Challenges & Opportunities: The Advancement of Human Rights in India Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission June 7, 2016
Oral Testimony of Musaddique Thange, Communications Director, Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) June 7, 2016 Honorable Chairmen and Members of the Commission, My name is Musaddique Thange, and I represent the Indian American Muslim Council, an advocacy organization dedicated to safeguarding India's pluralist and tolerant ethos. As somebody born and raised in India, and who now calls America his home, I have a deep and abiding respect for the diversity and freedom of religion that mark the history of both nations. It is this shared legacy of respectful coexistence of many faiths, that gives me hope to come before you today, to speak about the steady attrition of these very values, in the world’s largest democracy. I was a young college student in 1992 when the demolition of a 400 year old historic mosque and the violent aftermath convulsed Indian society. Along with my friends, Hindus, Christians, Muslims and Sikhs, I was convinced we were in a long struggle to save India's soul from hate and extremism. In the ensuing 23 years, the country witnessed several major episodes of mass violence against minorities; such as the antiChristian violence of Orissa in 1998, the rapes and burning alive of people in Gujarat in 2002, the targeted violence in Muzaffarnagar in 2013, and the massacres in Assam in 2012 and 2014. Since 2009, India has been on the Tier 2 list of countries where religious freedom is at risk, reported by US Commission for International Religious Freedom. Even with this chequered past, the developments of the last two years are especially worrisome and have profound implications for the situation of minorities and for what they portend for the future of India as a secular polity. They also represent a challenge for the international community. A measure of where things have come, can be understood from an open letter written by former Indian Navy chief Admiral Ramdas to President Pranab Mukherjee in October of 2015, calling his attention to "a systematic and wellorchestrated attempt to impose a Oral Testimony Musaddique Thange (IAMC) 1 / 3
Challenges & Opportunities: The Advancement of Human Rights in India Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission June 7, 2016
majoritarian singlepoint agenda of creating a Hindu Rashtra, in India." Among other things, what had shocked the Admiral most was that attacks on minorities and Dalits did not elicit condemnation from those at the helm of affairs. Indeed the Admiral is not alone in his consternation and deep misgivings about the intentions of the current administration. Last year, over 40 writers and intellectuals returned prestigious awards in a unified protest against the suppression of dissent and the fight against reason taking hold in the country. India's intellectual class has reasons to worry about the country’s future. According to Pew Research’s landmark reports on “Global Restrictions on Religions”, India has consistently been ranked in the top three countries of the world with the highest levels of social hostilities against religious communities. In the latest Pew report, India is at the top of the list. Even before coming to power, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) actions in fomenting sectarianism were evident. Two state legislators who had been arrested for inciting violence during the massacres of Muzaffarnagar were honored by the party at a rally for Mr. Modi. A senior leader of the party said those opposed to Mr. Modi have no place in India and should go to Pakistan. After the party came to power, it continued in the same vein. The Prime Minister who is able to tweet birthday greetings to prominent people, took months before he even addressed the attacks on five churches and a Christian school, and even then his words fell short of an unequivocal condemnation. Mr. Modi’s response to the campaign of forced conversions to Hinduism, launched by extremist organizations like Vishwa Hindu Parishad, was to challenge the opposition to support the anticonversion law, that is generally implemented in a way that seeks to curb conversions out of Hinduism. Hindu supremacist organizations affiliated to the RSS, have begun to glorify Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin even more openly, calling for a day of celebration to mark the assassination. In September last year, Mr. Yogi Adityanath and Mr. Sakshi Maharaj, both members of Parliament from the ruling party, called for laws to curb the country's Muslim population. One often hears that the violence, the inflammatory rhetoric and the disregard for religious freedom are espoused by the fringe elements of the Hindu nationalist movement; and that brings me to the crux of my testimony. There is really nothing to differentiate the core from the fringe, or the BJP and the RSS from the rabid offshoots who carry out their bidding. Oral Testimony Musaddique Thange (IAMC) 2 / 3
Challenges & Opportunities: The Advancement of Human Rights in India Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission June 7, 2016
Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Ms. Nisha Desai Biswal had recently praised India's vibrant civil society saying there is no more robust voice than the voice of the Indian people that is taking up issues of religious freedom. I respectfully disagree. It is wellknown that whistleblowers and activists have been subjected to unprecedented harassment and intimidation in India in recent years. Moreover, the Indian Judiciary is facing a crisis of credibility, as acknowledged by the Chief Justice of India himself. The courts in India have a collective pendency of a staggering 30 million cases, with a significant number over a decade old. Moreover, the system facilitates wilful delays for the rich and powerful, and fosters a sense of impunity for human rights violators. In other words, judicial ineffectiveness is an enabler of human rights violations. Therefore, the expectation that the Indian system would somehow selfcorrect is naïve and unrealistic. The international community has a responsibility to help bring about change, albeit in a way that respects India’s sovereignty. To that end, I call upon this Commission and its honorable members to work towards the inclusion of human rights and religious freedom in the US India Strategic Dialogue. As part of a continued dialogue, we must urge India to enact adequate laws to protect whistleblowers and witnesses. Organizations that are working on the ground to ensure justice to the victims and heal divisions between Hindus and Muslims need encouragement and support, and must be recognized for their contributions to peace and pluralism. The struggle to save India’s tradition of pluralism may be daunting but it is a struggle that many in India and around the world have taken up as their own. The forces of division may be strong, but they cannot and must not be allowed to overpower people’s natural yearning for peace. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” Thank You!
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