According to the Evangelical Fellowship of India, a Christian advocacy organization, there were 177 incidents of violence, harassment, or discrimination across India targeting Christians.
Source/Credit: The Nation
By Special Correspondent | August 12, 2016
US religious freedom report for 2015, Pakistan also gets negative marks
WASHINGTON - Minority religious groups in India voiced concerns about government discrimination and suggestions by government officials that Hinduism should be taught in public schools, according to a US State Department report on religious freedom for 2015, which also highlighted that Hindu nationalists threatened and assaulted Muslims and Christians because of their religious beliefs.
Dealing with Pakistan, the report said that senior State Department officials, the US Ambassador, and American Embassy officers discussed the need to combating sectarian violence, limiting the misuse of provisions of the law related to blasphemy, and encouraging religious tolerance and dialogue with the Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, the Minister for Religious Affairs and interfaith harmony, and with senior representatives of the Ministry of Interior during 2015.
US government officials also discussed other issues of concern, including curriculum reform in the public and madrassah education systems, and the treatment of the Ahmadiyya, Christian, Hindu, Sikh, and other minority communities.
On India, the report, entitled: Annual State Department report on International Religious Freedom for the year 2015, also noted that government officials at the federal, State and local level made discriminatory statements against members of religious minority groups.
“Hindu nationalists threatened and assaulted Muslims and Christians and destroyed their property because of their beliefs and in disputes over the location of churches and mosques", it said.
"Targets of killings included an intellectual advocating secular 'rationalism'.
According to the report, numerous senior US government visitors underscored the importance of religious freedom throughout the year, including President Barack Obama during his January visit to New Delhi.
The US Embassy in India and Consulate representatives discussed reports of religious persecution and coerced religious conversions, social media-based religious intolerance, and religiously motivated attacks, as well as the US response to these concerns, with these officials and leaders.
According to the Evangelical Fellowship of India, a Christian advocacy organization, there were 177 incidents of violence, harassment, or discrimination across India targeting Christians.
“Muslims were also targeted based on land disputes, their traditional livelihoods selling beef or buffalo products, and social interactions with Hindus.
Several well-known authors, filmmakers, and other civil society members returned national and state-sponsored awards to protest what they said was the growing religious and cultural intolerance in the country.”
India, it said, witnessed religiously motivated killings, assaults, coerced religious conversions, riots and actions restricting the right of individuals to change religious beliefs, a US State Department report on religious freedom said.
"Minority religious groups expressed concerns about government discrimination and suggestions by government officials that Hinduism should be taught in public schools.
Government officials at the federal, state, and local level made discriminatory statements against members of religious minority groups," the annual State Department report on International Religious Freedom for the year 2015 said.
"Members of minority groups who were victims of religiously motivated violence or other animus complained of police inaction regarding such incidents," it said, adding that attackers frequently acted with impunity, and, according to some victims, police resisted filing criminal complaints and in several instances threatened to falsely incriminate the victims.
The State Department said that religious groups expressed concern about statements by certain government officials suggesting Hinduism should be taught in schools.
"They also complained about police inaction in incidents of violence or hostility against their members and unequal application of some laws by the government.
Religious groups reported incidents of hate speech by government officials," the report said.
According to the report, there were reports of religiously motivated killings, assaults, coerced religious conversions, riots, and actions restricting the right of individuals to change religious beliefs.
The attacks against religious minorities took place despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pledge that he would ensure "complete freedom of faith" in the country.
"On several occasions, such as at a meeting in February with Christians in New Delhi, Prime Minister Modi publicly stated he would defend religious freedom," the State Department said in its report which also documents reports of violence against the Christian community in various parts of the country including Punjab.
"Christians who reported that they were victims of religiously-motivated violence or other animus voiced concern about the lack of police action against such incidents, as well as of hostility by the police towards Christians."
The report said police clashes with Sikh protesters in Punjab led to the death of two protesters.
In the absence of Secretary of State John Kerry, the annual report was released by the Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Discussing religious freedom in Pakistan, the State Department said, "The government continued to enforce blasphemy laws, whose punishment ranges from life in prison to the death sentence for a range of charges, including defiling the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him)."
The report said, "The police arrested several individuals on charges of blasphemy.
Legal observers said the authorities took steps to protect some individuals from unfounded accusations of blasphemy, although lower courts continued to fail to adhere to basic evidentiary standards in blasphemy cases.
Ahmadiyya Muslim community leaders expressed concern over the government’s continued targeting of Ahmadis for blasphemy, and Ahmadis continued to be affected by other legislation which denied them basic rights.
Members of religious minority communities stated that the government was inconsistent in safeguarding minority rights, and official discrimination against religious minorities persisted.
"The government announced an action plan against terrorism, including countering sectarian hate speech, and said it would prosecute individuals for labelling others as 'infidels.
Armed sectarian groups connected to organisations banned by the government as extremist, as well as groups designated as terrorist organisations by the US and other governments, staged attacks on Christians and Shia Muslims, including the predominantly Shia Hazara community, which killed hundreds of individuals and injured hundreds more.
"During riots in Lahore following terrorist bombings of two churches that killed 17 persons, a group of Christians killed two Muslim individuals allegedly involved in the bombings.
Throughout the year, attackers targeted and killed Shia and Ahmadi Muslims.
Unknown assailants kidnapped individuals from minority religious groups, including Zikri Muslims and Hindus.
There were reports of continued efforts by societal actors to coerce religious minorities to convert to Islam and continued discrimination against Christians in employment.
There also continued to be reports of attacks on the holy places, cemeteries and religious symbols of religious minorities."
Read original post here: Muslims, Christians targeted by Hindu nationalists in India
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