The annual report of the US Commission, released earlier this month, has made some irrefutable observations regarding the curbing of religious freedom in India, particularly since 2014, when Narendra Modi took oath as Prime Minister for the first time.

The report observes that religious freedom in India has continued to decline, as authorities target minority communities through the enactment of laws including the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens. According to the report, the Indian government is also guilty of arresting activists, academics and religious figures, and maltreating refugees and migrants, including Rohingya Muslims.

In light of its findings, the commission has recommended and urged the US administration to impose sanctions on individuals and entities such as RAW and RSS for their responsibility and tolerance of severe violations of religious freedom, by freezing their assets and barring their entry into the US. It has also recommended designating India as a ‘country of concern’ for violations of religious freedom and linking future US security assistance and trade policy to improvements in religious freedom.

As expected, the Indian government has rejected the report as motivated and biased. The spokesperson of the Indian foreign ministry, in response to the report, said that the commission should instead reflect on incidents in the US, including attacks and vandalism targeting Hindu temples and growing intimidation against members of the Indian diaspora.

However, it is a stark reality that the communal politics pursued by the Modi government have tarnished the secular face of India, a fact lamented by believers in democracy and secularism. Modi is a staunch disciple of the RSS ideology of ‘Hindutva’, which is inherently anti-Muslim. He lost no time after coming into power in promulgating anti-Muslim laws, as pointed out in the US Commission report. To begin with, the BJP government compiled the National Register of Citizens in Assam and deprived nearly two million Muslim residents of Indian citizenship. The government claimed that the exercise had been undertaken to deport undocumented immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh, contrary to the fact that those people had been living in Assam for decades.

In 2019, the Citizenship Amendment Act was promulgated. It was discriminatory against Muslims and consequently sparked violent clashes in which nearly fifty Muslims lost their lives. Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, lamenting the violence in an article published in The Hindu, said that Delhi had been subjected to extreme violence, with lives lost, injuries sustained and communal tensions inflamed, reflecting a breakdown of institutions meant to protect citizens and uphold justice.

In September 2024, the Modi government pushed through parliament a law called the ‘Waqf Properties Amendment Bill’ to govern the management of properties and assets donated by Muslims over the centuries as charitable endowments. The proposed bill seeks to formalise these donations with documentation, raising the spectre of government interference. It was feared that it would empower the government to gain unprecedented control over these religious properties. The proposed inclusion of non-Muslims on Waqf boards, judicial intervention in disputes previously handled by Waqf tribunals, and the creation of a centralised registry within six months all suggest an intrusive role for the government. These changes threaten to alter the delicate balance that has allowed India’s diverse communities to manage their religious affairs with a degree of autonomy. It is pertinent to mention that Congress expressed staunch opposition to this legislation and has also challenged it in the Supreme Court.

In 2024 alone, there has been an alarming rise in anti-Muslim activities. Two mosques were demolished in Uttarakhand and in the capital, New Delhi, within days of each other. The ensuing clashes and curfews killed at least six people, as religious polarisation continues to intensify across India. Author Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, commenting on the situation, said that it has become one of the worst times to be a Muslim in India, where the demolition of mosques and the stigmatisation of Muslims are increasingly seen as normal.

Reportedly, there have been numerous incidents of lynching of Muslims by Hindu extremists over alleged cow slaughter and other minor issues. Similar treatment has also been meted out to other minority communities, particularly Christians.

The report of the Commission is, in fact, an indictment of the Indian government and deserves to be taken up by the United Nations in light of these findings, which constitute a serious breach of the provisions of the UN Charter on religious freedom. The Commission has been releasing similar reports for many years, but the issue has largely remained unaddressed. The problem is that such matters can hardly be taken up at that forum without the explicit approval of the countries that effectively manage the UN.

The recommendations of the Commission have only academic value, nothing beyond that. The USA and its allies would never want to annoy or embarrass India, with whom they have a strategic alliance in regard to their ‘contain China’ policy. They view international relations through the prism of commercial and strategic interests rather than the Charter of the UN. That is a bitter reality. Nonetheless, it is encouraging to note that there are entities which do not hesitate to highlight alleged misconduct by states like India.

Malik Muhammad AshrafThe writer is a freelance columnist. He can be reached at ashpak10@gmail.com

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