USCIRF Releases Report on India’s Collapsing Religious Freedom Conditions 

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) on October 2 released a report about collapsing religion freedom in India.USCIRF

This report highlights how throughout 2024, individuals have been killed, beaten, and lynched by vigilante groups, religious leaders have been arbitrarily arrested, and homes and places of worship have been demolished. These events constitute particularly severe violations of religious freedom. It describes the use of misinformation and disinformation, including hate speech, by government officials to incite violent attacks against religious minorities and their places of worship. It further describes changes to and enforcement of India’s legal framework to target and disenfranchise religious minorities, including the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and several state-level anti-conversion and cow slaughter laws.  

In its 2024 Annual Report USCIRF recommended that the U.S. Department of State designate India as a “Country of Particular Concern,” or CPC, or engaging in systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom. 

Here are excerpts from the report:

Increasing Abuses against Religious Minorities in India Introduction Religious freedom conditions in India have continued to worsen throughout 2024, particularly in the months prior to and immediately following the country’s national elections. In addition to the enforcement of discriminatory state-level legislation and propagation of hateful rhetoric, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (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 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.

Expropriation and Demolition of Places of Worship and Muslim Property

Since the beginning of 2024, Indian authorities have facilitated the expropriation of places of worship, including the construction of Hindu temples on the sites of mosques. Most notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the consecration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya in January, fulfilling a key campaign promise. Indian authorities had constructed the temple atop the ruins of the Babri Masjid, which a Hindu mob had demolished in 1992 in their belief that it marked the birthplace of Lord Ram.

The site was long contested; India’s Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that the mosque’s destruction was an “egregious violation” of the law and yet granted the site to Hindus while offering Muslims a separate plot of land to construct a new mosque—which remains unbuilt as of September 2024.

The days following the temple’s January 2024 consecration were marked by a series of attacks and other instances of intolerance against religious minorities across six states.

In each instance, violence erupted following Hindu nationalist processions through predominantly Muslim neighbors. In Maharashtra, violence broke out along Mira Road, where police stood by as mobs vandalized dozens of Muslim-owned shops.

 Several reports indicate that the police arrested Muslim youths, despite receiving dozens of complaints against the actions of the Hindu mob. In the aftermath of the Mira Road violence, municipal authorities returned with bulldozers to demolish structures they deemed illegal.

Commonly referred to as “bulldozer justice,” state authorities have repeatedly used bulldozers to demolish Muslim property under the guise of removing “illegal” structures, including homes, businesses, and places of worship.

In February, for example, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) demolished the 600-year-old Akhoondji Mosque, alleging that the building was an illegal encroachment. The mosque’s imam argued that he did not receive written notice before the demolition.

The DDA has also announced its intention to demolish 20 religious structures in the forested areas of Sanjay Van, including 16 Muslim shrines. A court order claimed that Delhi “already had sufficient dargahs and temples” and that the forest needed restoration.

The same month, in Uttarakhand, the demolition of a mosque and Muslim seminary by police and government officials sparked deadly clashes and an internet shutdown. In July, the DDA demolished the Faizyab Mosque and Madrassa in Delhi’s Sarai Kale Khan area.

Places of Worship Act

Beyond demolitions, the government has expropriated several mosques for alternative purposes, directly violating India’s Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act. The 1991 act froze the status of all religious places of worship as they existed in August 1947 and prohibits their conversion to any other faith. While the act does not apply to the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya, it extends protection to all other places of worship. Despite this law, an Indian court ruled in February that Hindus can worship inside the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi, which Hindus claim rests on the site of an ancient Hindu temple. The same month, BJP MP Harnath Singh Yadav called for the repeal of the Places of Worship Act, calling it “unconstitutional.”

Other Significant Religious Freedom Challenges across India Hate Speech, Misinformation and Disinformation In the leadup to the June 2024 elections, political officials increasingly wielded hate speech and discriminatory rhetoric against Muslims and other religious minorities.

Prime Minister Modi repeatedly claimed that the opposition party would “wipe out [the] Hindu faith from the country” and had plans to make Hindus “second class citizens in their own country.” He perpetuated hateful stereotypes about Muslims, referring to them as “infiltrators.”

Union Home Minister Amit Shah echoed these statements and insisted falsely that opposition leaders would impose Shari’a if elected—despite the fact that the opposition election manifesto included no mention of Shari’a or Muslims.

Additionally, misinformation, disinformation, and hate speech by Indian government officials frequently fuel and incite cow vigilantism and other attacks against religious minorities. The attacks against Muslims in Mira Road following the inauguration of the Ram Temple in January, for example, erupted following inflammatory speeches by two Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), Nitesh Rane and Geeta Jain. Rane reportedly openly threatened the Muslim community, using offensive language and urging the Hindu community to “ignite and retaliate.”

While First Instance Reports (FIRs) were filed against Rane and Jain, Mumbai police argued in July that the use of terms like “jihadis,” “Rohingya,” and “Bangladeshis” were not aimed at the Muslim community and therefore did not fall under Section 295A of the penal code.

The same month, the United Nations (UN) Committee on Racial Discrimination (CERD) expressed concern about an increase in hate speech targeting Rohingya refugees and the Indian government’s role in arbitrary mass detention and forcible return of that community to Burma. Following Rane and Jain’s speeches, BJP Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) T. Raja Singh gave a 40-minute speech in February stoking religious tensions, in which he openly called for violence against Muslims and for the further demolition of mosques in Kashi and Mathura.

Singh claimed that Muslims were facilitating the forceful conversion of Hindus and repeatedly referred to Rohingya and Bangladeshi Muslims as “illegal.” He encouraged his audience to be “prepared to fight for the protection of our country and religion” and to fight against “love jihad,” forced conversion, and cow slaughter.

Attacks against Religious Minorities

In March, a group of UN experts raised alarm about the level of violence and hate crimes against religious minorities in the leadup to national elections, including vigilante violence, targeted and arbitrary killings, demolition of property, and harassment. They called on the Indian government to fulfill its obligation to prohibit religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination and violence.

From January to March 161 incidents of violence against Christians in India were reported—47 of which occurred in the state of Chhattisgarh. Such incidents ranged from violent attacks on churches and prayer meetings to physical assaults, harassment, and false allegations of forced conversion.

Muslims continued to be targeted, as well. In March, a group of Hindus in Gujarat violently attacked foreign Muslim university students as they gathered for prayer during Ramadan. The university subsequently issued new guidelines, instructing students not to pray in common spaces.

Moreover, following the election results, during which the BJP lost its national majority, at least 28 attacks against Muslims occurred from June to August. Religious educational institutions were also subjected to harassment and targeting.

In February, for example, Hindu organizations entered a Catholic school in Assam and demanded instructors cease using Christian images and symbols. In March, the Allahabad High Court passed a judgment striking down a previous ruling on the governance of madrasas, effectively banning Islamic schools in that state and ordering the public school enrollment of students whom the closures had impacted.

Conclusion Religious freedom conditions in India continue to follow a deteriorating and concerning trajectory. The Indian government continues to repress and restrict religious communities through the enforcement of discriminatory legislation like anti-conversion laws, cow slaughter laws, and antiterrorism laws.

In doing so, authorities have arbitrarily detained individuals highlighting violations of religious freedom, including religious leaders, journalists, and human rights activists, without due process—in some cases for years. Indian officials have repeatedly employed hateful and derogatory rhetoric and misinformation to perpetuate false narratives about religious minorities, inciting widespread violence, lynchings, and demolition of places of worship.
 

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