[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 154 (Monday, September 17, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1263-E1264]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              STANDING WITH RELIGIOUS MINORITIES IN INDIA

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JAMIE RASKIN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 17, 2018

  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in solidarity with members of 
minority groups in India who are facing persecution because of their 
faith or class standing. I recently met with Teesta Setalvad, a 
prominent civil rights lawyer in India. She updated me on the 
increasing religious violence being committed by extremist groups 
against religious minority communities in India including Muslims, 
Christians, and Hindu Dalits, also known as ``untouchables.'' Although 
this violence is not new, the United States Commission on International 
Religious freedom has noted a substantial deterioration in conditions 
for minority groups since 2014, when the ruling Bharati Jayanti Party 
(BJP) rose to power on a Hindu nationalist political platform.
  Intensifying religious-based violence has swept 10-of-29 states in 
India, including Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, which are controlled by the 
BJP, and which have begun enforcing anti-cow slaughtering and anti-
conversion laws. While attacks on minorities are not always directly 
instigated by the government, a cloak of impunity covers mob violence 
that targets these communities. Human rights groups have criticized the 
pervasive police and judicial bias apparently backed by BJP and 
affiliated groups such as Rashtriya Swayamsevak Singh (RSS) and Vishva 
Hindu Parishad (VHP).
  The aggressive enforcement of anti-cow slaughter laws is being used 
to persecute and intimidate Muslims and Dalits whose families have 
engaged in dairy, leather or beef trades for generations. Mob violence 
is common against people suspected of harming cows. In 2017, there were 
at least 10 public lynchings conducted by ``cow protection'' mobs. One

[[Page E1264]]

such attack occurred when a 55-year-old man, Pehlu Khan, was set-upon 
by a mob and beaten to death while transporting a cow home that he had 
bought at a fair.
  Most appalling are the cases of sexual assault against minorities for 
political purposes. In January of this year, eight Hindu men kidnapped 
and raped an eight-year-old Muslim girl in a Hindu temple before 
killing her. Her murder served the purpose of driving her nomadic 
community from the area. After the perpetrators were arrested, a mob of 
Hindu lawyers surrounded the police in an attempt to bar them from 
entering the courthouse to file charges against the perpetrators.
  Christians, like Muslims, have been targeted because of the paranoid 
suspicion that proselytizing could convert people away from Hinduism. 
Nuns and members of the clergy have suffered attacks for preaching 
Christian values. Just last month, the home of a pastor in Manipur was 
burned down and Chadarajupalli Subbaravamma, a woman in her mid-60s in 
Andhra Pradesh, reportedly was murdered because she converted to 
Christianity 10 years ago.
  Likewise, Dalits have been victim to structural violence. They face 
everyday humiliation as they are blocked from areas of worship and are 
denied the most basic of human rights, such as access to clean water. 
Additionally, attacks and sexual assaults against women of the Dalit 
community frequently go unreported or uninvestigated. In Kerala state, 
a woman was recently doused in gasoline and set on fire by her 
estranged husband in the view of village council members. No one 
attempted to help the woman, and her husband managed to flee the scene.
  When individuals of minority groups resist violence and oppression, 
they are met with greater brutality. But liberal democracies stand up 
for all religious minorities who are fighting for the right to practice 
their beliefs in the face of vigilante violence and persecution from 
the majority.
  It is disheartening that communal violence against religious 
minorities is on the rise in India, a great ally of the United States 
and the largest democracy on earth. We must stand up and speak out 
against these abhorrent attacks on religious minorities. India's 
government can no longer look the other way in the face of accelerating 
violence against religious minorities and the Dalit community.
  Today, I ask my colleagues to join me in standing with civil rights 
leaders such as Teesta Setalvad in urging India to recognize the 
humanity of all its people and put an end to these heinous crimes.

                          ____________________