Justice For All: State Department Fails India Again

The recently issued US State Department report on International Religious Freedom on India has once again failed India. It reports widespread incidences impacting religious freedom in India, yet intentionally or unintentionally does not connect the dots. It fails to ask a critical question: who is responsible for these incidents. Similarly the report talks about lynching, but does not mention the Rashtriya Soyamsevek Sangh (RSS) the most powerful para-military force which controls the government as well as the streets of India. Due to pressure from human rights organizations, the report mentions Hindutva ideology but in a very benign manner. It is this ideology that is dictating the policies causing India to become the only country in the world to have two genocide alerts, one for Assam and one for Kashmir.

The State Department needs to pay closer attention to the recent USCIRF report which calls the US government to impose sanctions on India.