For The Second Year In A Row, India Is On A Religious Freedom ‘Watch List’

MUMBAI, May 04, 2010, 11:50 Hrs (Nirmala Carvalho / AsiaNews):

India has “a noble tradition of respect for different religions and cultures, but to some extent this is no longer the case. Fundamentalists have started to weaken constitutional guarantees, eliminating many aspects of individual freedoms, starting with religious freedom. However, protecting freedom of belief is a necessity for the world’s largest democracy,” Mgr Albert D’Souza. The archbishop of Agra, who is also secretary general of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, was speaking about the recent release of the annual report of the US Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), which for the second year in a row put India on its ‘Watch List’.

According to the report, “The Indian government at various levels recognized the problem of communal violence and created some structures to address these issues. However, justice for victims of communal violence was slow and often ineffective, thereby perpetuating a climate of impunity. While there was no large-scale communal violence against religious minorities during the reporting period, attacks on Christians and Muslims and their places of worship continued, along with incidences of intolerance against both.”

For his part, Archbishop D’Souza notes, “India’s constitution guarantees religious freedom”. According to “Article 25, ‘all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion.’ Rules have been put in place to implement the constitution. In general, the Republic must be praised for the protection it provides to ethnic and religious minorities. Sadly, this freedom is threatened by fundamentalists and extremist political forces that are spreading wrong and dangerous ideologies.”

“Just look at the recent past,” the prelate said. “We have seen attacks orchestrated against different religious and cultural groups, more often than not the weakest segments of our society.”

This is why, “We must help Dalits, Tribals and minorities. Their protection is necessary if we want to celebrate the country’s religious and cultural pluralism. The problem is the country’s politics”.

In a number of states, “some politicians and extremists are linked,” Mgr D’Souza said. “They have the same ideas. Those who were supposed to protect minorities are the ones who discriminate. Even when there are laws, some interventions by the authorities undermine them from within. This chain must be broken. It is important that each state government uphold constitutional guarantees at every level.”