An activist is rallying for the USCIRF to not change its designation of India as a "country of particular concern" following reports of rampant religious freedom violations in the country under Prime Minister Modi's rule.
Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations chairman John Prabhudoss called upon the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) on Wednesday to maintain its designation of India as a "country of particular concern" or "CPC" after its government continued to tolerate religious freedom violations.
During the panel event hosted by International Christian Concern, Prabhudoss discussed "India's Designation as CPC" and highlighted the importance of recognizing it as such for its escalating religious persecution rates.
According to the Christian Post, the increase in the religious freedom violations in India can be attributed to Prime Minister Modi's rise in power alongside the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party in 2014. Since then, the world's second-largest country has been ranked as the 10th-worst by Open Doors when it comes to religious persecution of Christians.
India has been included in the USCIRF's list of countries of particular concern in an annual report in 2020. However, the U.S. State Department failed to take action against the religious freedom violations in the country.
The USCIRF report said that the governments' implementation of "national-level policies violating religious freedom across India'' is a point of particular concern. But India fired back, saying that the report was "biased." The ICC's panel discussion on Wednesday was in preparation for the USCIRF's annual report for 2021, which is due for release towards the end of the month.
"The Hindu nationalism has proven to be as dangerous as other forms of religious extremism," Prabhudoss argued, adding "attacks on Christian institutions and churches every single day ever since the [BJP] came to power is indeed a troubling development."
Prabhudoss also expressed his concern over a campaign run by a foreign Hindu nationalist government in Washington, which through its proxies have lobbied for the reversal of the religious freedom recommendation in India. He called upon the USCIRF to maintain the designation given to India "based on the facts" as mandated to the commission by the U.S. Congress.
In a similar vein, several human rights advocates and organizations are also rallying to declare India as a country for particular concern. According to International Christian Concern, a letter signed by dozens of human rights advocates and organizations was sent to the USCIRF to persuade them to maintain their religious freedom recommendation for India.
They expressed alarm over the increased attacks and persecution of Christians, caused by emboldened radical Hindus who were influenced by the spread of Hindutva ideology. Reports of India's worsening state of religious freedom told of disrupted church services, destroyed property, assaulted Christians, and more.
ICC's Director of Advocacy Matias Perttula called upon the Biden administration to help USCIRF to declare India a country of particular concern this year while "[continuing] to champion religious freedom across the globe". Perttula said, "The United States must lead with its values and champion the cause of religious freedom for everyone, everywhere, all the time."
