Back
Front Page
U.S. panel for naming India, Pak. as 'countries of concern'
By Sridhar Krishnaswami
This is the first time that the Commission has asked the Secretary of State to designate India, along with Pakistan and Vietnam, as Countries of Particular Concern. A total of 12 countries, including Iran, Iraq, China, North Korea and Sudan, are in this list.
In a damning indictment, the Commission argued that despite India's democratic traditions, religious minorities had periodically been subjected to severe violence, including mass killings. ``Those responsible for the violence were rarely ever held to account''.
The Commission, in its section on India, was specific in saying that it was becoming increasingly clear that ``an increase in such violence has coincided with the rise in political influence of groups associated with the Sangh Parivar, a collection of Hindu extremist nationalist organisations that views non-Hindus as foreign to India and hence deserving of attack''.
The USCIRF made the point that with the rise in power of the Sangh Parivar's political wing — BJP — ``the climate of immunity for the perpetrators of attacks on minorities appears to have strengthened''. The Commission broadly described the attacks on minorities in India since 1998 and spoke of mob violence targeted against Christians and Muslims.
``Although the BJP-led Central Government may not be directly responsible for instigating the violence against religious minorities, it is clear that the Government is not doing all that it could do to pursue the perpetrators of the attacks and to counteract the prevailing climate of hostility against these minority groups,'' it said.
``Though the severe violence in Gujarat provided the national government with adequate grounds — under the Constitution and existing laws to counteract communal violence — to invoke Central rule in the State, the BJP Government did not do so, despite many requests and the fact that the killing of Muslims continued (on a lesser scale) for many weeks.''
In acknowledging ``some positive steps'' taken by the Central Government, the Commission took note of the developments in the State since July, including the dissolution of the Assembly in Gujarat, the call for elections and the Election Commission's recommendation for Central rule in the State. ``...Fear... is still a palpable reality,'' the USCIRF quotes the Election Commission as saying.
The Commission on International Religious Freedom is an independent federal agency that advises the administration and Congress on matters pertaining to religious freedom. The Countries of Particular Concern are those that have engaged in or tolerated severe violations of religious freedom. Under the law, the President must take specific actions, ranging from diplomatic demarche to economic sanctions, against countries designated as such.
The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 ``requires the U.S. to oppose these egregious and systematic violations, whether the government itself commits them or tolerates them. We hope to see actions commensurate with the severity of these abuses,'' said the Commission Chair, Felice Gaer.
`No impact on ties'
India today said that the latest recommendation of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom was not expected to influence the bilateral dialogue and interaction with Washington.
The Foreign Office spokeswoman said the U.S. understood India's plurality and dynamic democracy. To a question on what India's response would be if the U.S. Government acted on the panel's call, the spokeswoman stated that these were sovereign decisions and she would not like to comment on it. She said the receptivity to India's concerns had been very positive as far as the U.S. administration was concerned.
© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu