRC and CAA Amendments and will be declared stateless. Modi’s authoritarian policies which are not only violating basic human rights but very much particular minorities are targeted throughout India. One wonders that the Indian claims of largest democracy and secular state are spurned aside, when the people living in the so-called secular state come up with total rejection of such claims through their actions.
Incidents of forced conversion to Hinduism with a name of program as Ghar Wapsi, inhumane treatment with Dalits, ban on cow slaughter, killing many Muslims in the name of religion and false allegations of eating beef shows sectarian hatred in India in the form of violence and brutality. Past reports by organizations like Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission and the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) openly say that abandoning religious minorities in India is a continuous marvel by using violence and disavowal of constitutional rights as the main tricks by Hindu extremists. In India, hate crimes against religious minorities, their social boycotts and forced conversion have escalated dramatically since 2014. This present report by USCIRF is another call to wake up conscience of world against India’s growing religious intolerance and biasedness.
— The writer works for Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, a think-tank based in Islamabad.
