Related articles and links |  1 of 4

India's churches have strongly criticized a special "hearing" on religious freedom in India held in Washington DC last week by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). The commission—a government panel established by the U.S. Congress—heard testimony about violence against Christians in both India and Pakistan. It also heard evidence of the alleged failure of governments in both countries to safeguard the rights of religious minorities.

India is mainly Hindu, while Pakistan is overwhelmingly Muslim. However, unlike church leaders in India, some prominent Christians in Pakistan have expressed support for the hearing.

The hearing has been widely publicized in India where it has caused deep resentment. "We are a democratic country, and we have enough secularist forces here [organizations to protect the rights of non-Hindu minorities], including an interreligious platform to assert and protect our rights," said a senior official of the National Council of Churches in India (NCCI), which represents 29 Orthodox and Protestant churches.

Chandran Paul Martin, NCCI's communications secretary, told ENI that "we do not expect the U.S. [to act] as an international court. Will the U.S. accept an Indian hearing on racism there?" He questioned the "propriety" of one nation conducting a hearing on affairs in another nation.

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) also criticized the USCIRF, which is a federal government panel established by the U.S. Congress through the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, which seeks to promote religious freedom as a goal of U.S. foreign policy.

The nine-member commission is an advisory group to the U.S. executive branch and the U.S. Congress, but has no legislative power. Its commissioners, selected by the U.S. president and congressional leaders, include representatives of the Baha'i, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faiths.

But despite its credentials and the limitations on its power, the commission's interest in religious freedom is not appreciated in India.

"The CBCI does not believe that the present situation [in India] warrants an international hearing," Donald d'Souza, CBCI's deputy secretary general, told ENI. "The hearing amounts to interference in [our] internal affairs."

In recent years, Indian church leaders have frequently expressed concern about violence against Indian Christians by Hindu fundamentalists. In a letter inviting individuals to the hearing in Washington, the USCIRF pointed out that the increase in attacks on Christian targets coincided with the rise to power in 1998 of the pro-Hindu BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party). Since then there has been a marked increase in violence against minority groups, especially Christians, with converts intimidated, churches and schools burnt, attacks on nuns, and murders committed against priests and missionaries.

Father Dominic Emmanuel, CBCI's public affairs director, told ENI: "We have not refused information on the anti-Christian violence to anyone who has approached us. But, they [USCIRF] have not even informed or contacted the church on the hearing.

"This is a democratic country, and we believe this problem could be solved within the country, even if it is with difficulty and delay."

When asked about the participation in the U.S. hearing of John Dayal, a leading Catholic activist coordinating an ecumenical campaign to halt the violence, Emmanuel said Dayal was "not representing the churches, but [is present] only as an individual."

next page... |  1 of 4

share this page

October (Web-only) 2000, Vol. 44