The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has recommended that the US government designate India as a “country of particular concern” (CPC), arguing the religious freedom conditions in the country has continued to deteriorate under the Hindu nationalist government led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“The government reinforced discriminatory nationalist policies, perpetuated hateful rhetoric, and failed to address communal violence disproportionately affecting Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, Jews, and Adivasis (Indigenous peoples),” USCIRF said in its annual report on Wednesday.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has recommended that the US government designate India as a “country of particular concern” (CPC), arguing the religious freedom conditions in the country has continued to deteriorate under the Hindu nationalist government led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“The government reinforced discriminatory nationalist policies, perpetuated hateful rhetoric, and failed to address communal violence disproportionately affecting Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, Jews, and Adivasis (Indigenous peoples),” USCIRF said in its annual report on Wednesday.
The American federal government commission, citing local NGOs, said that in 2023 alone, 687 incidents of violence were reported targeting Christians, “who continued to be detained under various state-level anti-conversion laws.”
It said in January last year, Hindu mobs attacked Christians in central Indian Chhattisgarh state, destroying and vandalising churches and attempting to “reconvert” individuals to Hinduism.
“An estimated 30 people were beaten for refusing to renounce their faith. The same month, two Christians were detained without bail, accused of forcibly converting individuals of Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes,” the report said.
