US groups flay State Dept’s failure to confront Modi govt over crimes against minorities

WASHINGTON, DC, Dec 08 (NNI): The Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) and Hindus for Human Rights along with their allies have expressed disappointment over the US State Department’s failure to follow the recommendations of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) and designate India as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), a label reserved for the world’s most egregious violators of religious freedoms.
Despite being recommended as a “Country of Particular Concern” by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom for three consecutive years, India was left off the CPC list for 2022.
For the past three years, USCIRF has recommended that the State Department, headed by Secretary Antony Blinken, designate India as a CPC due to exponential rise in violence and discrimination against Muslims and Christians in the country.
The USCIRF in a statement expressed its “outrage” over the State Department’s failure to list India as a CPC and said that there was no justification for the government body ignoring the USCIRF’s warnings about steep decline in human rights under the BJP government.
“USCIRF is tremendously disappointed that the Secretary of State did not implement our recommendations and recognize the severity of the religious freedom violations that both USCIRF and the State Department have documented in [India],” said USCIRF Chair Nury Turkel. “The State Department’s own reporting includes numerous examples of particularly severe religious freedom violations in [India].”
“Over and over again, the Modi regime has demonstrated how hateful it is towards religious minorities by restricting their citizenship, spreading hate speech against them, encouraging Hindu vigilante groups to physically assault them, allowing riots in their neighborhoods and bulldozing their homes when they protest,” said Rasheed Ahmed, Executive Director of IAMC.
“Repeated failure to designate India as a CPC will only encourage the Indian government to double down on its persecution of religious minorities,” he added.
Governmental and non-governmental organizations across the globe have expressed their concerns regarding India, especially as countries noted the Modi government’s mistreatment of minorities at India’s Universal Periodic Review at the United Nations in November.