- The United States publishes the 2023 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom.
- Reports say that minorities will face persecution in India in 2023.
- 16 people killed for their faith in Pakistan in 2023.
The US State Department has released its annual report on international religious freedom, highlighting serious concerns about the treatment of religious minorities in India and Pakistan.
In India, the report highlights the worrying situation faced by the Muslim and Christian communities. The “2023 Report on International Religious Freedom” released Wednesday notes that discriminatory behavior against these groups has prevailed.
In February, 20,000 Christians protested in New Delhi against rising violence. In March, 93 former senior government officials wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expressing concern over persistent harassment of Christians by political party leaders. The report details incidents in which Christians and Muslims were arrested under anti-conversion laws and suffered harassment based on false accusations.
“Christians and Muslims were arrested under laws prohibiting forced religious conversions, which religious groups said were in some cases used to harass and imprison members of minority religious groups on false and trumped-up charges or for legal religious practices,” it says. The report.
“In some cases, Christian groups said local police assisted mobs who disrupted worship services over accusations of conversion activities or stood by while mobs attacked Christians and then arrested victims on conversion charges. “.
Violent incidents against the Christian community have intensified across India. The actions and statements of BJP members often contradicted the positive statements of government officials. The Indian government has been urged to investigate and take legal action against those responsible for violence against minority groups.
“However, international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated that the 'actions and statements of members and supporters of his (Modi's) BJP party [Bharatiya Janata Party] contradicted the positive statements of government officials. They further stated that the government should investigate and prosecute those responsible for carrying out acts of violence against members of minority groups,” he states.
The National Crime Records Bureau reported 272 incidents of communal violence in 2022. Attacks on minorities, including murders and threats, occurred in several states in India.
“Attacks against members of minority religious groups, including killings, assaults and intimidation, occurred throughout the year in several states, including cases of 'cow vigilantism' based on allegations that Muslim men were involved in cow slaughter or the beef trade,” the report said.
U.S. officials have continued to raise concerns about religious freedom issues with their Indian counterparts.
329 accused of blasphemy in Pakistan in 2023
In Pakistan, the situation is equally alarming. In 2023, 329 people were accused of blasphemy, of which 75% were Muslims, 20% Ahmadis and 3.3% Christians.
The Federal Investigation Agency arrested 140 people on accusations of blasphemy on social media, 11 of them sentenced to death and two of these sentences were confirmed by higher courts.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority reduced Wikipedia services due to its blasphemous content, and social media platforms blocked more than 71,000 URLs at the government's request. In August, the Senate passed legislation increasing penalties for blasphemy.
Violent attacks by sectarian armed groups targeted religious meetings and buildings. These often anonymous attackers victimized members of the Hindu, Christian, Ahmadi, Sikh, Sunni and Shia communities.
In 2023, at least 16 people, including seven Shiites, four Sikhs, three Christians, one Hindu and one Ahmadi, were killed because of their faith.
“On December 29, 2023, the Secretary of State redesignated Pakistan as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act 1998, as amended, for having committed or tolerated serious violations of religious freedom and issued a waiver of “The sanctions accompanying the designation in the national interest of the United States were first designated as CPC in 2018,” he said.
