USCIRF – India
According to the UNITED STATES COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM REPORT 2020 published in April, 2020 India Declared Dangerous country. The Report was published during USCIRF 2020 Annual Report Press Conference & Virtual Launch.
Year 2019 was the worst year for India, specially when religious freedom conditions in India experienced a drastic turn downward, with religious minorities under increasing assault.
The situation became worst ever when the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) re-election in May, the national government used its strengthened parliamentary majority to institute national level policies violating religious freedom across India, especially for Muslims. The national government allowed violence against minorities and their houses of worship to continue with impunity, and also engaged in and tolerated hate speech and incitement to violence.
Indian Population
- Hindu 79.8 percent
- Muslim 14.2 percent
- Christian 2.3 percent
- Sikh 1.7 percent
- Buddhist 0.7 percent
- Zoroastrians (Parsis), Jews, and Baha’is Jain; other smaller groups 0.4 percent
Key Reasons
US Commission urges government to place India on the list of countries violating religious freedom due to below mentioned reasons:
- The Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the
- National Register of Citizens
- Cow Slaughter Laws
- Anti-Conversion Laws
- Religious Freedom in Jammu and Kashmir
It also highlighted the revocation of the autonomy of Kashmir, which was India’s only Muslim-majority state, and allegations that Delhi police turned a blind eye to mobs who attacked Muslim neighborhoods in February this year.
Read Complete Report UNITED STATES COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM REPORT 2020
