Place India, Russia, Vietnam on religious freedom blacklist: US commission

The News International

Graffiti on a wall in Mumbai, India. Photo: AFP

WASHINGTON: A US panel proposed India be placed on a blacklist for religious freedom, saying treatment of minorities had deteriorated further.

The recommendation came for the second year in a row.

In addition to India, the commission called on the State Department to add Russia, Syria and Vietnam to the blacklist too.

Last year, the Indian government responded angrily to the call by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom and there remains little chance that the State Department will take its advice and condemn India, an increasingly close US ally.

The commission, which offers recommendations but does not set US policy, said in its annual report that "religious freedom conditions in India continued their negative trajectory."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi´s government "promoted Hindu nationalist policies resulting in systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom," it said.

It pointed to allegations of police complicity in violence against Muslims during deadly riots last year in New Delhi and continued concerns over a citizenship law championed by Modi that critics say defines Muslims as non-Indian.

It also said the Indian government has been stifling dissent and voiced concern over the rise of restrictions on inter-faith marriages including in India´s largest state... Click to continue