ICC Note:

Recently, India refused to grant entry visas to members of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) amid reports of rising religious intolerance in the South Asian country. This refusal, coupled with a recent open letter sent to India’s Prime Minister by 34 members of the U.S. Congress expressing grave concern over the country’s religious freedom situation, has sparked discussion regarding why India decided to bar USCIRF. In 2015 alone, the Catholic Secular Forum documented 365 attacks on India’s Christian minority making 2015 the worst year for India’s Christians in the country’s independent history. Was India’s refusal to grant USCIRF entry visas a missed opportunity?  

3/21/2016 India (CNA) – India is making a mistake in refusing to issue visas to a U.S. international religious freedom organization, said religious liberty advocates and experts specializing in the South Asian country.

“This is a missed opportunity for India and for religious freedom. We had hoped to travel there for some time because of the growing concerns about religious freedom in India. We wanted to go there and assess the situation and learn the facts on the ground,” said Katrina Lantos Swett, president of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Swett was responding to India’s recent decision to not issue visas to the commission for an upcoming trip.

“It is a disappointment to many people because India is a vibrant and pluralistic democracy. It is an incredibly important and significant country – one that is committed in its own Constitution to provide for freedom of conscience and belief. It is very unfortunate they made this decision,” she told CNA March 17.

The group, which monitors religious freedom worldwide, was scheduled to leave for New Delhi on June 12 to assess increasing communal violence.

According to a 2015 report by the commission, religion has been the cause of increased violence in India in the past few years.

“Despite the country’s status as a pluralistic, secular democracy, India has long struggled to protect minority religious communities or provide justice when crimes occur, which perpetuates a climate of impunity. Incidents of religiously-motivated and communal violence reportedly have increased for three consecutive years,” the report states.

In February, the commission released its global annual report on religious freedom but delayed information on India, pending further findings from the upcoming trip.

The Indian Embassy in Washington, which has authority to issue visas, said it did not see the need for the delegation.

“We do not see the locus standi of a foreign entity like USCIRF to pass its judgment and comment on the state of Indian citizens’ constitutionally protected rights,” the embassy statement said.

But Swett said this is a poor explanation.

“To say that USCIRF does not have standing to come to learn about the religious freedom situation is just not credible,” she said. “We have visited many countries over the years, many of which have very problematic religious freedom concerns, places like Pakistan, Vietnam, Burma, and Saudi Arabia – and have provided thorough research and solid recommendations. It is unfortunate that India did not see value in this.”

This is the third time India has refused to issue visas to commission, having previously done so in 2001 and in 2009 without an explanation.

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