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Powell `silence' upsets U.S. panel on religious freedom

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON MAY 14. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), has said that it was "deeply disappointed" that the Secretary of State, Colin Powell, did not designate India in the category of Countries of Particular Concern (CPCs) on the subject of religious freedom.

The Commission had sent a letter to Gen. Powell last September asking that India, along with five others be placed in the category of egregious religious freedom violators, which could be subject to U.S. action under the International Religious Freedom Act.

In its report on Religious Freedom for 2003, the commission has said that last October it had met the Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage, to discuss the recommendations for the CPCs. "The commission was deeply disappointed that Gen. Powell did not designate India, Laos, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan and Vietnam," it says.

Setting forth the reasons why it wanted India placed in the CPC category, the commission has argued that it has grown "increasingly concerned about abuses of religious freedom in India, including the communal violence and killings that took place in Gujarat in 2002.

"Alarmed by the religious violence and in response to the U.S. administration's failure to publicly condemn the killings of Muslims in Gujarat, the commission held a hearing in June 2002 to learn more about the situation, highlight violations of religious freedom in India and discuss how the United States, through its policy towards India can play a role in helping to protect religious freedom there," the report argues.

The commission has also listed the steps it had taken to address the issue including asking Mr. Armitage to raise concerns of religious freedom with Indian authorities last year.

"In the light of the alarming level of religious violence that occurred in that country, in September 2002 the commission recommended that India be designated as a CPC," the report says.

The commission which is a statutory body that advises the President, the Secretary of State and Congress on matters pertaining to global religious freedom, has noted that in spite of India's democratic traditions "religious minorities have periodically been subject to severe violence, including mass killings" and has stressed that these crimes go unpunished.

"Those responsible for the violence are rarely ever held to account," it has noted.

"It has become clear that an increase in such violence has coincided with the rise in political influence of groups associated with the Sangh Parivar that view non-Hindus as foreign to India and hence deserving of attack," the commission observes.

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