A coalition of 22 human rights organizations have sent a letter to @SecBlinken over his refusal to designate India as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) as recommended by the @USCIRF. 1/n

iamc.com/22-organizatio…
For the last two years, in 2020 and in 2021, @USCIRF has noted that the Indian government has been “engaging in and tolerating systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations, as defined by the International Religious Freedom Act (IRA).” 2/n
In recognition of this situation, the @USCIRF recommended in its 2020 & 2021 annual reports that the @StateDept declare India as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC). Despite these recommendations, @SecBlinken refused to designate India as a CPC in his Nov 15 announcement. 3/n
In response, @Hindus4HR and @IAMCouncil drafted a joint letter stating that “The national security and strategic imperatives of the US are not strengthened but actually undermined if the U.S. govt continues to ignore rising religious persecution & human rights abuses in India.”
The letter urges @SecBlinken to reconsider his decision and “designate India as a CPC at the earliest.”

The letter was signed by leading human rights organizations, including @genocide_watch, @indiacivilwatch, and Tom Lantos Foundation For Human Rights and Justice. 5/n
The letter also received endorsements from religious denominations and faith-based organizations such as the @Fiacona_us, @persecutionnews , ICNA Social Justice, Islamic Society of North America, New York State Council of Churches, and the Orthodox Public Affairs Committee.6/n
Full copy of letter: iamc.com/22-organizatio…
Also read an OPED by IAMC's @rasheedahmedusa, @Hindus4HR's @sunitaviswanath and New York State Council of Churches's Peter Cook on how @JoeBiden is perpetuating deepening religious persecution against Indian minorities by failing to hold Modi to account.

aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/…

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More from @IAMCouncil

10 Dec
.@Hindus4HR & @IAMCouncil welcomed the release of renowned HR defender & lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj on Dec 9 after being incarcerated for more than 3years without trial.

We also reiterate demand for release of Umar Khalid, @KSaifi, Sharjeel Imam & hundreds of other Muslims. 1/n
Ms. Bharadwaj’s release from prison rekindles the ever waning hope in the Indian judiciary’s ability to withstand fascist pressures from the Indian government that has falsely accused and jailed tens of thousands of human rights defenders,...... 2/n
........students, farmers, lawyers, and journalists, many of whom come from religious minority and caste-oppressed communities such as Muslims, Christians and Dalits. 3/n
Read 8 tweets
8 Dec
34 international multi-faith human rights NGOs have written a letter to @POTUS & @VP expressing deep concern that #SummitforDemocracy will ignore widespread HR violations & persecution of minorities in India as govt devolves from democracy to fascism.

iamc.com/bidens-summit-…
The letter provides details and indisputable facts for 14 instances in which democracy is under attack or being abused by the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and members of his BJP/RSS party.
The letter expresses regret that more members of international civil society were not included in planning for the summit, & those who were involved were warned that specific instances of member nations’ internal affairs, abuses, discrimination & persecution will be off limits.
Read 5 tweets
8 Sep
“ Hindu nationalism is a political ideology that advocates for Hindu supremacy and the exclusion of members of other Indian religious groups from equal participation in society, originally in India and, increasingly, in the United States” ~ @RutgersU’s @AudreyTruschke
“For more than 5 years, I have received hate mail from Hindu supremacists every single day. I have been target of so many death and rape threats that I have lost count. Last week a threat was made on a general Rutgers phone number by a man spouting Hindu supremacist rhetoric.”
“My family, too, have been threatened with all manner of violence, including my children who are currently ages 7, 5, and 3. I often require armed security when I speak publicly, whether about modern South Asia or ancient Indian history.”
Read 13 tweets
8 Sep
“There is an attempt by Hindu nationalist organizations and individuals to influence, limit and distort debates and teaching on US university campuses around Indian history, Hinduism and contemporary politics in India” ~ @Stanford professor Thomas Blom Hansen
“RSS was never part of the nationalist movement, never supported India’s democratic constitution, was banned three times since 1948, including for complicity in the murder of Gandhi” ~ Prof #ThomasBlomHansen
“In the 1990s, I and others who published and spoke on the RSS movement and its ideology, were routinely subjected to some amount of heckling from audience members” ~ @Stanford professor Thomas Blom Hansen
Read 12 tweets
8 Sep
“My great grandfather H. R. Guruva Reddy was part of the national liberation struggle against British colonial occupation of India. My grand-uncle K C Reddy was a leading figure in the struggle for independence in the state of Karnataka.” ~ @RutgersU’s @ProfessorKumar.
“I grew up from a young age learning about how India was formed as Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic. And we took democracy, free speech, secularism and other such values seriously.”
“There has been an alarming move away from secularism and democratic values over the last three decades thanks to the advances of the forces that promote Hindutva. I want to be very clear that Hindutva and Hinduism are not the same” ~ @RutgersU professor @ProfessorKumar.
Read 12 tweets
8 Sep
Delhi University Professor @Apoorvanand__ delivering his remarks on how #HinduSupremacists are choking and stifling academic freedom in India and how the very same model is being implemented in the United States
“The idea of academic freedom has now become redundant in India. The primary reason for it is the complete takeover of all institutions by the ruling BJP along with Rashtriya Swaymsevak Sangh, a fascist organization" @Apoorvanand__
“In India, academic spaces are controlled by appointing Vice-Chancellors or directors who toe the line of the state and follow the ideological diktat of the RSS, many times without even being asked.”
Read 11 tweets

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