USCIRF cites worsening conditions for religious minorities in India throughout 2022
TWC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has once again recommended India’s government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to be added to a religious freedom blacklist. The USCIRF released its annual report on Monday, stating that India’s conditions for religious minorities “continued to worsen” in 2022.
USCIRF has been urging the US Department of State to classify India as a “country of particular concern” since 2020, which implies that the government is guilty of “systematic, ongoing [and] egregious violations” of religious freedom and may result in economic sanctions.
The report claimed that the Indian government enforced discriminatory policies at the national, state, and local levels in 2022. These policies included laws that targeted religious conversion, interfaith relationships, wearing hijabs, and cow slaughter. The commission stated that these policies negatively impacted Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, and Adivasis.
Around 14% of India’s population is Muslim, 2% is Christian, and 1.7% is Sikh, while Hindus comprise nearly 80%. The USCIRF claims that Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continued to suppress critical voices, particularly those of religious minorities and those advocating on their behalf.
The USCIRF has urged the US government to impose economic sanctions on India for its discriminatory policies.