NEW YORK – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has asked the US Department of State to designate India as a “country of particular concern” over serious violations.
The USCIRF has made the recommendation in its report that carries details of worsening religious freedom conditions in India.
Throughout the 2022, the Indian government “at the national, state, and local levels promoted and enforced religiously discriminatory policies, including laws targeting religious conversion, interfaith relationships, the wearing of hijabs, and cow slaughter, which negatively impact Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, and Adivasis (indigenous peoples and scheduled tribes),” the report said.
The national government also continued to suppress critical voices—particularly religious minorities and those advocating on their behalf—including through surveillance, harassment, demolition of property, and detention under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and by targeting nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), it said.
Violent attacks were also perpetrated across India under the justification of protecting cows from slaughter or transport, which is illegal in 18 states.
Examples of violence against Christians, Muslims, and Dalits around suspicions of cow smuggling were reported in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi, the report highlighted, adding: “In August, BJP member Gyan Dev Ahuja was recorded publicly calling for his listeners to ‘kill anyone involved in cow slaughter’.”
It said several properties, including places of worship in predominantly Muslim and Christian neighborhoods were damaged. The report said social media platforms are also spreading hate speech, incitement of violence towards religious minorities.
In its recommendations to the State Department, it said: “Designate India as a ‘country of particular concern,’ or CPC, for engaging in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom, as defined by the Inter-national Religious Freedom Act (IRFA)”.
“Advance human rights for all religious communities in India and promote religious freedom, dignity, and interfaith dialogue through bilateral engagement and in multilateral forums,” the report recommended.
It also called for imposition of targeted sanctions on Indian government agencies and officials responsible for severe violations of religious freedom by freezing those individuals’ assets and/ or barring their entry into the United States under human rights related financial and visa authorities.
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