New Delhi: India on Tuesday rejected its criticism by a US commission on religious freedom, terming its observations on condition of minorities and religious freedom as “biased and tendentious”.
In the 2020 edition of its annual report on International Religious Freedom, the US Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) alleged that religious freedom in India witnessed a drastic downward turn.
It also alleged that the religious minorities were under increasing assault in India
“We reject the observations on India in the USCIRF annual report. Its biased and tendentious comments against India are not new. But on this occasion, its misrepresentation has reached new levels,” External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said.
“It has not been able to carry its own commissioners in its endeavour. We regard it as an organisation of particular concern and will treat it accordingly,” he said, responding to a query on observations by the USCIRF.
The USCIRF asked the State Department to designate 14 nations, including India, as “countries of particular concern”, alleging that religious minorities are under increasing assault in these nations.
These include nine countries that the State Department designated as CPCs in December 2019 – Myanmar, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan – as well as five others – India, Nigeria, Russia, Syria, and Vietnam, the USCIRF said.
In its report, the watchdog alleged that in 2019, the national government in India used its strengthened parliamentary majority to institute national-level policies violating religious freedom across the country, especially for Muslims.
“Most notably, it enacted the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, which provides a fast track to Indian citizenship for non-Muslim migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan already residing in India,” it alleged.
Also read: As Gulf calls for an ‘India without Islamophobia,’ Jaishankar works the phones
Actually the whole Godi Media plus BJP-NDA responsible for destruction of the Indian image internationally by their behavior starting from CAA, NCR and NRP and the latest for blaming the Muslims and Tabligh Jamaat for spreading Covid-19 knowing full well the virus spread from Gujarat in Feb 2020 with Namaste Trump event. The situation is so worse the poor daily wage Muslims and fruit, vegetable vendors are targeted and boycotted. Not only the USCIRF and CPC but even the OIC countries like UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia also have already warned the Modi government and asked for action against BJP MP of south Bangalore for anti-Muslim remarks. The government and the Godi Media acting like cats by drinking milk with closed eyes thinking no body watch them and catch.
We should take each piece of feedback from global sources seriously, starting with what the global media is saying / reporting about India. The USCIRF is a bipartisan body which monitors the state of religious freedom all over the world. Consider the countries it is now bracketing us with. The last one checked, Uncle Sam was our best buddy. Whether it is the economy or social issues, we simply do not accept in good time that something is going astray, heed voices of caution and concern. Damage control has already started for the Gulf.
All those complaining about the religious freedom, minorities rights etc. ( Muslims without saying so) were asked by Mr. Arif Mohd. Khan as to which country they would like to go and would be welcomed for satisfactorily achieving the solution to the complaints. ( this is on You
ANSWER A DEAFENING SILENCE.
The report only mentions Muslims and nowhere it mentioned that Indian Muslims are at risk. India is a sovereign country and it has the right to remove illegal Muslim migrants who come here for economic gains. Citizenship should be provided to minorities from the neighbouring Islamic countries as it is well known what happens to them there but people prefer not to speak up about it because they don’t want to upset a certain section of society in this country. Partition is an unfinished business and until and unless they are provided citizenship it will remain so. The anti India lobby can try hard but it won’t be able to sway our decision. if the USA is so concerned let them take all the illegals from here. And they should also include their name in the list as we know how hard they come down on illegal immigrants and how they are thrown in detention centers and then finally deported.
There is nothing new about this. This US body has always been anti-Indian and especially anti-Hindu. In 1920, when Miss Mayo wrote a similar book denigrating India, titled “Unrest in India”, Mahatma Gandhi called in “Drain Inspector’s Report”. Trash such reports and move on. Does it have anything to say about middle east where Shias, Kurds are butchered by the Sunni majority?