David James
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India gets pat on back, while US slams China, Iran for religious bigotry
New York: In an annual report, the United States said that it sees an increasing climate of intolerance on global religious freedom. Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday pledged to push restrictive countries, including US allies toward expanded rights even if it makes them uncomfortable.
While acknowledging that the US record was not perfect, Kerry called religious freedom a universal value as he presented the report. Two years ago, when it came to committing severe violations of religious freedom the State Department named eight nations as countries of particular concern China, Iran, Eritrea, Burma, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Uzbekistan.
The report released on Monday said the respect for religious freedom declined in China and Iran in 2012 and stayed the same in the other six countries.
The report largely stacks up against the analysis by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), but the State Department demurred from adding Pakistan, Egypt, Iraq, Nigeria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam, to the list of countries of particular concern as USCIRF had recommended.
Representational Image. Reuters
Representational Image. Reuters
In the report, China was cited for a pervasive government campaign against freedom of religion, involving detention, surveillance and other techniques of repression. The survey said that authorities cracked down particularly hard on the mostly Muslim Uighur community and on Tibetan Buddhists, whose monasteries are under close watch.
The government restricts the practices of many groups, including Tibetan Buddhists, Uighur Muslims, unregistered Christian congregations, and Falun Gong practitioners. In 2012, 83 Tibetans chose to self-immolate to protest Chinese policies. The total number now is over 100, said Suzan Johnson Cook, US ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, who visited China last month to press for change.
Kerry said there are a growing number of blasphemy laws that often violate religious freedoms and are applied in a discriminatory manner. The report highlights the sad case of Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian mother of five, who was sentenced to death by a municipal court for blasphemy. Bibi has been jailed since 2009 and is hoping her death sentence will be overturned.
There are many who are being held in prisons still Asia Bibi about 20 others who are in prison because of their belief. We have to see what this new Pakistani government will do. We certainly encourage the new Pakistan government to hold accountable the perpetrators of violence and to make sure that theres protection of religious minorities, said Cook.
Many non-Muslims acquitted on blasphemy charges in Pakistan continue to be hounded and are forced to move, change their identity or hide. The report said the Pakistani governments general failure to investigate, arrest, or prosecute those responsible for societal abuses promoted an environment of impunity leading to increasing vigilantism and mob violence.
The report also singled out Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Iran and Eritrea for its pursuit of cases against individuals accusing them of blasphemy.
The US noted Indias secular credentials by acknowledging it had a democratic system, independent judiciary, civil society and free press to address violations of religious freedom. The State Department estimated that 89 people died and 1,846 were injured in 560 cases of communal violence in India in 2012.
The report highlighted incidents in Karnataka, where local authorities either acted in cahoots with or failed to stop Hindu nationalists from barging into homes to enforce a twisted morality code aimed at preventing young Hindus and Muslims from mixing socially.
Indias Freedom of Religion Acts, referred to as anti-conversion laws, are supposed to curb religious conversions made by force, fraud or allurement. But Christians and rights groups say that in reality the laws obstruct conversion generally, as Hindu nationalists invoke them to harass Christian workers with spurious arrests and incarcerations.
Police reportedly arrested four Christians accused of proselytising in March in Cheechgaon, in Madhya Pradesh. Authorities released the four on bail and did not file charges by years end, said the report.
The State Department report said that Anti-Muslim rhetoric and actions were clearly on the rise particularly in Europe and Asia. Government restrictions, which often coincided with societal animosity, resulted in anti-Muslim actions that affected everyday life for numerous believers, said the report.
http://www.firstpost.com/world/indi...-china-iran-for-religious-bigotry-800299.html
New York: In an annual report, the United States said that it sees an increasing climate of intolerance on global religious freedom. Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday pledged to push restrictive countries, including US allies toward expanded rights even if it makes them uncomfortable.
While acknowledging that the US record was not perfect, Kerry called religious freedom a universal value as he presented the report. Two years ago, when it came to committing severe violations of religious freedom the State Department named eight nations as countries of particular concern China, Iran, Eritrea, Burma, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Uzbekistan.
The report released on Monday said the respect for religious freedom declined in China and Iran in 2012 and stayed the same in the other six countries.
The report largely stacks up against the analysis by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), but the State Department demurred from adding Pakistan, Egypt, Iraq, Nigeria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam, to the list of countries of particular concern as USCIRF had recommended.
Representational Image. Reuters
Representational Image. Reuters
In the report, China was cited for a pervasive government campaign against freedom of religion, involving detention, surveillance and other techniques of repression. The survey said that authorities cracked down particularly hard on the mostly Muslim Uighur community and on Tibetan Buddhists, whose monasteries are under close watch.
The government restricts the practices of many groups, including Tibetan Buddhists, Uighur Muslims, unregistered Christian congregations, and Falun Gong practitioners. In 2012, 83 Tibetans chose to self-immolate to protest Chinese policies. The total number now is over 100, said Suzan Johnson Cook, US ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, who visited China last month to press for change.
Kerry said there are a growing number of blasphemy laws that often violate religious freedoms and are applied in a discriminatory manner. The report highlights the sad case of Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian mother of five, who was sentenced to death by a municipal court for blasphemy. Bibi has been jailed since 2009 and is hoping her death sentence will be overturned.
There are many who are being held in prisons still Asia Bibi about 20 others who are in prison because of their belief. We have to see what this new Pakistani government will do. We certainly encourage the new Pakistan government to hold accountable the perpetrators of violence and to make sure that theres protection of religious minorities, said Cook.
Many non-Muslims acquitted on blasphemy charges in Pakistan continue to be hounded and are forced to move, change their identity or hide. The report said the Pakistani governments general failure to investigate, arrest, or prosecute those responsible for societal abuses promoted an environment of impunity leading to increasing vigilantism and mob violence.
The report also singled out Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Iran and Eritrea for its pursuit of cases against individuals accusing them of blasphemy.
The US noted Indias secular credentials by acknowledging it had a democratic system, independent judiciary, civil society and free press to address violations of religious freedom. The State Department estimated that 89 people died and 1,846 were injured in 560 cases of communal violence in India in 2012.
The report highlighted incidents in Karnataka, where local authorities either acted in cahoots with or failed to stop Hindu nationalists from barging into homes to enforce a twisted morality code aimed at preventing young Hindus and Muslims from mixing socially.
Indias Freedom of Religion Acts, referred to as anti-conversion laws, are supposed to curb religious conversions made by force, fraud or allurement. But Christians and rights groups say that in reality the laws obstruct conversion generally, as Hindu nationalists invoke them to harass Christian workers with spurious arrests and incarcerations.
Police reportedly arrested four Christians accused of proselytising in March in Cheechgaon, in Madhya Pradesh. Authorities released the four on bail and did not file charges by years end, said the report.
The State Department report said that Anti-Muslim rhetoric and actions were clearly on the rise particularly in Europe and Asia. Government restrictions, which often coincided with societal animosity, resulted in anti-Muslim actions that affected everyday life for numerous believers, said the report.
http://www.firstpost.com/world/indi...-china-iran-for-religious-bigotry-800299.html
