US Commission’s recommendation to declare India as Country of Particular Concern
Washington: The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has recommended that the US State Department designate India as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for religious freedom for the fourth year in a row in 2023.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the USCIRF is a bipartisan federal government organization that studies and reports on global religious freedom violations.
The USCIRF’s 2023 annual report stated that conditions for religious freedom in India “continued to worsen” in 2022. The panel says India should be singled out for discrimination against Muslims and other groups. The label accuses a government of “systematic, ongoing (and) egregious violations” of religious freedom and opens the door to economic sanctions.
The USCIRF has recommended that India be designated as a CPC for engaging in and tolerating systematic, ongoing and egregious religious freedom violations, as defined by the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA).
The USCIRF has also called attention to the prevalence of anti-Muslim hate around the world. The USCIRF is deeply concerned by India’s transnational repression against political and human rights activists, journalists, and members of religious and ethnic minority groups. In extreme cases, tactics include detention, reprisals against family members, kidnapping, or, as illustrated by India, assassinations. KMS
