The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has urged the Joe Biden administration to designate India as a country of particular concern (CPC) over alleged severe religious freedom violations.
“Recent efforts by the Indian government to silence activists, journalists, and lawyers abroad pose a serious threat to religious freedom,” the US watchdog said.
The USCIRF also alleged that the Indian authorities have used “spyware and online harassment campaigns to target and intimidate journalists and activists abroad advocating on behalf of religious minorities”.
It also mentioned the Canadian allegations of extra-judicial killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar and the alleged plot to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a dual citizen of Canada and the US.
“The Indian government’s alleged involvement in the killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada and the plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in the United States are deeply troubling, and represent a severe escalation of India’s efforts to silence religious minorities and human rights defenders both within its country and abroad,” USCIRF Commissioner Stephen Schneck said.
He further called on the Biden administration to “acknowledge the Indian government’s perpetration of particularly severe religious freedom violations and designate it as a country of particular concern.”
The USCIRF also said that it has recommended each year since 2020 that the U.S. Department of State designate India as a CPC and the most recently in its 2023 Annual Report.
USCIRF also highlighted an issue update on India’s state-level anti-conversion laws, and claimed that it provided further context on India’s use of these laws to target religious minorities.