WASHINGTON – Witnesses at a hearing on Capitol Hill called for US intervention to end the ongoing persecution of religious minorities in India, including Christians.
Asif Mahmood, Vice Chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), said, “Religious freedom remains extremely poor in India. Religious minority communities and their places of worship remain particularly vulnerable to discriminatory laws, surveillance, and harassment.” Hearing on 7th May. “Members of the clergy are also routinely arrested and released on charges of forced religious conversion.”
USCIRF President Vicky Hartzler also highlighted persecution at the national, state and local levels in India through discriminatory legislation, arbitrary detention of religious leaders, failure to intervene in attacks against religious minorities, anti-conversion laws in 13 out of 28 states, anti-terrorism laws targeting minorities, and citizenship laws. He described religious freedom in India as “moving downwards”.
The hearing comes in the form of a commission warned of increasing attacks against Christians in India, including mob violence and property destruction. The Catholic population in India is approximately 23 million, which is about 1.6% of the country’s population. according to the vatican.
Raqib Naik, founder and executive director of the Center for the Study of Organized Hate, called on the State Department to designate India as a country of particular concern (CPC).
“I believe acknowledging the problem is the first step,” Naik said. “I think the US should designate India as a CPC. I think that should be the first step because you can’t get a solution without acknowledging the problem.” Naik called for further sanctions and raised awareness of international repression, which he described as a “threat to national security”.
Former US Ambassador for Global Criminal Justice Stephen Rapp called for pressure on the Indian government to end religious persecution in the country in “ways that are appropriate for them”. Rapp encouraged their increased reporting to “build the case” against religious freedom violators so that it would be possible to prosecute them internationally in the future.
Rapp said, “Many criminals may never make the trip, but basically you send a signal that there will be no rest in this life if you commit these crimes.” “It’s not enough, but it’s something.”
Religious freedom advocate David Currie called on the State Department to demand that its international partners uphold religious freedom as a prerequisite in all negotiations.
“The basic framework of international religious freedom must be part of every discussion and conversation within the State Department,” Curry said. “Human rights and international religious freedom must be part of these discussions.”
Indian anthropologist Angana Chatterjee echoed Currie, urging the US to “seriously examine the impossibility of economic benefits and gains from relations with India under the current extreme conditions”.
Georgetown Law professor Arjun Sethi said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was banned from entering the US from 2005 to 2014 under the George W. Bush administration. “And now this country has welcomed him,” he said.
“I think we need to have a deeper understanding of who he is, what his purpose is and what he’s about,” Sethi said.
