JOINT STATEMENT AT USCIRF HEARING
Read by Sunita Viswanath, Executive Director, Hindus for Human Rights (832 words / 4:35 min) Dear USCIRF Chair Cooper and Vice Chair Davie, Thank you for inviting me to testify. I speak on behalf of Dalit Solidarity Forum, Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations, Hindus for Human Rights, Indian American Muslim Council, India Civil Watch International, and the New York State Council of Churches. We are disappointed that Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and Dalits, who face the brunt of religious freedom and human rights violations under Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have not been invited to speak on this panel. The Biden Administration is in denial of religious persecution in India, failing to call out India’s persecution of its 250 million Muslims and 40 million Christians. In June, President Biden shocked the world by applauding India’s “open, tolerant, robust debate” with Modi standing next to him at the White House, just two days after 75 Members of US Congress had written to Biden expressing concern over “the shrinking of political space, the rise of religious intolerance, the targeting of civil society organizations and journalists, and growing restrictions on press freedoms and internet access” in India. Yesterday, The New York Times wrote: “Mr. Biden has soft-pedaled any criticism of the increasing
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Federation of Indian American Christian organizations (FIACONA), in a meeting of pastors and community leaders in Chicago area today, thanked the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) and Asia Pacific Baptist Federation (APBF), for its call to all its churches and all Chritians around the world to observe a 'Day of Prayer' on Sunday, August 20, 2023, for Kuki-Zomi and Meitei Christian victims in Manipur, India. Please share. BWA/APBF STATEMENT ON MANIPUR VIOLENCE: In May 2023, violence erupted in Manipur – an Indian state located in the northeastern part of the country along the Myanmar border. As of August 4, the violence has resulted in more than 170 deaths, 1,800+ houses burned, 350+ churches destroyed, and over 500 individuals injured and hospitalized. More than 50,000 people have been forced to flee their homes for refugee camps because of, among other political factors, their ethnicity and faith in Jesus Christ. Your prayers for Christians in Manipur and for a peaceful resolution to the conflict are desperately needed! The Baptist World Alliance and Asia Pacific Baptist Federation are calling Baptists worldwide to set aside time in their homes, church services, and communities on Sunday, August 20, for a time of united prayer for Manipur. Resources to support your
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May 16, 2023, Washington DC. The Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations is greatly troubled by the large-scale assault on the Christian churches and homes in the Northeastern Indian State of Manipur during the first week of May by the Hindu nationalist BJP government-supported militia. The Federation has reasons to believe that it was a well-planned, coordinated attack by the party in government against the Christian population of the state. The attack has all the markings of the Hindu nationalist campaign seen in previous violent campaigns carried out by the BJP party and its mother organization, the RSS, in Gujarat 2002, Odisha 2008, and Delhi 2020. In all these cases, government authority was used to facilitate and protect the Hindu militia while the police were ordered to stand down for the duration of violence. During this government-sponsored violence, on May 3rd and the 4th, over 200 churches and over 500 homes of the Christians were burned by the BJP militia. The violence has forced more than 23,000 people to flee their homes. Initial reports indicate that the police were actively supporting the militia providing them tactical support. FIACONA strongly condemns the violence perpetrated by the ruling party on its Christian population. FIACONA urges the US
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FIACONA urges U.S. State Department to designate India as a ‘Country of Particular Concern’ May 15, 2023, Washington DC. The Federation of Indian Christian Organization in North America (FIACONA), an advocacy organization for religious freedom in India, applauds the United States State Department for exposing the dubious record of Human Rights and Religious Freedom in India under the BJP administration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On the 2022 report on International religious freedom, India has been accused of systematic violations of human rights that included punitive bulldozing of Muslim homes and businesses, attacking the places of Christian worship on baseless allegations of ‘forced conversions’, and creating fear and spreading a sense of insecurity among the religious minorities. The report states, “In multiple states, police arrested Christians accused of forcing others to convert. Christian groups said police sometimes aided crowds who disrupted worship services the crowds said were forcibly converting Hindus”. The report also cited that 108 former senior government officials wrote Prime Minister Narendra Modi stating that government discrimination against religious minorities, “particularly Muslims, in states like Assam, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand,” was “undermining” the country’s constitution.” The report also stated, “Attacks on members of religious minority
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Extremist outfits and their proxies in America should think deep and hard as to what they are actually doing on the US soil. December 21. 2022, Washington DC. Last May, the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) filed a defamation lawsuit in federal court in D.C. accusing Mr. John Prabhudoss, the Chairman of the Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations, along with the co-founders of Hindus for Human Rights, Ms. Sunita Viswanathan and Mr. Raju Rajagopal, and Prof. Audrey Truschke and Mr. Rashid Ahmed of IAMC, of defaming HAF in commentary each made about reports in the press that HAF and other extremist Hindu nationalist organizations had obtained federal COVID relief. The reports were that HAF and others received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the U.S. government meant for companies trying to survive the pandemic. On December 20th, 2022 Federal Judge Amit Mehta dismissed the case against all defendants. While he ruled that there was no personal jurisdiction over Ms. Viswanathan, Mr. Rajagopal, Prof. Truschke, and Mr. Ahmed, Judge Mehta dismissed the claims against Mr. Prabhudoss on the merits. He found that HAF “does not plausibly allege that Prabhudoss’s statements are verifiably false” because they amounted to statements of opinion. He further found
