Country profile: India. Helping India protect its religious minorities 01/05/2012
Photo: Marcus Perkins/CSW
Long-term relationships are the heart of CSW’s work – with our partners, and with people in positions of influence around the world. Our job is to amplify the voices of those calling for justice and protection.
India is an increasingly powerful player in international politics, and contains over one fifth of the world’s population within its borders. The example it sets in dealing with religiously-motivated violence can be highly influential on the rest of South Asia – and perhaps more widely.
That’s one reason why CSW has been advocating in Geneva and Westminster ahead of India’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) this May at the UN. It’s only every three years that this peer-to-peer review comes around for each UN member state, so it’s an important opportunity to seize in encouraging India to pursue a path of protection for its religious minorities.
Over the last four years, we’ve continued to work for the victims of targeted religious attacks in Orissa, where over 50,000 Christians were displaced and 90 killed in 2008. Even now, despite the recent first conviction for murder, the delivery of justice and provision of reconciliation and compensation for victims like these is still seriously lacking.
Because of the ongoing need for justice, CSW undertook a ten-day advocacy assignment in March alongside Dr John Dayal, including meeting country delegations at the UN, and talking with MPs in Westminster. As well as co-founding the All India Christian Council (aicc), one of CSW’s partners, John advises the Indian Government on social integration. Like CSW, he’s deeply committed to protecting religious minorities.
Together, we discussed a range of key issues with influencers, and worked hard to raise support for a new ‘Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence Bill’, which John had played a key role in drafting. Although it won’t solve longlasting problems overnight, the Bill will be a framework for more effective action to prevent targeted violence against religious communities, to bring complicit police and politicians to account, and to compensate victims fairly.
We need to make sure these issues are taken on board at India’s UPR in May. Country delegations at the UN listened closely, and we hope several will encourage India to show leadership by passing the Bill, which would be a major step forward in safeguarding vulnerable communities. Please pray that it achieves just that.