ICC Note:

Yesterday, the Human Rights Commission of the U.S. Congress express its concerns over growing religious intolerance in India. These concerns were expressed as India’s Prime Minister met with President Obama in Washington, DC. Since India’s current Prime Minister took power in 2014, the state of religious freedom in India has significantly deteriorated. In 2015 along, Christians were attacked by Hindu radicals 365 times according to the Catholic Secular Forum. Will these concerns expressed by the U.S. Congress help usher in change for India or will India continue to ignore international criticism?

6/8/2016 India (The News International) – The Human Rights Commission of the US Congress on Tuesday expressed concerns over the growing violence against minorities in India at a hearing that coincided with the start of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official visit to the United States.

A day before the Indian Prime Minister is to speak to the joint session at the Capitol Hill, Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the US Congress held the hearing on incidents of discrimination, intimidation and harassment against Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and Buddhist communities in the so-called world’s biggest democracy.

Joseph R Pitts, Co-Chairman of the Commission noted growing ties between the United States and India in different sectors but said these relations have failed to take note of the rising tide of human rights violations in India.

“Many of these developments, certainly positive, have overlooked a troubling array of human rights concerns that should give us a pause,” said the Congressman.

Congressman Pitts recalled that a hearing in 2014 noted an alarming trend and instances of communal violence targeting Muslims and Christians, adding that number of these instances have grown in recent years.

He said according to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom’s recent report, religious tolerance and violence against religious freedom increased in India in 2015. Another report by the US State Department cited several incidents, including the enforcement of anti-conversion laws in India.

The Congressman said that in February this year, co-chairman of the Human Rights Commission signed by 32 lawmakers, including 8 US Senators wrote a letter to Prime Minister Modi expressing concern over reports of violent incidents targeting religious minorities in India.

He regretted that the letter never received a formal reply and the government of India in a public statement on it characterize the concerns as constituting an “aberration”.

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