Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s name figures in a list that includes former heads of states in Africa allegedly persecuting their political opponents. The report has been released by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). It is an independent, bipartisan American government agency that monitors the universal right to freedom of religion and makes policy suggestions to the White House. PM Modi has been bracketed with the likes of Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe and Congo’s Joseph Kabila in the report. Mugabe, during his tenure, allegedly assassinated political rivals without any compunction and Kabila’s security staff did not even spare protesters in Washington condemning his ruthless persecution of his critics.
Significantly, the report comes at a time when India is basking in its positive diplomatic campaign in the recent G20 summit. Modi’s failure as Chief Minister of Gujarat to prevent anti-Muslim riots in 2002 that had left hundreds dead, had led to the denial of a US visa to him. The ban continued till he became Prime Minister. It only shows the US has not changed much its appraisal of Modi, but suspended the ban for its business interests that would otherwise be hampered.
The report appears to give the message to India under BJP rule that though the latter could be a geopolitical counterweight to China, the Biden administration is not prepared to lend support to Modi the way the Trump administration did. It seems Biden has not forgotten the unkindest cut from Modi who openly canvassed for Trump among the India diaspora in the US during the Presidential race.
The report provides a broad overview of religious freedom conditions in India in 2021 and 2022. It examines how various policies adopted and implemented by the Indian government have created “an environment that is increasingly hostile toward religious minority communities.” This trajectory, alongside an escalating government crackdown on civil society and dissent, is deeply alarming in a diverse, secular, and democratic country whose Constitution is intended to protect religious freedom, the report stated in an unambiguous language.
It has recommended the Biden government to designate India as a “country of particular concern” for engaging in or tolerating systematic violations of religious freedom. The panel said the US Congress should raise matters related to religious freedom during the US-India bilateral meetings and highlight concerns through hearings, briefings, letters and congressional delegations.
India is among 15 countries listed by the USCIRF for religious freedom concerns. The other countries are Afghanistan, Myanmar, China, Eritrea, Iran, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Vietnam.
As expected, the external affairs establishment of India slammed the USCIRF as a ‘biased’ report betraying its ignorance of the reality in India. The report claims that conditions linked with religious freedom in India significantly worsened in 2021.
The panel said during the year the BJP-led Central government escalated its promotion and enforcement of policies, including those promoting a Hindu nationalist agenda, it that harmed Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, and other religious minorities in the country. “The government continued to systemise its ideological vision of a Hindu state at both the national and state levels through the use of both existing and new laws and structural changes hostile to the country’s religious minorities,” the report states.
It cited the treatment meted out to 84-year-old Stan Swamy, a Jesuit priest who was arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case. ‘Swamy was arrested on dubious UAPA charges in October 2020 and never tried. He died in custody in July 2021 despite repeated concerns raised about his health,’ the report stated.
The external affairs ministry is left in the lurch, damaging its credibility by rubbishing the report without a point-by-point rebuttal. As expected, no high sounding Central BJP leader has come out to defend the country’s image, leaving this particular matter in the hands of bureaucrats of the ministry.
