US asks Indian govt to protect religious freedom

Sridhar Krishnaswami

Washington, Sept 20 (PTI) Taking note of the recent
violence against the Christian community in India, the U.S.
has asked the Indian government to protect the religious
freedom throughout the country.

"We urge all parties to refrain from violence and urge
government officials to protect religious freedom throughout
India and thus preserve India's longstanding tradition of
religious tolerance," said Ambassador at Large for
International Religious Freedom, John Hanford.

He made the remarks while presenting the 10th Annual
State Department Report on International Religious Freedom,
which is mandated every year by the United States Congress.

"Despite the central government's efforts to foster
communal harmony, we have seen more violence against
Christians in the state of Orissa, where religious factors,
combined with underlying social, economic, and ethnic
grievances, have sparked unrest, just in the past few weeks,"
Hanford said.

He said "we are also concerned about the killing of a
prominent Hindu religious leader that sparked the recent
unrest in the state."

The State Department also said vast majority of persons
of every religious group lived in peaceful coexistence in
India but alleged that there were organised communal attacks
against minority religious groups, particularly in states
governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (B.J.P.).

"In Orissa, governed by a coalition government that
include the B.J.P. and the Biju Janata Dal (B.J.D.), Hindu
extremists attacked Christian villagers and churches in the
Kandhamal district over the Christmas holidays," it said.

"Approximately 100 churches and Christian institutions
were damaged, 700 Christian homes were destroyed causing
villagers to flee to nearby forests, and 22 Christian-owned
businesses were affected," the report said.

We have also seen violence against Christians in the
state of Karnataka this past week, some of which appears to
have been politically motivated..., it alleged.

The report said that the Constitution provides for
freedom of religion; however, some state level laws and
policies restricted this freedom.

"The National Government generally respected religious
freedom in practice; however, some state and local governments
imposed limits on this freedom. There was no change in the
status of respect for religious freedom by the National
Government during the period covered by this report; however,
problems remained in some areas," it said.

"Some state governments enacted and amended
'anticonversion' laws and police and enforcement agencies
often did not act swiftly to effectively counter communal
attacks, including attacks against religious minorities," the
State Department's report said.

A section on India said "during the reporting period, the
State of Gujarat implemented its 'Freedom of Religion' Law
initially passed in 2003 and withdrew an amendment that would
have defined "conversions" as occurring only between
denominations and not between religions, and would have
classified Jains and Buddhists as denominations of Hinduism.
This law requires prior permission from the Gujarat Government
for a conversion ceremony."

"Throughout the reporting period, mission officers
investigated and reported on numerous cases of alleged
religious persecution, ongoing cases in Gujarat, attacks
against Christians in Orissa... mission officers also
monitored the plight of internally displaced Kashmiri Hindus,
known as Pandits, who fled their home areas in the valley of
Kashmir starting in 1989," the report said.

The report was prepared after Consulate and senior
embassy officers met in Mumbai with a range of NGO, business,
media, and other contacts, including Muslim leaders, to
monitor the aftermath of the Gujarat violence.