About 75 senators urged US President Joe Biden to discuss shrinking religious freedom in India with visiting Indian PM Narendra Modi.
Newsdesk (21/06/2023 20:30, Gaudium Press) Christian and Muslim leaders in India have praised the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) and lawmakers who called on President Joe Biden to address the issue of shrinking religious freedom in India during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the United States.
A. C. Michael, president of the Federation of Catholic Associations of Archdiocese of Delhi, stated that as the most powerful leader in the world, President Biden has a duty to raise concerns about religious freedom, which has deteriorated since Modi came to power in 2014.
During his three-day visit to the US starting on June 20, Modi will attend a banquet at the White House hosted by President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. He will also become the first Indian prime minister to address the US Congress twice. However, 75 Democratic senators and members of the House of Representatives signed a letter expressing their concerns about religious intolerance, press freedom, disruptions of internet services, and targeting of civil society groups under Modi’s leadership.
Michael, who is also the national coordinator of the United Christian Forum (UCF), highlighted that incidents of violence against Christians have increased steadily under Modi’s watch. The UCF, based in New Delhi, reported 600 incidents of violence against Christians in 2022 and 505 incidents in 2021. This year alone, nearly 300 incidents of violence against Christians have been reported in India. Christians make up 2.3 per cent of India’s population of 1.4 billion.
Modi’s state visit began in New York and will conclude in Washington, D.C. While Modi has visited the US five times in the past nine years, this is his first visit as a state guest, receiving full diplomatic protocol.
Since Modi assumed power in 2014, incidents of vigilante mobs, often supported by Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have disrupted prayer meetings and targeted Christian leaders and their institutions. Eleven Indian states, mostly governed by the BJP, have enacted stringent anti-conversion laws that are frequently used to target Christians. Muslims have also faced persecution, including public floggings, demolition of their homes and properties without legal authorization, and violent attacks for consuming and trading beef, which is considered holy in Hinduism.
Muhammad Arif, chairman of the Centre for Harmony and Peace in Uttar Pradesh, another BJP-ruled state, expressed appreciation for US lawmakers addressing religious persecution in India and expressed hope for a positive impact from their interaction.
The USCIRF, in its annual report published on May 16, called on the US State Department to designate India as a “country of particular concern” regarding religious freedom. The USCIRF has been critical of Modi’s treatment of religious minorities in India and had attempted to send a fact-finding mission to the country, which was blocked by the Indian government last year.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from UCAN News
