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"USCIRF's decision to club India in with a dozen or so of the worst violators of religious freedom in the world, while overlooking others, again raises questions of bias and flawed methodology," Prof Ramesh Rao of the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) alleged.
"The Commission's censure of India in 2011, despite that country's celebrated pluralism and absence of any significant recent religious discord -- despite provocative terror attacks -- seems based more on a disagreement over some states' effort to monitor coercive and forced conversions," Rao said.
The USCIRF decision, however, was not unanimous.
Commissioners Felice Gaer and William Shaw dissented, describing the listing of India on the watch list as "ill-advised and inappropriate".
HAF was the only organization invited to testify by USCIRF that demanded India's removal from the watch list, and its arguments were echoed by the two commissioners in their public dissent.
Besides Rao, the author of HAF's annual Hindu human rights report, Suhag Shukla, HAF's Managing Director and Legal Counsel testified before the USCIRF Commissioners in Washington last month arguing that India did not belong on the watch list due to its robust human rights mechanisms and independent judiciary that comprehensively probed incidents of inter-religious violence.
They insisted that the "predatory proselytizing" supported by many US churches vitiates inter-religious harmony in India as well as other countries and must be considered in any comprehensive analysis of international religious freedom, a media release said.
"We are disappointed that the compelling evidence we presented did not move the majority of commissioners away from their deeply flawed assumptions about India," Shukla said.
"But continuing to call out bias within quasi- government bodies, such as USCIRF, that lack Hindu, Buddhist, or Sikh representation and bringing to light the damaging role that predatory proselytization plays in inter-religious relations around the globe are guiding principles and imperative for HAF," Shukla said.
Shukla and Rao offered evidence of the Constitutional and legal accommodations provided to India's minorities, including the existence of separate personal and family laws for Muslims and Christians, governmental subsidies for the annual Haj pilgrimage for Muslims and the right of all religious communities, except Hindu, to independently control their respective places of worship free from government interference.
They also highlighted India's affirmative action policies and reservations in government and educational institutions, intended to afford economic and social advantages to religious minorities.
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While in the US I had attended one session where the debate was about Govt meddling in religious freedom. They were openly taking about India being a country where ONE BILLION people are ready to meet Jesus and that they need to be shown the way. The discussion mentioned that BJP and Muslims in India are the biggest threat to spreading the message. Having heard these first hand, I am not at all surprised that US has put India on the watch list.
Hurtling down the rapid path of economic self destruction, and a demoralised military that can only shoot from pilotless aircrafts, a country incapable of dealing with its natural calamities! What do they now have except their so called god. We are witnessing the death throes of US, but the world must be careful because as US realises more and more its impending disaster, it will create discord and chaos in the rest of the world in the spate of vindictive fury. US is a danger to human civilisation, and must be put on the watch list of every right thinking human as clear and imminent threat.
US if courteous in its decision on India to be placed in Watch List should not bother to place itself in the Watch List Above Afghan as the US itself has not been able to Curb Anti-Islam Mood In almost All subjects of its own. Moreover, it went on a shooting spree inside a foreign country which it alleges has perpetrated the 9/11 tragedy; whereas even after instigating 26/11, India never went on Lethally against its perpetrators not even when some elements hold public meetings against India as a country and declaring Open War on India. Moreover, the decision in no way would affect India because it is, in truth, not at all eligible to be placed in the watch list. And, shouting a LIE loudly would not make it TRUTH. True Indian
Why are we bothered about what some US agency says about India. We, Indians and the whole world knows what India is. US persues its agenda through these agencies and tries to pressurizes third world countries like India. What about Denmark and many European countries where you won't find any single Hindu temple, how can they be secular and allow religion freedom. From birth certificate to death certificate, you have to go to church; is that religious freedom?