The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom reiterated its request to the Biden administration to designate India as a “country of particular concern” under the US Religious Freedom Act, citing its transnational repression against religious minorities.
The US religious freedom watchdog, an independent federal government commission, said “recent efforts by the Indian government to silence activists, journalists, and lawyers abroad pose a serious threat to religious freedom”.
“USCIRF implores the US Department of State to designate India a Country of Particular Concern due to India’s systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of freedom of religion or belief,” it said in a statement over India’s targeting of religious minorities overseas.
USCIRF Commissioner Stephen Schneck said the Indian government’s alleged involvement in the killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada and a plan to kill another Sikh activist, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, in the USA was “deeply troubling”.
The Indian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Indian government routinely denies any discrimination in the Hindu-majority country.
