New Delhi – A Sikh rights group, Sikhs for Justice, has given a briefing tothe US Commission on International Freedom (USCIF) on issues including therecently enacted citizenship law, suspension of communication in therestive Jammu and Kashmir region and alleged persecution of the Sikhcommunity in India.
The rights group which has been actively working for Khalistan Movementlink, demanding aseparate independent country for the Sikh community, has appealed to theCommission to place India on the Tier 1 list that recognises states withthe harshest level of repression.
“Citing the worsening religious persecution of Muslims, Sikhs and otherminorities, we have urged the USCIRF to place India on the Tier 1 Countrieslist during its next assessment report on the condition of religiousfreedom around the world,” said attorney of the human rights groupGurpatwant Singh Pannum.
The group drew the Commission’s attention to protests over thecontroversial Citizenship Amendment Actlink, that have causedclashes and vandalism leading to hundreds of people being injured and 25killed. The law, which provides citizenship to non-Muslim illegalimmigrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, has been opposed byseveral political parties and civil rights groups that say it isdiscriminatory.
“The problem that remains overlooked, is that the core of the problem lieswithin the Constitution of India itself, which is neither truly secular nordoes it protect or treat people of non-Hindu faiths equally,” said theletter to the Commission, describing the lack of religious freedom forMuslims in India.
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“What Muslims are facing in India today, the Sikh community has been facingsince 1950 when they were labelled as Hindus in the Constitution,” itfurther stated.
Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), a US-based group launched Referendum 2020link, seeking aseparate homeland for Sikhs – a “Khalistan” in the Indian state of Punjab.
India’s federal government has banned SFJ as a separatist group, on thegrounds of its secessionism and alleged anti-national activities.
