Washington/New Delhi/Beijing: Describing the US Commission on Religious Freedom (USCIRF) as an independent commission which is not a governmental body, the United States said that it will take a close look at its report where it recommended that India be included in the US blacklist for the religious freedom violation.
In a question raised in this respect by a Pakistani journalist here today (IST), who said this was the second time in a row that the US Commission recommended India to be included in the list of countries of particular concern (CPC), Department Spokesperson Ned Price said USCIRF does provide recommendations and guidance to the US Government.
“It is something that we look at closely as we evaluate conditions of religious freedom or lack thereof around the world,” Price said and added, “I have no doubt that our experts in our Office of International Religious Freedom will take a close look at the report that USCIRF has submitted as they prepare for our determinations and our findings when it comes to religious freedom around the world”.
It may be mentioned that the USCIRF in its 2022 Annual Report, recommended 15 countries to the State Department for designation as “countries of particular concern” (CPCs) because their governments engage in or tolerate “systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations.” These included 10 that the State Department designated as CPCs in November 2021: Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan—as well as five others: Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, Syria, and Vietnam. For the first time ever, the State Department designated Russia as a CPC in 2021, which USCIRF had been recommending since 2017.
The USCIRF in its report had stated: “Religious freedom conditions in India are taking a drastic turn downward, with national and various state governments tolerating widespread harassment and violence against religious minorities. The [Bharatiya Janata Party] BJP-led government enacted the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), which provides a fast track to Indian citizenship only for non-Muslim migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan already residing in India. This potentially exposes millions of Muslims to detention, deportation and statelessness when the government completes its planned nationwide National Register of Citizens.”
The Indian media was quick to trace USCIRF’s anti-India bias and reported that the body had, in 2014, changed India’s map, and removed Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh from India. Besides, Kuala Lumpur-based The ASEAN Post published an article that wrote “Instead of schooling other countries on their human rights shortcomings, the US probably needs some self-introspection and should first address its human rights situation.”
Many countries including Cuba, Iran, China and Turkey have deplored and openly criticized the latest USCIRF report. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said that in order to manipulate and intimidate countries that do not subordinate to Washington’s interests, the US was using human rights as an instrument. China criticised the report stating that it “missed out intentionally: the US itself”. In a recent press conference in Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian also quoted the spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry Saeed Khatibzadeh saying, “no one can expect the US government which is addicted to lying, to tell the truth.” China claimed that the US had been politicizing human rights to a greater extent to defend its hegemonic interests. “The US government should immediately stop concocting the so-called report, and focus on facing up to and improving the human rights conditions at home,” Lijian said.
– global bihari bureau
