By Sardar Khan Niazi
It is surprising that the U.S Commission on International Religious Freedom, a bipartisan independent body recommended that India be designated a Country of Particular Concern but US Secretary of State Anthony J. Blinken’s annual ‘Religious Freedom Designations’ list includes China, Russia, Cuba, Iran, Nicaragua, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan but excludes India.
The said list asserted his country will not stand by as governments and non-state actors around the world harass, threaten, jail, and even kill individuals on account of their beliefs. However, the list exposes the hypocrisy and double standard that characterize America’s approach to human rights.
It is also worth mentioning that not long ago Antony Blinken said that the US is monitoring what he described as a “rise in human rights violations or cases in India by some government officials, police, and prison officials”.
The Indian authorities used repressive laws to silence critics by curbing freedom of expression both offline and online. Human rights defenders, including activists, journalists, students, lawyers, and actors, continued to face intimidation and harassment.
Independent investigations reveal a massive unlawful surveillance apparatus being used by the government against human rights defenders, violating their rights to privacy, non-discrimination, and data protection.
The foreign contribution law was misused to crack down on human rights NGOs. Police and security forces used excessive force against members of minority communities and farmers protesting peacefully against laws on farming.
Courts undermined the right to a fair trial and delayed hearing crucial cases involving violations of human rights. Caste-based discrimination and violence against Dalits and Adivasis continued unabated. Cow protection groups attacked minority communities affecting their livelihoods.
Unlawful and politically motivated restrictions are on freedom of expression and assembly. Outspoken journalists, media outlets, actors, and human rights activists are threatened and intimidated through the misuse of over-broad financial laws.
Last year, tax authorities raided multiple offices of the Dainik Bhaskar group, a Hindi-language news daily. Dainik Bhaskar had reported on the mass dumping of bodies of Covid-19 victims along the river Ganges due to high cremation costs.
The offices of media outlets NewsClick and Newslaundry, as well as the house of actor-philanthropist Sonu Sood and the offices of human rights activist Harsh Mander were raided on alleged charges of tax evasion and diversion of funds for religious conversion.
The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) was misused by government agencies to silence NGOs. In June, the Ministry of Home Affairs suspended the FCRA license of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, a human rights organization working on access to information and justice.
The Ministry also canceled the registration of 10 international NGOs working on environment, climate change, and child labor issues, and placed more than 80 philanthropic and human rights agencies on a “Prior Reference Category” list without citing any reason. Funds are disbursed to or from the organizations on this list after clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs, seriously curtailing their work.
The Pegasus Project, an international investigative journalism initiative, exposed the unlawful and arbitrary surveillance of Indian citizens through the government’s alleged use of Pegasus spyware. At least 300 telephone numbers of human rights defenders, journalists, lawyers, government officials, and opposition politicians were compromised.
The spyware, as examined by Amnesty International, enabled government agencies to monitor all phone activity, including emails, files, contact lists, location information, and chat messages. It also enabled governments to secretly record audio and video using a phone’s built-in microphone and camera.
The ruling BJP stalled all attempts by opposition leaders in parliament to initiate an investigation into the allegations.
Unfortunately, once again a glaring oversight was India, which deserved inclusion in the US Secretary of State Religious Freedom Designations’ list because of all the issues he said his country would not tolerate.
