In a report, \u201c2021 Persecutor of the Year Awards,\u201d released here this month, the International Christian Concern (ICC) clubbed the \u201cSangh Parivar,\u201d India\u2019s Hindu extremist movement that informs Modi\u2019s ideology and policies, with the Taliban and the Boko Haram, and named India as one of the world\u2019s seven biggest persecutors on November 24, 2021.<\/p>\n
Washington, D.C \u2013 the ICC is a reputed global Christian organization and has named Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also CM Yogi Adityanath among the world\u2019s seven biggest persecutors of religious minorities and called for the U.S. government to impose visa and economic sanctions on India to pressure it to end that persecution.<\/p>\n
In a report, \u201c2021 Persecutor of the Year Awards,\u201d published here this month, the International Christian Concern (ICC) called the \u201cSangh Parivar,\u201d India\u2019s Hindu extremist movement that informs Modi\u2019s ideology and policies, with the Taliban and the Boko Haram, and named India as one of the world\u2019s seven biggest persecutors.<\/p>\n
The Modi administration had overseen \u201ca massive cultural shift\u201d in India from a pluralistic society to Hindu nationalism, and \u201cconsistently punished all forms of dissent,\u201d cracking down on NGOs seeking to hold it accountable, the ICC report said.\u201cThe U.S. and its allies should consider economic and visa sanctions against key decision-makers in the Modi administration,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n
Also, the U.S. Congress should designate India as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for \u201cengaging in and tolerating systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations,\u201d and also \u201cemphasize improving religious freedom conditions at the national level with India in any future strategic or economic partnerships.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken declined to designate India as CPC, rejecting a recommendation from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). Numerous organizations have condemned that decision.<\/p>\n
Apart from Modi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also joined the Rogue\u2019s Gallery of the world\u2019s seven biggest persecutors. The others on that list include Chinese President Xi Jinping and the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-Un.<\/p>\n
The others besides India on the country list include Nigeria, China, Myanmar and Pakistan.<\/p>\n
The ICC and the Indian American Muslim Council collaborate in the pursuit of their advocacy towards ending religious persecution in India.<\/p>\n
The Modi administration \u201cfrequently looked away\u201d as its Hindu extremist allies \u201cviolently targeted\u201d religious minorities, the report said. Modi \u201cactively suppresses dissent through his administration and fails to hold persecutors accountable. He has sent a message throughout India that his administration will tolerate the persecution of Christians.\u201d<\/p>\n
Modi\u2019s \u201cknowing inaction\u201d to end persecution was the \u201csingle most significant contributing factor to the dire state of religious freedom in India\u2026 that allows Hindu radicals to persecute India\u2019s Christian minority with impunity,\u201d the report said. There were \u201cvirtually limitless reports\u201d of persecution of pastors, new or lifelong Christians, and whole churches by Indian officials and police. \u201cHindu extremists who commit acts of vandalism, violence, and even murder frequently go un-prosecuted.\u201d<\/p>\n
India was also \u201chostile\u201d to critics such as Amnesty International, which it accused of violating foreign funding laws, just as it accuses Christian ministries, and forced it to shut operations in India. It was widely believed, the report said, that \u201cthis act was politically motivated to silence Amnesty\u2019s criticism of the Indian government\u2019s abuses.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ICC said the \u201cSangh Parivar\u2019s\u2026 single ideology\u201d of Hindutva had \u201ca single agenda: to make India a Hindu nation,\u201d and establish a \u201ctheocratic Hindu-majority state where religious minorities, including Christians, are banished to second class status.\u201dThe establishment of such a state would be a \u201ccomplete rejection of India\u2019s founding principles, which provide religious freedom and equal protection to all religious groups.\u201d<\/p>\n
The leader of this Sangh Parivar, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), \u201cfuels a religiously intolerant narrative that views all non-Indic faiths, like Christianity and Islam, as foreign and something to be feared,\u201d the ICC said. The RSS demonized Christians and other religious minorities through \u201chateful narratives, instigating violence in the streets\u201d and used such narratives to advocate for laws and policies that discriminated against religious minorities.<\/p>\n
The RSS\u2019s estimated over six million members across India in over 50,000 locations meet daily and do martial arts training which they use \u201cagainst religious minorities.\u201d Modi\u2019s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the RSS\u2019s political wing, used \u201chateful narratives\u201d for political victories to establish India as a Hindu nation, the ICC said. The BJP used \u201cpolitical support garnered by these narratives\u201d to pass discriminatory laws.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnti-conversion laws and cow slaughter bans name just a few of the laws and policies the BJP enacts as a part of their nationalist agenda,\u201d the report said. \u201cThese laws also provide a legal cover under which street thugs can attack Christians with impunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another organization is the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), which \u201cmobilizes resources within and outside India to support the Hindutva movement\u201d and falsely accused Christian educational and health institutions of converting Hindus to Christianity, sowing a narrative that there was a conspiracy led by \u201cWestern agencies\u201d to take over India.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese narratives only help fuel the fires of intolerance against Christians and other religious minorities, justifying violence and discriminatory laws and policies.\u201d The Bajrang Dal, the Sangh Parivar\u2019s youth wing, was mobilized \u201cas foot soldiers\u201d to enforce the Hindutva ideology on the street attacking Christians and their places of worship and holding rallies against Christians. \u201cIn recent years, the severity of attacks by the Bajrang Dal has increased even to the extent of targeted killings,\u201d the ICC said.<\/p>\n
Anti-conversion laws, forced conversions to Hinduism, blasphemy laws, state-sanctioned impunity, social boycotts, and government restrictions on foreign funding were means to target and persecute India\u2019s Christians, the report said.<\/p>\n
The ICC report was released by USCIRF Chair Nadine Maenza<\/a> and ICC President Jeff King. IAMC\u2019s Advocacy Director Ajit Sahi joined in releasing the report.<\/p>\n