Ahead of President Joe Biden's visit to India, the US State Department says it has "regularly" raised the issue of human rights with India and plans to do so in the future. Notably, Biden will be in New Delhi next month as part of his presidential trip to attend the G20 Summit.
"We regularly raise human rights concerns with countries with which we engage, have done that — so in the past with India, and we'll do so in the future," State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters at his daily news conference.
Miller was responding to a question if President Joe Biden, during his upcoming trip to India, will be asking India about the alleged Christian persecution in the country.
"We have made very clear that we oppose the persecution of Christians and we oppose the persecution of any religious group, no matter where it takes place in the world," Miller said.
The BJP government under PM Modi has often been criticised for its handling of minorities in India. Critics and rights groups have continued to express concern over the Modi government's blind eye toward hate crimes and vigilante violence against Muslims and Christians.
Notably, Biden during PM Modi's visit to the US in June called religious freedom a "core principle" for India and the United States and asserted that democratic values "face challenges around the world and in each of our countries."
Biden during the ceremonial welcome to Modi had said: "Equity under the law, freedom of expression, religious pluralism and diversity of our people — these core principles have endured and evolved. Even as they have faced challenges throughout each of our nations' histories, and will fuel our strength, depth and future."
'Significant' human rights issues and abuses
In March, the US State Department had released its annual report on religious freedom which flagged attacks against religious minorities, dissidents and journalists under the Modi government.
The State Department report listed "significant human rights issues and abuses" and noted the increase in violence against minorities and the inflammatory rhetoric from members of the BJP since the Modi government took office in 2014. The report also flagged the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act and the abrogation of special status (Article 370 and Article 35A) in Jammu and Kashmir as among the contributing factors to the increase in violence.
The State Department report, based on direct research as well as accounts by media and advocacy groups, pointed to concerns about home demolitions against Muslims and public flogging by police of Muslims accused of injuring Hindus in the state of Gujarat.
Similarly, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) had called for blacklisting India over religious freedom in May, highlighting that the treatment of minorities has continued to worsen under PM Modi. The USCIRF, citing the State Department's annual report pointed to the violence and destruction of property targeting Muslims and Christians and drew links to comments and social media posts by members of the BJP and other right-wing outfits in the country.
"The continued enforcement of discriminatory laws facilitated a culture of impunity for widespread campaigns of threats and violence by mobs and vigilante groups," it had said.
Former US president Barack Obama, in an interview with CNN, said that India risks "pulling apart" if the Muslim minority is not respected and urged the need to highlight "religious pluralism." Obama had made these remarks days before PM Modi's State visit in June.
"If I had a conversation with Prime Minister Modi, who I know well, part of my argument would be that if you do not protect the rights of ethnic minorities in India, there is a strong possibility at some point that India starts pulling apart," Obama had said in an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour.
"We've seen what happens when you start getting those kinds of large internal conflicts. So that would be contrary to the interests not just of Muslim India but also of Hindu India," he said.
'Backsliding democracy', say Rights groups
Global human rights NGO Amnesty International has continued to highlight the erosion of civil rights and religious freedom under the Narendra Modi regime.
Amnesty in its India 2022 report noted that arbitrary arrests, prolonged detentions, unlawful attacks and killings, internet shutdowns and intimidation using digital technologies, including unlawful surveillance as major concerns faced by minority groups, human rights defenders, dissenters and critics of the Union government.
Similarly, Human Rights Watch, an international human rights research and advocacy group, has also continued to highlight the crackdown on civil society and media under the Modi government citing persecution of activists, journalists, protesters and critics on fabricated counterterrorism and hate speech laws. The vilification of Muslims and other minorities by some BJP leaders and police inaction against government supporters who commit violence are also among HRW's concerns in India.
Notably, the 'Democracy Index', prepared by The Economist Group's Economist Intelligence Unit, had downgraded India to a "flawed democracy" in its 2022 report due to the serious backsliding of democratic freedom under the Modi government.
Similarly, the US-based non-profit organization Freedom House had lowered India's standing from a free democracy to a "partly free" democracy in its global freedom and internet freedom ratings, while V-Dem Institute, a Sweden-based independent research institute, had classified India as an "electoral autocracy", as part of its 2022 Democracy report.
(With additional inputs from PTI, AFP, Amnesty International and HRW)