Experts at virtual US Congressional briefing urge US to implement USCIRF recommendations

Expressing concern over the “increased violence against religious minorities” in India, a panel of experts at a virtual Congressional briefing has urged the US government to implement the recommendations of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

In her keynote address, Nadine Maenza, vice-chair of the USCIRF, noted with alarm “the social and economic boycott of Muslims in some parts of the country as well as discrimination against Muslims in the context of medical treatment during the global pandemic”, the IAMC said in a statement on Friday.

Dr Harrison Akins, South Asia policy analyst with the USCIRF, alleged that the ruling BJP is using “the symbols of Hinduism and policies aimed at their protection as weapons against the minority communities in their quest to further marginalise the religious minorities and shape a Hindu nation.” Francisco Bencosme, Asia Pacific Advocacy Manager of Amnesty International USA, expressed concern over activists imprisoned for peaceful dissent, mentioning Safoora Zargar, a pregnant student arrested in connection with an anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests in New Delhi.