Federation of Indian-American Christian organizations demands U.S. sanctions for India’s ‘religious freedom violations’
More than 300 Christian leaders in the United States, including denominational heads, are calling on the U.S. State Department to designate India as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) due to escalating violations of religious freedoms, particularly against Christians. The leaders, representing a wide range of denominations and Christian organizations, have expressed concern over the increasing violence and “systemic persecution under the Hindu nationalist government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi”.
In a letter sent earlier this month, the leaders, including 18 bishops, three archbishops, and numerous clergy, highlighted the worsening situation for religious minorities in India since Modi’s government came to power in 2014. The letter, organized by the Federation of Indian-American Christian Organizations in North America, is the first concerted effort by U.S. Christian leaders to address religious persecution in India.
The letter attributes the surge in violence to a “Hindu ethno-nationalist or Hindutva supremacist political ideology,” which it claims has distorted both the Hindu religion and India’s constitutional secular democracy. This has led to state-sanctioned violence against Christians, Dalits, and other religious minorities, both in public and within state institutions.
The leaders cite alarming statistics from the United Christian Forum, noting a sharp increase in attacks on Christians, from 127 incidents in 2014 to 720 in 2023. The persecution has displaced over 65,000 people in Manipur and resulted in the destruction or damage of more than 400 churches as of May 2023. A report from Chhattisgarh revealed that over 2,500 Christians were forcibly displaced between December 2022 and February 2023 for refusing to convert to Hinduism.
The letter also references international rankings, such as the U.S.-based International Christian Concern, which lists India as the third-worst persecutor of Christians globally. The signatories urge the State Department to take several actions, including designating India as a CPC under the International Religious Freedom Act, which could lead to sanctions and other consequences.
The letter criticizes the U.S. government’s “silence” on these issues, contrasting it with the strong geopolitical alliance between the U.S. and India. It calls for holding Indian government officials accountable for religious freedom violations and supporting independent religious and human rights organizations in India and the U.S.
The Christian leaders also highlight the impact of India’s Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, which has cut off funding to hundreds of Christian schools and hospitals and affected organizations like Amnesty International, Compassion International, World Vision, and Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity. This, they argue, has left Indian Christians isolated and vulnerable.
The letter also condemns the “anti-conversion” laws enforced in at least 10 Indian states, which have criminalized religious conversion and led to the arrest of thousands of Christians. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has also criticized the State Department for not including India on the CPC list, despite repeated warnings about the deteriorating situation.
In its annual international religious freedom report, the State Department addressed concerns about religious freedom in India, noting a concerning increase in anti-conversion laws, hate speech, and demolitions of minority communities’ homes and places of worship.
U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Rashad Hussain highlighted instances where local police aided mobs disrupting worship services or stood by while mobs attacked Christians, only to arrest the victims on conversion charges.
This article is originally published on https://muslimmirror.com/eng/federation-of-indian-american-christian-organizations-demands-u-s-sanctions-for-indias-religious-freedom-violations/
