India home to great diversity of faiths; will continue to encourage to uphold religious freedom: US

[Hitman]

India is home to a great diversity of faiths and the Biden administration will continue to encourage it to uphold its commitments to protect religious freedom for all, a top US official has said, days after America designated 12 countries, including China and Pakistan as “countries of particular concern”.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday designated 12 countries, including China, Pakistan and Myanmar, as “countries of particular concern” for the current status of religious freedom in these nations. He said around the world, governments and non-state actors harass, threaten, jail, and even kill individuals on account of their beliefs.

Responding to a question on why India was not designated by the US government as a Country of Particular Concern on the issue of human rights, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said that India was the world’s largest democracy and home to a great diversity of faiths.

“Our annual report on international religious freedom outlines some of the concerns we’ve taken note of when it comes to India. We continue to carefully monitor the religious freedom situation in all countries and that includes India,” Price told reporters here on Tuesday.

The Biden administration will continue to encourage the Indian government to uphold its commitments to protect religious freedom for all, he said.

“We engage officials regularly on steps they can take to advance religious freedom. As the world’s two largest democracies, the United States and India, are also committed to an enduring project,” he said.

This is the project that Secretary Blinken spoke to previously. The project that as our founders put it, of striving to form a more perfect union. This is a project for both of our countries, Price said.

“We have worked together, and we can work together to show that our democracies can meet our peoples’ needs. We must continue to hold ourselves to our core values including respect for human rights like freedom of religion and freedom of belief or expression,” he said in response to a question.

“That, in turn, makes our respective democracies even stronger. Secretary Blinken, given the totality of the facts and the circumstances, determined that religious freedom concerns in India do not warrant a country of particular concern designation or placement on the special watch list. But, these are conversations that we continue to have with our Indian partners and with partners around the world,” Price said.

India has previously rejected criticism by foreign governments and human rights groups on allegations that civil liberties have eroded in the country.

The Indian government has asserted that India has well-established democratic practices and robust institutions to safeguard the rights of all.

The government has emphasised that the Indian Constitution provides for adequate safeguards under various statutes for ensuring the protection of human rights.

Ahead of the announcement of the annual designation by the State Department, there were massive lobbying efforts by groups like Indian American Muslim Council and pressures from organisations like the US Commission for International Religious Freedom to designate India as a Country of Concern.

In the US State Department 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom, the India section of the report mentioned incidents of attacks on religious minorities.
India in June this year rejected its criticism in the US State Department report on religious freedom, saying it is unfortunate that “vote bank politics is being practised in international relations”.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the observation on India in the report is based on “motivated inputs and biased views”.

“We have noted the release of the US State Department 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom, and ill-informed comments by senior US officials,” Bagchi said.

“It is unfortunate that vote bank politics is being practised in international relations. We would urge that assessments based on motivated inputs and biased views be avoided,” he had said.

Link: https://indianexpress.com/article/world/india-is-home-to-great-diversity-of-faiths-8310462/

 

[Ahmad-GERMANFC]

For supposed next superpower, Indians sure do jump in joy whenever the US or Europe gives some scraps as praise lol

 

[rickroll]

How is India even praised by the US? Do they not see the state of minorities in India these days?

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

How is India even praised by the US? Do they not see the state of minorities in India these days?

How has Pakistan remained long term allies of US despite supposedly aiding Taliban and hiding OBL? America is about manipulating the rest of the world to suit it's own imperial ambitions. If that means praising Indian bigots or cosying up to third world despots, than carry on Uncle Sam.

 

[FreakCricket]

How has Pakistan remained long term allies of US despite supposedly aiding Taliban and hiding OBL? America is about manipulating the rest of the world to suit it's own imperial ambitions. If that means praising Indian bigots or cosying up to third world despots, than carry on Uncle Sam.

Pakistan has never been an Ally in recent times unlike india or other trade partners, we have nothing to give in return we are just pawns for their foreign Policy objectives.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Pakistan has never been an Ally in recent times unlike india or other trade partners, we have nothing to give in return we are just pawns for their foreign Policy objectives.

Talk to many Brits and that is how they see themselves, just higher up the scale towards allies rather than pawns. But they are still dancing to the same tune.

 

[Rajdeep]

Not sure why we need USA's certificate. India is the biggest democracy in the world and our secular constitution is well respected around the world. India has always been looked upon as a country where every faith, caste and gender is treated equally. Infact, India is considered as a role model by western world for other South Asian nations to follow. Though I personally don't agree with everything happens internally on India in the name of secularism but that is a different topic.

 

[rickroll]

Not sure why we need USA's certificate. India is the biggest democracy in the world and our secular constitution is well respected around the world. India has always been looked upon as a country where every faith, caste and gender is treated equally. Infact, India is considered as a role model by western world for other South Asian nations to follow. Though I personally don't agree with everything happens internally on India in the name of secularism but that is a different topic.

Ok I will take the bait. How are all religious/caste/gender differences treated equally in India? Can you clarify - or are you claiming they are treated more equally than other South Asian countries? Your claim is at an absolute sense (differences treated equally period) which is harder to defend than the relative sense (more equal than other South Asian countries).

Dichotomy from the leftist equality for all standpoint
1. Religious difference - Muslims being lynched, christians killed, Sikhs persecuted
2. Caste difference - Dalits forced fed feces (google links), dalits primarily stuck in manual sewage cleaning, persistent news of caste violence
3. Gender difference - Persistent news of women of all ages (including kids) being abused or raped

Dichotomy from the right wing standpoint
1. Religious - Different legal systems for different religions. I'm not sure about the term in India for this but you can look up muslims having separate laws in India etc which the right wing hindutvas are not happy about.
2. Caste - Caste based reservation policy laws not sitting well with upper caste (typically right wing) groups of people

So both the left wing and right wing groups of India are now left unhappy with legal and social inequality across religion, caste, and gender. But here you are making an absolute statement that everyone in India is treated equally. Please enlighten us with what koolaid we should all drink to get into the Indian equality utopia bandwagon.

 

[PakLFC]

The greater the minorities the more innocent people to oppress and kill. Great going India!

 

[Mamoon]

How has Pakistan remained long term allies of US despite supposedly aiding Taliban and hiding OBL? America is about manipulating the rest of the world to suit its own imperial ambitions. If that means praising Indian bigots or cosying up to third world despots, then carry on Uncle Sam.

Pakistan is USA’s mercenary. Calling them an ally is a bit of a stretch.

 

[Rajdeep]

Ok I will take the bait. How are all religious/caste/gender differences treated equally in India? Can you clarify - or are you claiming they are treated more equally than other South Asian countries? Your claim is at an absolute sense (differences treated equally period) which is harder to defend than the relative sense (more equal than other South Asian countries).

Dichotomy from the leftist equality for all standpoint
1. Religious difference - Muslims being lynched, christians killed, Sikhs persecuted
2. Caste difference - Dalits forced fed feces (google links), dalits primarily stuck in manual sewage cleaning, persistent news of caste violence
3. Gender difference - Persistent news of women of all ages (including kids) being abused or raped

Dichotomy from the right wing standpoint
1. Religious - Different legal systems for different religions. I'm not sure about the term in India for this but you can look up muslims having separate laws in India etc which the right wing hindutvas are not happy about.
2. Caste - Caste based reservation policy laws not sitting well with upper caste (typically right wing) groups of people

So both the left wing and right wing groups of India are now left unhappy with legal and social inequality across religion, caste, and gender. But here you are making an absolute statement that everyone in India is treated equally. Please enlighten us with what koolaid we should all drink to get into the Indian equality utopia bandwagon.

Unfortunately, you are copy pasting what media, especially Pakistani media tells you about India. There are no religious difference or hatred. Indian minority communities flourishing in every sector and field of work. We have presidents to prime ministers, cricket captains to bollywood stars from minority community. We have political party in Indian parliament specifically representating their community - AIMIM (muslims), Akali Dal (Sikhs), Indian Christian Front etc. Ofcourse you won't see all these but will pin point some random lynchings being done by some hooligans. It is a classic case of media brain washing.Yes, India had caste issue and some of it still may exists but it is slowly becoming a thing of past. Our current president is Dalit. Women are flourishing in India and there are no gender bias at all. You are listening to all the wrong stories. Good on USA for realizing all these.

 

[daytrader]

US religious freedom panel again recommends India for blacklist
For a fourth year, the independent body says India should be singled out for discrimination against Muslims and other groups.

An independent commission in the United States has, for the fourth year in a row, recommended that India’s government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, be added to a religious freedom blacklist, saying that conditions in the country for religious minorities “continued to worsen” throughout 2022.

In its annual report on Monday, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) again called on the US Department of State to designate India as a “country of particular concern”.

The independent panel has made appeals for the designation since 2020. The label accuses a government of “systematic, ongoing [and] egregious violations” of religious freedom and opens the door to economic sanctions.

The body said that the Indian government “at the national, state and local levels promoted and enforced religiously discriminatory policies” in 2022. Those included “laws targeting religious conversion, interfaith relationships, the wearing of hijabs and cow slaughter, which negatively impact Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits and Adivasis (indigenous peoples and scheduled tribes)”.

The report noted that about 14 percent of India’s population of 1.4 billion is Muslim, about 2 percent is Christian, and 1.7 percent is Sikh. Nearly 80 percent of the country is Hindu.

The panel further asserts that the Indian government, led by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), “continued to suppress critical voices — particularly religious minorities and those advocating on their behalf”.

...
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023...om-panel-again-recommends-india-for-blacklist

 

[BouncerGuy]

On January 4, a press release from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on religious freedom designations categorized Pakistan, along with China, Cuba, North Korea, Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, as a CPC for “having engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom.

In reply to this press release, as per MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, GOVERNMENT OF PAKISTAN:

Pakistan rejects designation as "a Country of Particular Concern" by the U.S. State Department

We categorically reject Pakistan’s designation as "a Country of Particular Concern" by the U.S. State Department. We are deeply dismayed that the designation is based on biased and arbitrary assessment, detached from ground realities.

Pakistan is a pluralistic country, with a rich tradition of interfaith harmony. In line with its Constitution, Pakistan has undertaken wide ranging measures to promote religious freedom and protect minority rights.

We note with deep concern that India, the biggest and serial violator of religious freedom, has once again been excluded from the U.S. State Department’s designation list. This is despite clear recommendation by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) as well as public concerns raised by international human rights constituencies about India's maltreatment of religious minorities.This conspicuous omission raises serious questions about the credibility, transparency and objectivity of the entire process.

We remain convinced that such discriminatory, unilateral and subjective exercises are counterproductive and undermine our shared objective to advance religious freedom globally.

Pakistan strongly believes that the contemporary challenge of religious intolerance, xenophobia and Islamophobia can be best countered through constructive engagement and collective efforts based on mutual understanding and respect. With a similar spirit, Pakistan has bilaterally engaged U.S.

Pakistan’s concerns about the designation is being conveyed to the U.S. side.

SOURCE: MOFA
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