International Religious Freedom (IRF) Report 2019 released
Part of: GS-Prelims and GS-II – International organisations; Effect of Policies on India’s interests
In News:
Recently, the US State Department has released its annual International Religious Freedom (IRF) Report 2019.
IRF is a survey of the state of religious freedom across the world.
Key takeaways
It published the country report for India to highlight the issue of religious freedom in India.
Earlier, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF report) had downgraded India’s religious freedom to the lowest grade of ‘Country of Particular Concern (CPC)’ category.
The IRF report listed countries for positive developments in religious freedom and negative examples.
Negative examples:
Nicaragua
Nigeria
China
India is not included in either of the lists.
The Country Report for India:
It highlighted the developments that took place in 2019 – the status of Jammu and Kashmir, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Mob lynchings, anti-conversion laws, cow vigilantism and related issues were also discussed.
The need to ensure full protection to minorities was emphasized.
The Indian government has rejected the report by asserting that a foreign government did not have right to comment on the state of its citizens’ constitutionally protected rights.
It also emphasised that the report did not talk about the religious freedom given to various communities in India.
Important value additions
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
Article 29 and 30 of the Constitution deal with the protection of interest of minorities.
US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF)
It is a U.S. federal government commission created by the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998.
USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the President.
Its principal responsibilities are:
Review the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom internationally
Make policy recommendations to the US President, the Secretary of State, and the Congress.
It is authorized to travel on fact-finding missions to other countries and hold public hearings
It issues an annual report that includes policy recommendations to the U.S. government based on the report’s evaluation of the facts and circumstances of religious freedom violations worldwide
