Context: Recently, the US Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has recommended India for ‘countries of particular concern’ tag.
Key highlights

• The USCIRF has asked the Biden Administration to designate four nations, including India, as "countries of particular concern".
• The other three countries are Russia, Syria and Vietnam.
• The USCIRF report has alleged that religious freedom conditions in 2020 in these countries continued their negative trajectory.
• The report also recommended the State Department to redesignate 10 nations as "countries of particular concern" (CPC).
• These are Burma (Myanmar), China, Eritrea, Iran, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

Why USCIRF recommend ‘countries of particular concern’ tag for India?

• The passage of the religiously discriminatory Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) which is a fast track to citizenship for non-Muslim migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan residing in India - led to nationwide protests.
• The Indian Parliament amended the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) to increase restrictions on non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
• It stifled civil society and forcing religious organisations and human rights organisations, including those advocating for religious freedom, to shut down.
• The USCIRF also alleged that in conjunction with a proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) requiring all residents to provide documentation of citizenship, the CAA could subject Muslim.

What does USCIRF’s ‘countries of particular concern’ tag meant for India?

• India has been designated for engaging in and tolerating systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations, as defined by the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA).
• India has in the past said that the American body on international religious freedom has chosen to be guided only by its biases on a matter on which it has no locus standi.
• USCIRF urges to impose targeted sanctions on individuals and entities responsible for severe violations of religious freedom by freezing those individuals' or entities' assets and barring their entry into the US.
• It urges the Congress to continue to raise religious freedom concerns in the US-India bilateral relationship and highlight concerns through hearings, briefings, letters, and congressional delegations.

Argument against USCIRF tag

• India must always resist allowing political and inter-communal conflict to be exacerbated by religious tensions.
• India's government and people have everything to gain and absolutely nothing to lose from preserving social harmony and protecting the rights of everyone.
• India should not be a 'country of particular concern (CPC)’ because it is the world's largest democracy, and it is governed by a pristine constitution.
• India has said that the updation of the NRC in Assam is an "entirely internal? process carried out at the direction and under the supervision of the Supreme Court.

Freedom of Religion in India

Freedom of religion in India is a fundamental right guaranteed by Article 25-28 of the Constitution of India.

• Article 25 (Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion).
• Article 26 (Freedom to manage religious affairs).
• Article 27 (Freedom as to payment of taxes for promotion of any particular religion).
• Article 28 (Freedom as to attendance at religious instruction or religious worship in certain educational institutions).

Further, Article 29 and 30 of the Constitution deal with the protection of interest of minorities.