Country of Particular Concern’ for Religious Freedom
GS PAPER II: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.
Context: The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), an independent bi-partisan commission, has recommended for the second year in the row that the State Department put India on a list (‘Countries of Particular Concern’ or CPCs) for the worst violations of religious freedoms in 2020.
USCISRF recommendations
- The USCISRF recommended that the administration impose targeted sanctions on Indian individuals and entities for ‘severe violations of religious freedom’.
- A second recommendation was for the administration to promote inter-faith dialogue and the rights of all communities at bilateral and multilateral forums “such as the ministerial of the Quadrilateral [the Quad].”
- Another recommendation – to the U.S. Congress – was to raise issues in the U.S. – India bilateral space, such as by hosting hearings, writing letters and constituting Congressional delegations.
- USCIRF recommendations are non-binding and the Trump administration had rejected the USCIRF recommendation to designate India a CPC last year.
Key concerns of the 2021 report
- Citizenship Amendment Act, which went into effect in early 2020 and fast-tracks citizenship for non-Muslim refugees from South Asian countries meeting certain other criteria.
- On the National Register of Citizens (NRC), the report says, “The consequences of exclusion – as exemplified by a large detention camp being built in Assam – are potentially devastating”
- Efforts to prohibit interfaith marriage – such as those in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh - are also highlighted as a concern.
- In reference to the Tablighi Jamaat Markaz in March 2020, the USCIRF says, “At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, disinformation and hateful rhetoric - including from government officials – often targeted religious minorities, continuing familiar patterns.
India’s stand:
- Last year India had denied visas to members of USCIRF who wanted to visit India for their assessment.
- External Affairs Minister said that that foreign entities like USCIRF did not have the locus standi to “to pronounce on the state of Indian citizens’ constitutionally protected rights.”
Other countries mentioned in list:
- Other new recommendations for the CPC list in the Commission’s 2021 are Russia, Syria and Vietnam.
- Countries already on the CPCs list and recommended by USCIRF for re-designation were Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
- Afghanistan, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Turkey and Uzbekistan were recommended for a ‘Special Watch List’, along with Cuba and Nicaragua, both of which were already on the list for 2019.
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