State Department annual international report notes spike in violence related to religious intolerance

India has recorded a spike in violence related to religious intolerance in 2016 and the authorities have routinely refused to take action against cow vigilantes, the U.S. State Department noted in its annual International Religious Freedom Report released on Tuesday.

The report cited the spread of laws and campaigns for cow protection and against religious conversion among reasons for the increase in violence.

It noted that 24 of the 29 States have “imposed full to partial restrictions and penalties on the slaughter of bovines,” and six out of 29 State governments enforce anti-conversion laws. The State Department also cited the restrictions imposed on American Christian NGO Compassion International’s operations in India.

“Authorities frequently did not prosecute members of vigilante “cow protection” groups who attacked alleged smugglers, consumers, or traders of beef, usually Muslims, despite an increase in attacks compared to previous years,” the report said, listing the series of violent incidents in India last year.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) reported 751 conflicts between religious communities, which resulted in 97 deaths and 2,264 injuries in 2015, jumping from 644 communal incidents, resulting in 95 deaths and 1,921 injuries the previous year, the State Department noted.

“There were reports of religiously motivated killings, assaults, riots, discrimination, vandalism, and actions restricting the right of individuals to practise their religious beliefs and proselytise. There was an increase in violent incidents by cow protection groups against mostly Muslim victims, including killings, mob violence, assaults, and intimidation. Hindus threatened and assaulted Muslims and Christians and destroyed their property. According to the Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI), there were more than 300 incidents of abuse targeting Christians during the year, compared with 177 in 2015.

Incidents included assaults on missionaries, forced conversions of non-Hindus, and attacks on churches, schools, and private property. Administrators at some Muslim and Christian schools and graveyards denied their facilities to interreligious couples or their children,: the report said. It notes that “the high-profile killing of Mohammad Akhlaq Saifi by a mob who believed he had slaughtered a cow in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh in September 2015 continued to generate publicity and controversy.” “In June then-Member of Parliament (MP) and later Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stated Mother Teresa had been on a mission to “Christianize India,” said the State Department document.

In November MHA denied FCRA registration renewals for Compassion’s two main implementing partners. “While MHA stated more than 1,300 other NGOs of various types also had their registration renewals denied because of FCRA regulation compliance issues, Compassion International and some media and civil society representatives stated Compassion International’s partner organizations were targeted because MHA alleged they were involved in conversions or other religious activities. Some other foreign-funded religious NGOs did not report any FCRA-related issues with operations in India,” said the report.