Islamabad
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is considering downgrading India’s ranking with respect to religious freedom. The Commission is mulling whether to move down India a notch from “Tier II” to “Tier I” or “countries with particular concern” on account of religious freedom.
The consideration comes after India registered the largest decline in its political rights and civil liberties score among the 25 most populous democracies in the annual report of Washington-based pro-democracy think-tank Freedom House, Kashmir Media Service reported. The report attributed this to the Modi government’s “alarming departures from democratic norms”. It also declined Kashmir’s status from “Partly Free” to “Not Free”.
India is currently in Tier II while the USCIRF is expected to confabulate on whether the police action against CAA protesters and the lockdown in occupied Kashmir should merit a downgrade to “Tier 1”.
The USCIRF, extremely critical of New Delhi’s policies with regard to the lockdown in occupied Kashmir and Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) besides the recent riots in Delhi, will examine whether the CAA and the proposed National Register of Citizens could become a tool to target religious minorities. The panel has been unrelenting in its opposition to CAA and proposed the NRC besides the Kashmir lockdown.—APP
