US Secretary of State Tony Blinken said there have been rising attacks on people and places of worship in India.
While releasing the latest US report on religious freedom around the world, Blinken said on Thursday, “In India, the world’s largest democracy and home to a great diversity of faiths, we have seen rising attacks on people in places of worship.”
He asserted that the US would continue to stand up for religious freedom worldwide.
“The United States will continue to stand up for religious freedom around the world. We’ll keep working alongside other governments, multilateral organisations, civil society to do so, including next month at the United Kingdom’s ministerial to advance religious freedom,” he said.
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Rashad Hussain, the US ambassador for international religious freedom, added: “In India, some officials are ignoring or even supporting rising attacks on people and places of worship. ”
In the statement on Thursday, the state department pointed to laws restricting religious conversions, quoted accounts of discrimination against Muslims and Christians, and said that “politicians made inflammatory public remarks or social media posts about religious minorities.”
Recently at a presser following the 2+2 dialogue with the Indian foreign minister S Jaishankar, Blinken said the US is “monitoring some recent concerning developments in India including a rise in human rights abuses by some government, police and prison officials.”
America expresses concern over rising attacks on people and religious places in India.
The world is worried about India's democracy but Bhakts and Godi Media are busy calling Modiji a 'Vishwaguru'.https://t.co/jnWS2bEDDa
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Moreover, Blinken noted that conditions for religious freedom in Afghanistan have deteriorated dramatically under the Taliban.
He mentioned the Taliban’s crackdown on the fundamental rights of women and girls to get an education, work, and engage in society, often under the banner of religion.
He added that ISIS-K is conducting increasingly violent attacks against religious minorities, particularly Shia Hazaras.
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He said, “Beyond these countries, the report documents how religious freedom and the rights of religious minorities are under threat in communities around the world.”