US religious freedom watchdog calls out India for arresting Muslims protesting new citizenship law

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) on Thursday called out India for unfairly “targeting those practicing their democratic right to protest”, making special mention of the arrest of a pregnant Muslim activist.

“During COVID-19 crisis, there are reports India [government] is arresting Muslim activists protesting the [Citizenship Amendment Act], including Safoora Zargar who is pregnant,” wrote the US federal government entity. Expressing concern, the body said that India should “be releasing prisoners of conscience” instead of arresting those who have the right to peacefully protest.

USCIRF said that in this year’s annual report, it had “recommended India be designated a country of Particular Concern for its systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom during 2019”.… Earlier this month, Amnesty International India slammed the country for arresting Safoora Zargar