(By Khalid Masood)
In the heart of South Asia, India’s democratic facade conceals a deepening wound: the systematic erosion of religious freedom for its Muslim, Sikh, and Christian minorities. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) sounded a clarion call on June 3, 2025, declaring that India’s treatment of minorities has deteriorated alarmingly, driven by state policies, covert operations, and Hindu nationalist fervor (USCIRF, 2025). The report accuses India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) of orchestrating assassination plots against Sikh separatists abroad, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), fuel hate speech and discriminatory laws against Muslims and Christians. From Kashmir’s open-air prison to demolished Muslim homes in Delhi, India’s minorities face a relentless assault on their faith and dignity. This article exposes India’s state-sponsored discrimination, its global implications, and the urgent need for accountability.
1. The USCIRF Alarm: A Deteriorating Landscape
The USCIRF’s 2025 report paints a grim picture: “In 2024, religious freedom conditions in India continued to deteriorate as attacks and discrimination against religious minorities rose sharply” (USCIRF, 2025). The bipartisan U.S. panel highlights a surge in hate speech, mob violence, and state-backed policies targeting Muslims (200M), Sikhs (23M), and Christians (28M). It recommends designating India as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) for “systematic, ongoing, and egregious” violations and imposing sanctions on RAW and former intelligence officer Vikash Yadav for alleged plots to assassinate Sikh activists in the U.S. and Canada (Reuters, Jun 4, 2025).
India’s foreign ministry dismissed the report as “biased and politically motivated,” accusing USCIRF of misrepresenting “isolated incidents” to tarnish India’s multicultural image (The Hindu, Jun 4, 2025). Yet, mounting evidence—UN reports, U.S. State Department findings, and X sentiment—contradicts New Delhi’s claims, revealing a state complicit in minority oppression (OHCHR, 2020; @SyedF_official, Jun 3, 2025).
2. Muslims: Targeted by Law and Violence
India’s 200M Muslims, 14% of its population, endure systemic discrimination under Modi’s Hindu nationalist regime. The 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), labeled “fundamentally discriminatory” by the UN, fast-tracks citizenship for non-Muslim migrants, excluding Muslims and sparking deadly riots that killed 53 in Delhi (UN News, Mar 2020). Anti-conversion laws in nine states, such as Uttar Pradesh’s 2020 ordinance, criminalize interfaith marriages, targeting Muslim men with up to seven years’ imprisonment (Amnesty International, 2021). Demolitions of Muslim homes—2,000 in 2024 alone—serve as collective punishment, notably in Jahangirpuri after communal clashes (The Guardian, Apr 2022).
Hate speech proliferates, with Modi himself calling Muslims “infiltrators” with “more children” during a 2024 rally (BBC, Apr 2024). RSS rallies, attended by 100,000 in 2024, chant slogans like “Jai Shri Ram,” inciting mob lynchings—more than 50 Muslims killed over cow vigilantism since 2019 (Human Rights Watch, 2025). In Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, 700,000 troops enforce a lockdown, with 80,000 death, 8,000 disappearances and 1,500 blinded by pellet guns since 1989 (OHCHR, 2018; Amnesty International, 2020). X users decry Kashmir as an “open jail” (@MurtazaViews, Jun 3, 2025).
3. Sikhs: From Farmers to Fugitives
Sikhs, numbering 23M, face escalating persecution, particularly over the Khalistan Movement. The 2020–21 farmers’ protests, led by Sikh farmers against agricultural laws, saw 700 deaths and state violence, with RSS-affiliated groups branding protesters “anti-national” (Al Jazeera, Feb 2021). Since 2023, RAW’s alleged plots to assassinate Sikh activists abroad have strained U.S.-India ties. The U.S. charged Vikash Yadav in a foiled 2023 plot against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, while Canada linked RAW to Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing (Reuters, Jun 4, 2025; CBC News, Sep 2023).
India labels Sikh activists “security threats,” arresting 1,200 under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) since 2020 (The Wire, May 2024). Punjab’s internet shutdowns, affecting 27M in 2023, curb Sikh dissent (Access Now, 2023). RSS campaigns vilify Sikhs as “Khalistani terrorists,” fueling hate crimes—10 gurdwaras vandalized in 2024 (Sikh Press Association, Jan 2025). The USCIRF report urges sanctions on RAW, citing its extraterritorial repression (USCIRF, 2025).
4. Christians: Under Siege in the Heartland
India’s 28M Christians face rising violence, with 1,200 attacks on churches and clergy in 2024, up 30% from 2023 (Evangelical Fellowship of India, 2025). Anti-conversion laws in states like Madhya Pradesh target Christian missionaries, leading to 500 arrests in 2024 (Christian Post, Feb 2025). RSS-backed mobs, claiming “forced conversions,” destroyed 50 churches in Chhattisgarh, displacing 2,000 worshippers (The Guardian, Dec 2024).
Government policies exacerbate tensions. BJP-led states cut subsidies for Christian schools, affecting 1M students, while denying burial rights in 200 villages (Asia News, Mar 2025). Modi’s silence on anti-Christian violence, despite Vatican protests, underscores state complicity (Reuters, Jan 2025). X posts highlight Christian persecution as “India’s hidden shame” (@RightsAdvocate, Jun 2, 2025).
5. The Triad of Oppression: Government, RAW, and RSS
India’s minority crisis stems from a triad of actors:
- Government: Modi’s BJP, ruling since 2014, enacts discriminatory laws (CAA, anti-conversion) and revokes Kashmir’s autonomy, intensifying Muslim repression (Al Jazeera, Aug 2019). Electrification and subsidy schemes, touted as inclusive, bypass 60% of Muslim and Christian areas (The Economic Times, Apr 2024).
- RAW: India’s spy agency targets Sikh dissidents abroad, with U.S. and Canadian indictments exposing its role in assassination plots (Le Monde, Nov 2024). RAW’s domestic surveillance, monitoring 34M minorities via Aadhaar-linked databases, fuels arrests and disappearances (The Intercept, 2021).
- RSS: The 5.9M-member Hindu nationalist paramilitary, mentoring Modi, propagates “Hindutva,” envisioning India as a Hindu state (RSS, 2020). Its 50,000 shakhas in 2024 train cadres to incite communal violence, with 1,500 riots linked to RSS events (India Today, 2023).
This synergy amplifies discrimination, as seen in the 2025 Indo-Pak war, where BJP rhetoric vilified Pakistan’s Muslim advocacy (Times of India, May 2025).
6. India’s Deflection and Global Complicity
India rejects criticism as “biased,” with Foreign Ministry Spokesman Randhir Jaiswal claiming USCIRF pursues a “politically motivated agenda” (The Hindu, Jun 4, 2025). New Delhi insists its policies uplift all communities, citing 98% electrification and $200B FDI (Reuters, Jun 2025). Yet, U.S. State Department reports corroborate minority abuses, noting 2,000 hate crimes in 2024 (U.S. State Department, 2024).
Washington’s reluctance to act, prioritizing India’s role against China, enables impunity (Foreign Affairs, Feb 2025). The USCIRF’s non-binding sanctions call on RAW is unlikely to materialize, given $4B Indo-U.S. defense trade (SIPRI, 2024). Canada’s sanctions on Indian diplomats post-Nijjar contrast with U.S. caution, highlighting geopolitical hypocrisy (CBC, Jan 2025). X users urge Pakistan to lead OIC condemnation (@PakStratprism, Jun 3, 2025).
7. The Path Forward: Accountability and Advocacy
India’s religious freedom crisis demands global action:
- Sanctions: Target RAW and BJP leaders under the Global Magnitsky Act for human rights abuses, as USCIRF recommends (USCIRF, 2025).
- UN Oversight: Deploy UN rapporteurs to Kashmir and Punjab to investigate disappearances and violence (OHCHR, 2020).
- OIC and NGO Pressure: Pakistan, leveraging its 2025 war diplomacy, can rally OIC and Amnesty International to spotlight India’s abuses (Al Jazeera, May 29, 2025).
- Diaspora Mobilization: Sikh and Muslim diasporas in Canada and the U.S., 2M strong, can amplify advocacy, as seen in Canada’s Nijjar protests (Sikh Press, Sep 2023).
India must repeal discriminatory laws, curb RSS violence, and restore Kashmir’s autonomy to align with international norms (Human Rights Watch, 2025).
8. Conclusion: A Test of Global Conscience
India’s minorities—Muslims, Sikhs, and Christians—endure a crucible of state-sponsored discrimination, from Kashmir’s mass graves to Punjab’s silenced voices and Chhattisgarh’s burning churches. The USCIRF’s 2025 warning, exposing the BJP’s hate, RAW’s plots, and RSS’s militancy, is a call to conscience. As India’s $4.27T economy courts global power, its moral decay threatens South Asia’s stability, emboldening Pakistan’s resolve to champion justice (World Bank, 2024). The world must choose: abet India’s impunity or uphold the sacred right to faith and dignity. For, as Rumi wrote, “Beyond the right and wrong, there is a field. I’ll meet you there.” That field awaits India’s reckoning.
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