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INDIA TIER 2 KEY FINDINGS In 2016, religious tolerance and religious freedom conditions Minister Narendra Modi spoke publicly about the importance continued to deteriorate in India. Hindu nationalist groups— of communal tolerance and religious freedom, members of such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Sangh Parivar, the ruling party have ties to Hindu nationalist groups impli- and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP)—and their sympathizers cated in religious freedom violations, used religiously divisive perpetrated numerous incidents of intimidation, harassment, language to inflame tensions, and called for additional laws and violence against religious minority communities and Hindu that would restrict religious freedom. These issues, combined Dalits. These violations were most frequent and severe in 10 of with longstanding problems of police and judicial bias and India’s 29 states. National and state laws that restrict religious inadequacies, have created a pervasive climate of impunity in conversion, cow slaughter, and the foreign funding of nongov- which religious minorities feel increasingly insecure and have ernmental organizations (NGOs) and a constitutional provision no recourse when religiously motivated crimes occur. Based deeming Sikhs, Buddhists, and Jains to be Hindus helped on these concerns, in 2017 USCIRF again places India on its create the conditions enabling these violations. While Prime Tier 2, where it has been since 2009. RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE U.S. GOVERNMENT • Integrate concern for religious free- areas where communal and religiously particularly in states and areas with a dom into bilateral contacts with India, motivated violence has occurred or is history or likelihood of religious and including the framework of future likely to occur, and through meetings communal violence; Strategic Dialogues, at both the federal with religious communities, local govern- • Urge the central Indian government and provincial levels, and encourage the mental leaders, and police; to press states that have adopted strengthening of the capacity of state • Press the Indian government to allow anti-conversion laws to repeal or and central police to implement effec- USCIRF to visit the country, and urge the amend them to conform with inter- tive measures to prohibit and punish Indian government to invite the United nationally recognized human rights cases of religious violence and protect Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom standards; and victims and witnesses; of religion or belief to visit India; • Urge the Indian government to publicly • Increase the U.S. Embassy’s attention to • Urge India to boost training on human rebuke government officials and issues of religious freedom and related rights and religious freedom standards religious leaders who make derogatory human rights, including through visits and practices for the police and judiciary, statements about religious communities. by the ambassador and other officials to U.S. COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM | ANNUAL REPORT 2017 www.USCIRF.gov | [email protected] | @USCIRF TIER 2 TIER INDIA BACKGROUND minorities, tend to occur most frequently in 10 Indian India is the world’s largest democracy, with about 1.26 states: Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhat- billion people, or about a one-sixth of the total world tisgarh, Gujarat, Odisha, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, population. Nearly 80 percent of the population is Maharashtra, and Rajasthan. In at least some of these Hindu; more than 14 percent is Muslim (the third-larg- states, religious freedom violations appear to be system- est Muslim population in the world); 2.3 percent is atic, ongoing, and egregious and rise to CPC status. Christian; 1.7 percent is Sikh; less than 1 percent is Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, other minority com- Buddhist; less than 1 percent is Jain; and about 1 percent munities, and Hindu Dalits recognize that religious adheres to other faiths or professes no religion. freedom issues in India predate the current Bharatiya India is a multi-religious, multi-ethnic, multi-lin- Janata Party (BJP)-led government. However, they guistic, and multicultural country and a secular attribute the deterioration in conditions since 2014 to democracy. Despite these positive characteristics, the the BJP’s Hindu nationalistic political platform and Indian government has struggled to maintain religious some of its members’ support of and/or membership in and communal harmony, protect minority communities Hindu nationalist groups. The BJP was founded in col- from abuses, and provide laboration with the RSS, justice when crimes occur. and the two maintain close ties at the high- The country has experi- The heightened enforcement est levels. The BJP, RSS, enced periodic outbreaks against religious minorities by Sangh Parivar, and VHP of large-scale communal BJP government officials and/or subscribe to the ideology violence against religious Hindu nationalists . has contributed of Hindutva (“Hindu- minorities, including in to the deterioration of ness”), which seeks to Uttar Pradesh in 2013, Odi- religious freedom in the country. sha in 2007–2008, Gujarat make India a Hindu state in 2002, and Delhi in 1984. based on Hinduism and Although the government Hindu values. Some of India established special structures to investigate individuals and groups adhering to this ideology are and adjudicate crimes stemming from these incidents, known to use violence, discriminatory acts, and reli- the impact has been hindered by limited capacity, an giously motivated rhetoric against religious minorities, antiquated judiciary system, inconsistent use, political creating a climate of fear and making non-Hindus feel corruption, and religious bias, particularly at the state unwelcome in the country. The heightened enforce- and local levels. Many cases stemming from these inci- ment against religious minorities by BJP government dents are still pending in the India court system. These officials and/or Hindu nationalists of existing con- large-scale outbreaks of communal violence, as well as stitutional and legal provisions restricting religious smaller-scale Hindu nationalist abuses against religious conversion, cow slaughter, and foreign funding of U.S. COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM | ANNUAL REPORT 2017 www.USCIRF.gov | [email protected] | @USCIRF TIER 2 TIER INDIA NGOs also has contributed to the deterioration of reli- cows or bulls or the consumption of beef, and mere accu- gious freedom in the country. sations of violations can lead to violence. The application While there was no large-scale communal violence of these legal provisions also economically marginalizes in 2016, the Indian government’s Union Ministry of Muslims and Dalits (who adhere to various religious Home Affairs reported in January 2017 that in the first faiths), many of whom work in the beef or leather indus- five months of 2016 there were 278 incidents of com- tries. During the reporting period, there were a number munal violence. In 2016, the governmental National of incidents of Muslims and Dalits being charged under Commission for Minorities received 1,288 complaints these laws or subject to violence based on such accusa- from minorities regarding such incidents, down from tions. For example, in August 2016 in Kadali village in nearly 2,000 in 2015. However, religious minority com- Muzaffarnagar, local police arrested three members of a munities, especially Christians and Muslims, reported family and charged them with slaughtering a cow under to USCIRF that incidents had increased but minorities the Uttar Pradesh Cow Slaughter Prevention Act. The were afraid or believed it to be pointless to report them. police reportedly arrested the family members only after a mob attacked the family’s home. RELIGIOUS FREEDOM CONDITIONS Six Indian states—Chhattisgarh, Himachal 2016–2017 Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Legal Issues and Odisha—have so-called “Freedom of Religion India’s constitution has provisions that provide for the Act(s),” commonly referred to as anti-conversion laws, legal equality of its citizens—regardless of their religion restricting religious conversion. Because of concerns and creed—and prohibit religion-based discrimination. about unethical conversion tactics, these laws generally However, other constitutional provisions help create require government officials to assess the legality of the conditions in which conversions out of Hin- Hindu nationalist groups duism and to provide for fines and imprisonment and their sympathizers [T]hese laws create a hostile and, for anyone who uses force, intimidate, harass, and on occasion, violent environment for fraud, or “inducement” violently attack religious religious minority communities. minority communities to convert another. While and Hindu Dalits, pur- the laws purportedly portedly to uphold these protect religious minori- laws. Article 48 of the constitution requires the state to ties from forced conversions, they are one-sided, only prohibit cow slaughter, a practice many Muslims believe concerned about conversions away from Hinduism but is required of them during Eid al-Adha (Festival of the not toward Hinduism. Observers note that these laws Sacrifice). Additionally, article 25 deems Sikhs, Jains, create a hostile and, on occasion, violent environment and Buddhists to be Hindus. As a result, members of for religious minority communities because they do not these faiths are subject to Hindu Personal Status Laws, require any evidence to support accusations
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