US diplomat hails statement that covid does not see religion, language, or borders.
Weeks after suggesting religious minorities in India are under increasing assault, America’s top diplomat for religious freedom says he is encouraged by positive statements by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling for unity in facing coronavirus pandemic.
“In India, we’ve seen reports of unfortunate covid-related rhetoric and harassment, particularly against the Muslim community,” Sam Brownback, Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom said at a State Department briefing Thursday on covid-19 impact on religious minorities.
“This has been exacerbated by fake news reports, misinformation being shared via social media,” he said. “There have also been instances of Muslims being attacked for allegedly spreading the coronavirus.”
“Now, I’ve been encouraged and we’ve been encouraged by statements from senior Indian officials really urging a unity,” Brownback said noting that the “Prime Minister stated even that covid does not see religion, language, or borders, which is certainly true.”
Asked if the encouraging language coming from the leadership in India regarding Muslims might have to do with the recent USCIRF report, Brownback said, “I don’t have anything particular that I’m attributing the language to.”
In its 2020 annual report, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) urged the Department of State to place India among the worst violators of religious freedom in the world as a “country of particular concern.”
“I just noted that it’s positive and that’s good,” Brownback said. And I don’t want to always just point to everything’s negative.”
“I was delighted we had a number of religious prisoners that were released – was ecstatic about it because I think it probably saved a number of lives.”
“And so the fact that the leadership would say this, great,” Brownback said. “USCIRF did put them out, as you noted, in that light and that got a lot of interest both here and in India, as you might guess.”
The Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will put out the report from State Department fairly soon, he said.
“And that’ll start the time clock on the Secretary’s ultimate determinations on Countries of Particular Concern or watch list countries,” Brownback said.
“And the USCIRF recommendation will be noted and has been noted as well,” he said. “But I don’t know why they did that, but I’m glad they did.”
Brownback, however, was non-committal about the US position on Afghan Sikhs who have been seeking asylum in the US because of attacks against the community.
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The ambassador said he had talked over the phone with a number of Sikh representatives who had asked to “immigrate to US, Canada, even inquiries about India, Pakistan, about being able to go to any of these places to get out of Afghanistan.”
“It’s a terrible tragedy that this wonderful, peaceful religious group is virtually been decimated in Afghanistan and less than a thousand left in the entire nation.”
“That’s wrong,” Brownback said. “They should be allowed to live there freely and peacefully
The cases are still being reviewed, he said, “and we’ve been inquiring, as others have, of possible places for the remaining Sikhs in Afghanistan to go to be able to be safe.”
“I don’t have anything publicly that I could say about where those situations might end up being,” Brownback said noncommittally.