The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has once again called on the Biden administration to classify India as a “country of particular concern” under the U.S. Religious Freedom Act. The independent federal government commission cites alleged targeting of religious minorities overseas by the Indian Government as the basis for its plea.
“Recent efforts by the Indian Government to silence activists, journalists, and lawyers abroad pose a serious threat to religious freedom,” warns USCIRF in a statement. The commission implores the U.S. Department of State to acknowledge India’s systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of freedom of religion or belief.
USCIRF Commissioner Stephen Schneck expresses deep concern over the Indian Government’s alleged involvement in the killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada and a plot to assassinate another Sikh activist, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, in the United States. The Indian embassy in Washington has not responded to these allegations.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan recently disclosed that an Indian national collaborated with an unnamed Indian government employee on a plot to assassinate a New York City resident advocating for a sovereign Sikh state in northern India. India’s government has denied any involvement in the alleged plot.
USCIRF, recommending since 2020 that India be labeled a country of particular concern, emphasizes that India’s extension of domestic repression to target religious minorities abroad “is especially dangerous and cannot be ignored.”
India’s foreign ministry had previously dismissed the recommendation in 2020, criticizing it as “biased and tendentious comments.”
By Reuters
