Christian group voices alarm over India's religious intolerance
March 1, 2014: As India approaches its general election, expected to take place in
May, UK-based Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) has released a new briefing setting
out a list of religious freedom concerns.
Published on February 27, CSW’s briefing,
‘India: Communalism in an Election Year’, outlines situations of ongoing concern in
Odisha (formerly Orissa), Karnataka, and Rajasthan states. It describes the typically
long genesis of communal violence and the pattern of impunity afterwards, and argues
the need for vigilance to avert possible future outbreaks of violence, especially
in areas where Hindu extremist groups have been stoking tensions among adivasi (tribal)
communities. It also highlights the statutory discrimination against Christian and
Muslim Dalits, anti-conversion legislation, and censorship under blasphemy laws.
In
addition, CSW’s briefing expresses concern about increasing pressure on human rights
defenders, including harassment from the intelligence bureau and threats from Hindu
extremist organisations. CSW describes human rights defenders as an essential bulwark
against the worst violations, and argues that “protecting and strengthening advocacy
for human rights within India is a compelling imperative”.
The briefing comes
in the wake of a privately-arranged visit of Heiner Bielefeldt, UN Special Rapporteur
on freedom of religion or belief, to the cities of Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, and
Bhubaneswar. Bielefeldt met a wide range of human rights defenders of different backgrounds,
victim-survivors of communal violence, and the National Human Rights Commission.
Concerns
around freedom of religion or belief in India have received greater international
attention in recent months, following the outbreak of violence against Muslims in
Muzaffarnagar last September, and the nomination of Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial
candidate for the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Modi is stoutly
unapologetic for the communal violence which engulfed Gujarat during the early months
of his tenure as chief minister in 2002, in which 2,000 people died, mostly Muslims.
CSW’s
Chief Executive, Mervyn Thomas, said, “In this general election year, there are heightened
fears about minority communities being targeted for violence or discrimination. We
are particularly concerned about the prevailing impunity after cases of communal violence,
whether large-scale as in Odisha’s Kandhamal district, or the frequent, smaller-scale
attacks in Karnataka and other states, and we continue to encourage the government
to establish a legislative framework to deal adequately with such violence.
"Our
briefing also highlights a range of long-term, structural issues, which the current
government and any future government must seek to address in order to safeguard the
rights of all Indian citizens. We welcome some steps in the right direction, but there
is much more that needs to be done.”