02/22/2024 India (International Christian Concern) – House Resolution 542 proposes a condemnation of human rights violations and violations of international religious freedom in India, including those targeting Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, Adivasis, and other religious and cultural minorities.

Additionally, this resolution expresses concern for the worsening treatment of religious minorities in India and calls for the secretary of State to re-designate India as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC). India has been recommended by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) as a CPC for the past four years with no corresponding action from the Secretary of State.

Prime Minister Modi outraged the international religious freedom community during his visit to the United States in June 2023 and did not discuss religious freedom. Worse, when asked about the conditions of religious freedom by a reporter from the Wall Street Journal, Modi responded, “In India’s democratic values there is absolutely no discrimination on the basis of caste or creed,” despite the over 600 incidents of persecution in 2022 alone. This visit closely followed the tragedies in the northeastern state of Manipur which left 98 people dead, 35,000 displaced, and more than 100 churches destroyed, devastating the Christian community around the world.

If H.Res.542 were to pass, it would send a clear message to the Secretary of State, the people of the United States, the people of India, and the world, that the United States does not tolerate violations of religious freedom which, according to both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United States Constitution, is a basic human right.

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