WASHINGTON, Jun 03 (APP): The US State Department’s annual report on international religious freedom says that religious minorities in India faced intimidation throughout 2021, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying that the rights of religious minorities around the world were under threat
Blinken and US Ambassador-at-Large Rashad Hussain presented the report, which looks at religious freedoms in the nearly 200 countries around the world.
“Attacks on members of religious minority communities, including killings, assaults, and intimidation, occurred (in India) throughout the year. These included incidents of ‘cow vigilantism’ against non-Hindus based on allegations of cow slaughter or trade in beef,” the report said.
In a rare rebuke, Blinken called out India for “rising attacks” on minorities and cited New Delhi as an example. “In India, the world’s largest democracy, and home to a great diversity of faiths, we’ve seen rising attacks on people and places of worship,” he said.
Ambassador Rashad Hussain, who leads the US State Department’s efforts to monitor religious freedom around the world, said some Indian officials were “ignoring or even supporting rising attacks on people and places of worship”.
Replying to a question at a briefing, Ambassador Hussain acknowledged Pakistan’s role at the United Nations in sponsoring a resolution condemning defamation of religions and promoting inter-faith harmony.
This is the second time in less than two months that the US has raised concerns about religious and human rights violations in India.
In April, following a high-level meeting between top Indian and US defence and foreign affairs officials in New Delhi, Blinken said the US was “monitoring some recent concerning developments in India, including a rise in human rights abuses by some government, police, and prison officials”.
The latest report released on Thursday took note of anti-conversion laws, civilian killings in the Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir, and lynchings of Muslims.
“Police arrested non-Hindus for making comments in the media or on social media that were considered offensive to Hindus or Hinduism,” the report noted.
It stated that the targeted killings of Hindus and Sikhs, minorities in India’Jammu and Kashmir, by suspected terrorists had caused extensive fear in these communities, leading to an exodus of migrants.
The report also noted that Muslims were lynched in the states of Tripura, Rajasthan, and Jammu and Kashmir last year.
Last April, a report by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recommended for the third year in a row that the US classify India as a “country of particular concern (CPC)”.
This category of countries includes China, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Tajikistan.
The State Department, which releases its CPC list towards the end of the calendar year, however, is not bound by USCIRF recommendations and has not, in the last three years, categorized India as a CPC.
