The country that prides itself as being the world’s largest democracy presents a sorry pretty picture of itself before the global community.

India was on a downward curve in 2015, when religious tolerance “deteriorated” and violations of religious freedom “increased”, observes the just released annual report of the US Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).   

Pointing its fingers directly at the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre and the sangh parivar whose parliamentary wing the BJP is, the report noted: “Since the BJP assumed power, religious minority communities have been subject to derogatory comments by BJP politicians and numerous violent attacks and forced conversions by affiliated Hindu nationalist groups, such as Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Sangh Parivar, and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP).
 
“Minority communities, especially Christians, Muslims, and Sikhs, experienced numerous incidents of intimidation, harassment, and violence, largely at the hands of Hindu nationalist groups. Members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) tacitly supported these groups and used religiously-divisive language to further inflame tensions,” the report added.
 
The complicity from sections of the ruling party, the report observed, has only worsened “the longstanding problems of police bias and judicial inadequacies”. This accentuates the “pervasive climate of impunity, where religious minority communities feel increasingly insecure, with no recourse when religiously-motivated crimes occur.”
 
Pointing out that the Modi government had refused permission to an USCIFR team to visit India, the commission said it “will continue to monitor the situation closely during the year ahead to determine if India should be recommended to the US State Department for designation as a ‘country of particular concern,’ or CPC, under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) for systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom”.
 
For 2015, the USCIRF has placed India yet again on Tier 2, where it has been since 2009. This puts India on par with Afghanistan, Azebaijan, Cuba, Indonesia, Kazakhistan, Laos, Malaysia, Russia, Turkey as regards religious freedom. For the commission, Tier 2 countries are just a step away from degenerating into “countries of particular concern” (CPC) and the situation in all such countries need to be closely monitored.
 
Other highlights of the USCIRF report:

•  In the last year, “higher caste” individuals and local political leaders also prevented Hindus considered part of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Dalits) from entering religious temples. The national government or state governments applied several laws to restrict religious conversion, cow slaughter, and foreign funding of NGOs. 
• An Indian constitutional provision deeming Sikhs, Buddhists, and Jains to be Hindus contradicts international standards of freedom of religion or belief.
•  The country has experienced periodic outbreaks of large-scale communal violence against religious minorities, including in Uttar Pradesh in 2013, Odisha in 2007-2008, Gujarat in 2002, and Delhi in 1984. 
• In 2013, in Muzaffarnagar district, Uttar Pradesh, violence between Hindus and Muslims left more than 40 people dead, at least a dozen women and girls raped, and upwards of 50,000 displaced, many of whom still have not returned to their homes.
•  In Odisha in 2007-2008, violence between Hindus and Christians killed nearly 40 people, destroyed churches and homes, and displaced nearly 10,000. 
• In Gujarat in 2002, violence between Hindus and Muslims left between 1,200-2,500 Muslims dead, destroyed homes, and forced 100,000 people to flee.
•  The 1984 anti-Sikhs riots resulted in deaths of more than 3,000 Sikhs. 
• India established special structures, such as Fast-Track Courts, Special Investigative Teams (SITs), and independent commissions, to investigate and adjudicate crimes stemming from these incidents. However, their impact has been hindered by limited capacity, an antiquated judiciary, inconsistent use, political corruption, and religious bias, particularly at the state and local levels. Many cases stemming from these incidents are still pending in the India court system.
•  Minority religious leaders and laity, including from the Muslim, Christian, and Sikh communities, and non-government organizations (NGOs), attribute India’s recent decline in religious freedom and communal harmony to religiously-divisive campaigning in advance of the country’s 2014 general election and the BJP’s victory in that election. 
• While Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, and other minority communities recognize that religious freedom issues in India predate the current government, these communities report that targeting of them has increased under the BJP government.
•  Christian-affiliated NGOs and religious leaders report that Christians are particularly at risk in states that have adopted “Freedom of Religion Act(s),” commonly referred to as anti-conversion laws. 
• Sikh communities, who have long pursued justice for the 1984 violence or advocated for Sikhism to be recognized as separate from Hinduism, also have been targeted by the Indian government for years.
•  Muslim communities report that since the 2008 and 2010 terrorist attacks in India, Muslims have faced undue scrutiny and arbitrary arrests and detentions, which the government justifies as necessary to counter terrorism.

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