By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
Washington DC: In the wake of the visit of the US President Barack Obama to India, the Indian American Muslim Council, the largest advocacy group of Indian American Muslims, has written a letter to him to bring to his attention attempts of vitiating the social fabric of India.
IAMC President Umar Malick expressed his happiness on the trip and hoped that the visit will bring two countries together. “Many of us in the Indian diaspora are elated to hear of your imminent visit to India, as the Chief Guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations on January 26, 2015. We believe your visit represents an opportunity for the two countries to come closer not only in matters of common strategic interests, but also on issues related to our common values,” he wrote in the letter, dated January 22.
President Barack Obama (Courtesy: thewestsidestory.net)
He, however, reminded the President that as signatories to the UN Declaration of Human rights, both India and the US have a shared commitment to religious freedom and human rights; and noted, “It is in this context we wish to bring to your attention deeply disturbing developments in the world’s largest democracy, that are having a profoundly negative impact on millions of religious minorities in India, including Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and Parsis.”
Even before the present administration came to power, concern over the situation of minorities in India had been expressed by the US State Department as well as the US Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) consistently over the last several years.
While the present administration under Mr. Narendra Modi was elected to office based on a stated agenda of development and good governance, events of the last six months have alarmed everyone concerned with preserving religious freedom and protecting human rights in India.
Based on media reports, IAMC letter highlighted that since the new government took office, over 600 incidents of religious violence against minorities have occurred in the state of Uttar Pradesh alone; noting, “This is a dramatic escalation from previous years and represents a fullfledged assault against the religious and cultural identity of religious minorities launched by militant Hindu nationalist groups.”
It has also raised the issue of purported Ghar Wapsi, pointing that the “forced conversions of Muslims and Christians to Hinduism have been undertaken by Hindu supremacist organizations, of which the ruling BJP is the political wing.”
Senior leaders within the government have called for legislation of ant conversion laws that are “blatant violations of not only India’s own Constitution but also of universally accepted norms of religious freedom,” IAMC has observed, adding, “Incendiary rhetoric by members of Parliament belonging to the ruling party have only exacerbated the sense of siege and diminishing civil rights among India’s minorities.”
They also raised the issue of number of attacks on religious places of minorities, particularly Muslims and Christians. “Without international concern over the plight of minorities in India, a population of over 200 million representing India’s religious minorities would be faced with heightened persecution, constricted freedom of religion and diminishing civil liberties,” IMAC has warned, urging him to raise these issues in his discussions with the Prime Minister and other higher authorities.
Indian-American Muslim Council (formerly Indian Muslim Council-USA) is the largest advocacy organization of Indian Muslims in the United States with 13 chapters across the nation.