Designate India ‘country of particular concern’: US religious freedom watchdog

WASHINGTON, December 16

The US religious freedom watchdog on Friday again called on the Biden administration to designate India as a ‘country of particular concern’ under the US Religious Freedom Act, citing its alleged targeting of religious minorities overseas.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), an independent federal government commission, said, “Recent efforts by the Indian Government to silence activists, journalists and lawyers abroad pose a serious threat to religious freedom.”

“The USCIRF implores the US Department of State to designate India a country of particular concern due to India’s systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of freedom of religion or belief,” it said in a statement.

USCIRF Commissioner Stephen Schneck called the Indian Government's alleged involvement in the killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada and a plot to kill another Sikh activist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in the US ‘deeply troubling’.

The Indian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan said this month that an Indian had worked with an unnamed Indian government employee on the plot to assassinate a New York City resident, who advocated for a sovereign Sikh state in India. The Indian Government has denied involvement in the plot.

The issue is highly delicate for both India and the Biden administration as they try to build closer ties in the face of an ascendant China perceived as a threat for both democracies. — Reuters

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