It has become customary for the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) to deliver sermons to the rest of the world on “religious freedom” through its annual report.
“What is freedom of religion? It is a broad, inclusive right, sweeping in scope, embracing the full range of thought, belief, and behaviour. And it is as deep as it is broad, honouring and upholding the claims of conscience. Religious freedom means the right of all human beings to think as they please, believe or not believe as their conscience leads, and live out their beliefs openly, peacefully, and without fear. When it comes to the peaceful exercise of religion or belief, no government, group, or individual has the right to compel others to act against their conscience or restrain them from answering its call.”
The USCIRF’s 2015 report seems no different with the usual rants on India :
- Fear mongering by Christian NGOs over anti-conversion laws.
- Recounting old riots since there havent been any new ones.
- Communalising the beef ban.
- Hyping up random incidents of violence related to Churches.
- Imagining Sikh harassment.
- Giving print space to the Ghar Wapsi that never was.
- Arguing for conversions.
- Recounting old riots a second time just in case you were wondering what happened to the riots cases.
But how well does the West do when held to the same yardstick the USCIRF applies to the rest of us ?
What if we went back to the past digging up every old hate crime in the West – what would such a report look like ?
Little research done by team Niti Central revealed that on the 12th of October 1987 The New York Times had published an article by Michel Marriottwhich talked about how one Jersey City Indian was beaten to death in Hoboken. The New York Times also reported of another Jersey City Indian remaining in a coma after being discovered beaten unconscious on a busy street corner here earlier this month. The New York Times had also reported police finding a crudely handwritten letter, partially printed in The Jersey Journal, where someone wrote,
”We will go to any extreme to get Indians to move out of Jersey City.” The note was signed “The Dotbusters”.”
Such incidents have been regularly reported in the media with the latest ones being reported in India Times of the 20th April 2015 which talked about 3 attacks on Indians in America in 5 days.
The New York Times on the 6th August 2012 had reported about 6 Sikh’s being shot dead by a 40 year old white man in Wisconsin. The report also mentions that the police did not release any details about the gunman or a possible motive for the shooting, beyond raising the prospect of terrorism.
Another news report in The New York Times dated 17th September 2001 talks of how a gunman in Arizona fatally shot the Sikh owner of a gas station and then after 20 minutes shot at a clerk of Lebanese descent and soon afterwards he had fired several shots into the home of a family of Afghan descent.
Niti Central research reveals more than 10 incidents of hate crimes against Hindus and Sikhs in the US alone during the 2000s. While in the last 5 years not only have there been several incidents of mass gun violence at religious minorities in the US but also several incidents of violence directed at Churches. In just the recent months we have also seen several incidents of race violence and hate crimes directed towards Indians and Hindu Temples in the United States alone.
Is it perhaps time for an Indian CIRF?
The USCIRF perhaps would not have bargained for the kind of Social Media heat it is receiving in India over its 2015 report:
With some users dissecting the report for its many flaws and an endless barrage of criticism.