WASHINGTON - It seems India has had a bad week, with US President Barack Obama slamming religious intolerance after a recent trip to New Delhi followed by harsh remarks by a leading American newspaper focusing attention on mounting violence against minorities and now the State Department telling New Delhi to take steps to improve relationships with neighbouring countries amid escalating tensions spawned by its refusal to hold dialogue with Pakistan.
“We believe the (Obama’s) visit to India was a very important one, and we believe that India should have good relationships with its neighbours as well and take steps to improve those relationships,” State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf said, while responding to a question regarding Pakistani concerns on some US-India agreements concluded during Obama's visit to India.
And in a sign that the honeymoon for Prime Minister Narendra Modi enjoyed is coming to an end, The New York Times posed the question, "What will it take for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak out about the mounting violence against India's religious minorities?"
The State Department comments come at a time when India is refusing to resume peace talks with Pakistan towards a resolution to the UN-recognised Jammu and Kashmir dispute, considered critical to normalisation of relations between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
Pakistan has voiced serious concern over New Delhi’s attempt to alter demographics of the disputed Kashmir region as well as India's contemplating a change in the special constitutional status of the occupied territory.
At the daily briefing, Harf reaffirmed US position on fostering close relationships with both Pakistan and India.
“When it comes to our relationships in the region, look, we have relationships with India and with Pakistan. They’re both strong, they’re both vital to our strategic interests, and they both stand on their own.”
When questioned about US assessment of the religious freedom in India under the Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the spokesperson said she would check from the relevant officials but reiterated President Obama’s call for religious freedom.
“Well, you heard the President (Obama) speak about this when he was just there(in New Delhi). This was part of his message during his trip to India and also part of his message at the National Prayer Breakfast yesterday morning that freedom of religion is a fundamental freedom, that every nation is stronger when people of all faiths are free to practise their religion free from persecution and fear and discrimination.
“So certainly, we encourage all governments around the world to respect and ensure freedom of assembly for individuals who are worshiping or who are doing so for religious reasons, and that’s a universal right we think should be adhered to.”
Meanwhile, The New York Times called on Prime Minister Modi to break his ‘deafening silence’ on religious intolerance.
"Attacks at Christian places of worship have prompted no response from the man elected to represent and to protect all of India’s citizens," it said in an editorial, entitled: Modi's Dangerous Silence. "Nor has he addressed the mass conversion to Hinduism of Christians and Muslims who have been coerced or promised money," the Times said.
"Mr Modi’s continued silence before such troubling intolerance increasingly gives the impression that he either cannot or does not wish to control the fringe elements of the Hindu nationalist right," the paper said.
The editorial followed President Barack Obama's speech at a high-profile breakfast on Thursday in which he said that religious ‘intolerance’ in India would have shocked India's founding father MK Gandhi.
In this context, the newspaper posed the question, "What will it take for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak out about the mounting violence against India's religious minorities?"
President Obama had told the traditional National Prayer Breakfast meeting, "Michelle (the First Lady) and I returned from India - an incredible, beautiful country, full of magnificent diversity - but a place where, in past years, religious faiths of all types have, on occasion, been targeted by other people of faith, simply due to their heritage and their beliefs - acts of intolerance that would have shocked Gandhiji, the person who helped to liberate that nation." The remark did not go down well in India, according to press reports from New Delhi.
Dealing with the situation in India, the Times said, "Recently, a number of Christian churches in India have been burned and ransacked. Last December, St Sebastian’s Church in East Delhi was engulfed in fire. Its pastor reported a strong smell of kerosene after the blaze was put out. On Monday, St Alphonsa’s Church in New Delhi was vandalised. Ceremonial vessels were taken, yet collection boxes full of cash were untouched. Alarmed by the attacks, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India has urged the government to uphold the secular nature of India and to assure its Christians they are “protected and secure” in their own country.
"There is also concern about the mass conversions. Last December, about 200 Muslims were converted to Hinduism in Agra. In January, up to 100 Christians in West Bengal 'reconverted' to Hinduism. Hard-line Hindu nationalist groups, like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (V.H.P.) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (R.S.S.), make no secret of their support for a ‘homecoming’ campaign designed to ‘return’ non-Hindus to the fold. More than 80 percent of Indians are Hindu, but Pravin Togadia of the V.H.P. says his organization’s goal is a country that is 100 percent Hindu. The only way to achieve that is to deny religious minorities their faith.
"The V.H.P. is reportedly planning a mass conversion of 3,000 Muslims in Ayodhya this month. The destruction of the Babri Mosque there in 1992 by Hindu militants touched off riots between Hindus and Muslims across India that left more than 2,000 people dead. The V.H.P. knows it is playing with fire.
"Mr Modi has promised an ambitious agenda for India’s development. But, as President Obama observed in a speech in New Delhi last month: 'India will succeed so long as it is not splintered along the lines of religious faith.' Mr Modi needs to break his deafening silence on religious intolerance."