President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
| Photo Credit: AP
Rights advocates in Washington demanded that President Joe Biden publicly name out what they described as India’s deteriorating human rights record, saying the U.S. method of elevating the difficulty in non-public with Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been a failure.
In a press briefing on Wednesday, activists and teachers additionally known as for hearings within the U.S. Congress about human rights in India underneath the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by PM Modi, who’s on a four day visit to the United States.
“We can’t ignore the facts on the ground … We can’t look away, and neither can the U.S. government,” stated Nadine Maenza, a Global Fellow on the Wilson Center and president of the International Religious Freedom (IRF) Secretariat.
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Critics of the Modi authorities’s human rights file have cited less press freedom, restrictions on minority religious rights and different types of discrimination and backsliding on democratic rights.
The Indian embassy in Washington didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. The Indian authorities dismisses the criticism, saying its insurance policies are aimed on the welfare of all communities and that it enforces the legislation equally.
The White House could carry up human rights issues however it stated that Biden won’t “lecture” Modi on the difficulty.
“We know this administration and the Congress are well aware of the situation in India,” stated Zaki Barzinji, who served within the administration of former President Barack Obama because the White House liaison to spiritual minorities.
“The scale of rights abuse in India has now reached a volume that the issue needs to be raised publicly (by Biden),” stated Angana Chatterji, a scholar on the University of California, Berkeley.
The solely two Muslim ladies members of the U.S. Congress – Representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib – individually stated they may boycott Modi’s deal with to Congress on Thursday, citing allegations of abuse of Indian dissidents and minorities, particularly Muslims.
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders additionally stated “Modi’s aggressive Hindu nationalism” has “left little space for India’s religious minorities.”
Since Mr. Modi took workplace in 2014, India has slid from 140th in the World Press Freedom Index, to 161st this yr, its lowest level, whereas additionally main the record for the very best variety of web shutdowns globally for 5 consecutive years.
Critics additionally level to a 2019 citizenship legislation that the U.N. human rights workplace described as “fundamentally discriminatory” by excluding Muslim migrants; anti-conversion laws that challenged the constitutionally protected proper to freedom of perception; and the revoking of Muslim-majority Kashmir’s particular standing in 2019.
There has additionally been demolition of properties owned by Muslims within the title of eradicating unlawful building; and a ban on sporting the hijab in lecture rooms in Karnataka when the BJP was in energy in that state.
