Indian Americans Laud USCIRF For Raising Concerns Over Waqf Amendment Bill In India

Washington, October 3 (TNA) The Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) today lauded the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for raising the alarm over the far-right Indian government’s “collapsing religious freedom conditions” and advancing Hindu supremacy in its newly-released India update report.

USCIRF raised concerns over hate speech and disinformation spread by Indian politicians during India’s recent general elections, ongoing violent attacks against religious minorities, expropriation and demolition of Muslim places of worship, crackdowns on civil society, and transnational repression against Indians living abroad.

In particular, USCIRF expressed concerns over the number of anti-minority laws and policies enforced or introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) throughout 2024, saying, “In addition to the enforcement of discriminatory state-level legislation and propagation of hateful rhetoric, the [BJP] government made a concerted effort to implement election promises that negatively and disproportionately impacted religious minorities and their ability to practice their faith”

Such promises, the report added, “included enacting the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), inaugurating the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, and introducing a national code to replace religion-specific personal laws. Each action was justified by government officials as necessary to protect India’s “cultural [and] linguistic heritage”—a common euphemism for Hindu supremacy, often at the expense of religious minorities.”

Other discriminatory laws and policies included anti-conversion laws, cow slaughter laws, the Uniform Civil Code, the National Registry of Citizens, and the recently-introduced Waqf Amendment Bill, which seeks to erode the Muslim community’s autonomy over its own religious institutions.

This report comes just months after USCIRF recommended India as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for its severe violations of human rights and religious freedoms for the fifth consecutive year. The CPC label is a designation reserved for the world’s worst violators of religious freedom.

“IAMC applauds USCIRF for releasing this critical update, which shines a light on just how severely religious freedom conditions in India are deteriorating under the Hindu supremacist government,” said IAMC Executive Director Rasheed Ahmed.

“The time is now for the Biden administration to act on USCIRF’s recommendations to sanction Indian actors responsible for this escalating climate of violence and hatred, and to condition arms sales to India on the grounds of protecting minorities,” Ahmed added.

IAMC echoes USCIRF in calling on the US Department of State to designate India as a CPC and hold the Indian government accountable for its “particularly severe violations of religious freedom.” IAMC also urges the Indian government to take immediate steps to address these concerns and protect the rights of all of its citizens, regardless of their religion.