U.S. Congressmen Call for Prioritizing Treatment of Religious Minorities in U.S.-India Talks

Nearly 10 percent of the United States House of Representatives is co-sponsoring a bill that calls on the Obama administration to make human rights and justice for religious minorities a priority in talks between the U.S. and India.

The resolution has been jointly introduced by Joseph Pitts, a Republican from Pennsylvania and Keith Ellison, a Democrat from Minnesota. The measure has 22 Democrat and 20 Republican co-sponsors.

H.R. 417 is waiting on hearings in the U.S. House Foreign Affairs and Judiciary committees, which must give approval before the measure will go to the House floor for a vote.

The online publication sikhsiyat.net quotes Pieter Singh, executive director of the Sikh Information Center and Advisor to the Organization for Minorities of India as saying the measure is extremely important because elections for a new prime minister will take place in May.

Singh also says both candidates have a history of attacking religious Minorities, including Muslims, Sikhs and Christians. Singh says one candidate; Rahul Gandhi is the grandson of Indira Gandhi, who was a former prime minister. She ordered a military assault on a Sikh holy place in 1984. Singh says the other candidate Narendra Modi has been accused of being involved in a massacre of Muslims in 2002. Modi is a member of a Hindu nationalist political group.

H.R. 417’s sponsoring congressmen say three massacres have taken place in India and victims of these massacres have not received justice. The background section of the legislation states that in some cases state security forces were involved in the massacres.

H.R. 417 cites the case of the August 2008 murder of a prominent Hindu leader which set off a violent campaign against Christians. Although Maoists extremists claimed responsibility for the assassination, the All India Christian Council claims 70 people were killed and an additional 50 people have never been found and are presumed dead. According to the All India Christian Council, 640 Christian houses were destroyed and 54,000 Christians were made homeless. The report from the council also indicates 18,000 Christians were injured, at least 149 churches destroyed and 13 Christian schools and colleges were damaged.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) accuses India of an inadequate response to anti-Christian violence in the state now known as Odisha (formerly Orissa) in 2008. The USCIRF put India on a “watch list” the following year because of the situation as well as another religiously motivated attack in 2002, in which Muslims were killed.

In 2013, the annual report of USCIRF placed India on a Tier 2 status, citing reports that Christians, Sikhs, and Muslims had been intimidated.

Voice of the Martyrs says the constitution of India provides full freedom of worship for all religions. Voice of the Martyrs says the main opposition to religious freedom is coming from an increase in Hindutva extremism—“India is Hindu only.” Voice of the Martyrs says the Hindu extremists began a hate campaign against Muslims in the early 1990s and against Christians in the late 1990s.

Voice of the Martyrs also says anti-conversion laws were also passed in several Indians states due to the large number of low caste Dalits who turned from Hinduism and became Christians.

Open Doors 2014 World Watch List is ranking India as number 28 on the 50 countries where persecution of Christians for religious reasons is most severe.

Open Doors blames the increase in persecution on some Hindu nationalists in India who claim that every Indian has to be Hindu. Open Doors sources in India report in some states it is virtually impossible for Christians to build or renovate a church building. According to Open Doors, Christians cannot count on fair treatment in India and are discouraged from claiming their rights

Several Indian organizations are speaking out against the proposed measure. The Hindu-American Foundation has stated that “India … hardly needs lecturing or interference from certain members of the United States Congress. Center-Right publication Niti Central has described the resolution as “direct interference in the internal affairs of India at a time of crucial elections to five States.”