US committee on religious freedom seeks ‘country of particular concern’ tag for India
This is the fifth time in a row that the panel has made the recommendation.
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A United States panel on Wednesday urged the White House to designate India as a “country of particular concern” for engaging in “systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations” of religious freedom.
The proposal was made in an annual report by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, an independent American government agency that monitors the universal right to freedom of religion and makes policy suggestions. These suggestions are not binding.
This is the fifth time in a row that the panel has made the recommendation. which the US government has so far refrained from accepting.
The latest report stated that religious freedom in India continued to deteriorate in 2023 as the Bharatiya Janata Party government reinforced “discriminatory nationalist policies, perpetuated hateful rhetoric, and failed to address communal violence disproportionately affecting Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, Jews, and Adivasis”.
The report cited violence by cow vigilantism, the demolition of mosques and churches, and the incidents of violence against Muslims and Christians to say that India should be designated a “country of particular concern”.
“Thirteen out of India’s 28 states continued to enforce anti-conversion laws in 2023” despite the Constitution protecting the right to publicly share one’s faith, said the report.
“Such laws make it difficult for people to convert from Hinduism to another religion and use broad language that leads...
