Bharat-hating USCIRF
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is no stranger. It issues an annual report citing the lack of “Religious Freedom” in select countries including Bharat (that is India), the only country with the dominant Hindu religion. Its leadership has no representation as a Commissioner or professional staff who are Hindus or at least understand the tenets of Hinduism. The commissioners have a narrow lens of bias and prejudice against the developing and rising India under nationalist Modi, the first Prime Minister who can sit comfortably and confidently as equal and see with any world leader.
USCIRF monitors countries under the pretext of “systematic, egregious, and ongoing violations of religious freedom.” It is adopted from the International Religious Freedom Act (IFRA)[1]. Those deciding the standards and definitions are no other than the highly biased Commissioners of this tax-dollar-funded agency to intimidate and indict other countries. The sad truth is that USCRIF seems to have strong ties with organizations like the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) which actively engages in issuing press releases to promote hatred and anti-India narrative.
USCIRF Report:
The 2023 report recommends 17 countries[2], including India[3], to be designated as Countries of Particular Concern (CPC). This number has increased from 12 CPCs in 2022 to 17 in 2023. Likewise, the number of countries on the Special Watch List (SWL) has grown from 5 to 7, respectively. What does the increase imply?
If the USCIRF reports were of any value with a carrot to influence or a stick to force good behavior, why would the number go up? It appears that no country cares despite their CPC or SWL designation. Therefore, one must question the existence of USCIRF and its monitoring activities. Why should it engage in passing judgment on other sovereign countries? In fact, the United States has no moral authority to monitor and pass judgment on any country.
I have lived in the United States since 1978 and have seen an alarmingly increasing trend of gun violence and racial tensions. In my view, the increasing acts of gun violence are systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of human rights. There are cases of gun violence and innocent killings based on religious sentiments but the U.S. does not categorically cite it that way. It is about time for the U.S. to recognize that its global influence is waning. Why not focus on homeland issues rather than acting as a watchdog and savior of the world?
The overview of the 2023 Annual Report claims that the USCIRF, “ makes independent recommendations for U.S. policy.” How laughable it is to call the commissioners ‘independent’ who are appointed by the President and leadership of both political parties in the Senate and House of Representatives. Can you imagine a political appointee being unbiased and free from political influences? It is no less than an oxymoron that politically appointed commissioners are independent.
It is not the first time but a continued anti-India lobby by USCIRF since 2020 yet the State Department has been ignoring the recommendation. The first time (in 2020), India was recommended as a CPC, the foreign ministry of India dismissed it as “biased and tendentious comments.” Once again, the foreign ministry spokesperson remarked in his media briefings (given below) that he will not give any “particular weight and consideration” to the USCIRF designation of CPC for India which is a biased approach. Only time will tell if the newest recommendation would have any different outcome considering a strong alliance between the U.S. and Bharat.
In 2021, I opined that “… the character and DNA of most USCIRF Commissioners who I characterize as the “Concerned but Prejudiced Commissioners (the-CPC)[4].” Today’s commissioners may have changed their faces but still have the same character and DNA. The Commissioner’s behavior is predictable because they lack understanding about today’s Bharat (hugely different than yesteryear’s India), hardly understand the tolerant and God-fearing Hindus, and know little to nothing about the tenets of Hinduism/ Dharma.
Bharat: A country of profound confidence and the U.S. in 2023
Today, Bharat is a country of profound (and proven) confidence under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi. He was the State Guest at the White House, an unprecedented welcome event in Washington D.C. The G20 Summit was held in New Delhi including President Biden and other world leaders. It was historical that the G20 report was adopted unanimously. Bharat became the third largest economy leaving behind the United Kingdom and is on track to move up the next rank in the near future. Bharat’s geopolitical standing is no longer to be a subject matter for anyone to second guess.
The U.S.-India relations are the strongest in many decades. The interdependence of the world’s largest and oldest democracies is on the rise in areas such as defense, energy, environment, scientific and technical R&D, manufacturing by the U.S. corporations, technical workforce, and person-to-person exchanges. The United States’ edge in Information Technology and innovation may crumble without the continued flow of Indian talent to Silicon Valley. The graduate programs will suffer without the inflow of talented students from India.
Why then, does USCIRF continue to exaggerate the few incidences of religious conflicts among the 1.4 billion people of all faiths in Bharat? Did the USCIRF’s biased staff take time to analyze hundreds of cases pointing to one religious’ group (Muslims) who continue to commit Love Jihad and instigate violent demonstrations on the streets? The same religious people committed the gruesome throat-cutting of a Hindu tailor in Jaipur. They are continuously challenging and wasting court time and resources against Archeological evidence about many Hindu temples which were destroyed and illegally occupied by their ancestor invaders centuries ago?
The next article will specifically focus on a press release citing allegations by two of its commissioners.
To be continued…
Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.
Reference:
[1] CHAPTER 73—INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM – US Code
[2] UNITED STATES COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM 2023 Annual Report – USCIRF
[3] INDIA: USCIRF–RECOMMENDED FOR COUNTRIES OF PARTICULAR CONCERN (CPC) – USCIRF
[4] USCIRF report by “the concerned but prejudiced commissioners (the-CPC)” labeling India “a country of concern (a-CPC)” – Apr 30, 2021, OpIndia
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Formerly, a researcher in Italy, Japan, and France, he has widely travelled and came to the US in 1978. He was a faculty and academic administrator in several different universities in PA, TX, NJ, MN, WI, and NY, and an Executive Fellow in the White House S&T Policy during the Clinton administration.
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