The USCIRF report The Excelsior 12 Oct 2024
Last week US based USCIRF (United States Commission on International Religious Freedom) issued its country update on India, titled, ‘Increasing abuses against religious minorities in India.’ The report covered ‘the use of misinformation and disinformation, including hate speech, by government officials to incite violent attacks against religious minorities and their places of worship.’
It also mentioned that ‘changes to and enforcement of India’s legal framework to target and disenfranchise religious minorities, including the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and several state-level anti-conversion and cow slaughter laws.’ USCIRF has always wrongly interpreted the CAA to suit its own agenda. The act is intended to provide succour to persecuted minorities in India’s neighbourhood, while the USCIRF believes it is against minorities.
In a section titled ‘Attacks against Religious Minorities’, the report notes that in the first three months of this year, ‘161 incidents of violence against Christians in India were reported,’ adding that these ranged from, ‘violent attacks on churches and prayer meetings to physical assaults, harassment, and false allegations of forced conversion.’
On Manipur it mentioned, ‘Following clashes in May, Home Minister Amit Shah stated that law enforcement had ‘executed’ 40 members of the Kuki community deemed as terrorists—charges that Kuki’s dispute.’ An absolute lie by a supposed to be reputed institution. The report concluded by declaring that the US government designate India ‘a country of particular concern,’ due to, ‘severe violations of religious freedom.’
This year alone there have been four reports against, India including the annual report in May. It was no better in earlier years. India refuses to permit members of USCIRF from visiting the country. The current report mentions that the US embassy should ‘strengthen engagement with religious communities, local officials, and law enforcement.’
USCIRF’s latest report was released while the EAM, Dr S Jaishankar was in the US. The Indian government was quick to retaliate, terming the report ‘biased.’ The MEA spokesperson mentioned, ‘Our views on the USCIRF are well known. It is a biased organization with a political agenda. We reject this malicious report, which only serves to discredit USCIRF further.’ India, on the contrary advised USCIRF to ‘focus on addressing human rights issues within the United States instead.’
As per the USCIRF website the organization is a congressionally created entity, not a non-governmental organization, interest group, or advocacy organization.’ Its commissioners are ‘appointed by the President and Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and Senate.’ It adds that commissioners are ‘selected among distinguished individuals noted for their knowledge and experience in fields relevant to the issue of international religious freedom, including foreign affairs, direct experience abroad, human rights, and international law.’
This adds credence to the fact that the appointees are political and those owed favours by elected authorities. Currently the organization has people linked to Christian missionaries as also of Pakistani origin. Hence there is regular criticism of India’s anti-conversion laws and treatment of minorities.
One of the commissioners linked to the report is Dr Mohamed Elsanousi, who graduated from the International Islamic University in Islamabad, Pakistan, with a bachelor’s degree in Sharia Law. He subsequently studied in the US.
The ’Union of Catholic Asian News’ in an article published on 04 Oct, on USCIRF, mentions, ‘India is ruled by the BJP of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The pro-Hindu party is against the missionary activities of the Indian Church. Since Modi came to power in 2014, violence against Christians has increased, but India’s prime minister enjoys cordial ties with the US administration.’ The USCIRF report is being exploited where possible to further impact the Indian image.
Post the release of the annual report in May this year India responded angrily. The report was released while Indian elections were underway. The MEA spokesperson then stated, ‘We really have no expectation that USCIRF will even seek to understand India’s diverse, pluralistic and democratic ethos. Their efforts to interfere in the largest electoral exercise in the world will never succeed.’ Indicating its bias USCIRF recommended that the government only conclude arms sale with India ‘under the condition that religious freedom conditions improve.’
The bias of the organization is also evident in the fact that its report in 2020 designated India for the first time as a ‘country of particular concern.’ It also mentioned that following the landslide victory of the BJP in 2019, ‘the national government used its strengthened parliamentary majority to institute national level policies violating religious freedom across India, especially for Muslims.’ Its anger against the present regime in New Delhi gets highlighted by its comments.
There is no page in the USCIRF website on the US where religious hate crimes are on the rise. There is no mention of defacing of Hindu places of worship in the US and Canada, a clear sign of hate crime. Investigations into these incidents remain incomplete. However, every single incident in India is termed as an attack on religious freedom.
While the US government works to build bridges, there are wheels within wheels attempting to push India back. The USCIRF is one such case. The protection provided by bureaucrats within the US government to members of the Khalistan movement is another instance. India’s democratic standing is regularly negatively commented upon by US based Freedom House.
While they accuse India, they fail to look inwards where there is mockery of democracy within their own countries. It is evident that there are institutions possibly tasked to lower India’s global image. India is now looking at creating its own democratic index, with its own parameters, published by a globally acknowledged Indian think tank.
India rightly rejects such reports knowing that those behind it have their personal or institutional agendas. Displaying its confidence and frustration on comments by those unaware of the nation’s dynamics India rightly advises the US to look within for its own human rights abuses. If the US assumes that the Indian government would be pushed on the backfoot by such reports produced by those with a specific agenda, then it is mistaken. However, it does mar relations between two allies.
About the Author
Maj Gen Harsha Kakkar
Retired Major General Indian Army