On her 18 day visit to India as UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion and Belief, Asma Jehangir, renowned lawyer and human rights activist of Pakistan, found that India, although a secular country with sound religious legal framework, lags behind in meting-out justice to its religious minorities.

Jehangir, who visited Amritsar, Delhi, Jammu, Srinagar, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Thiruvananthapuram, Bhubaneswar and Lucknow, for her study, hailed India for its democratic values and human rights activism.

She found that although the minorities agreed that there is a sound legal framework to protect religious freedom, yet they are dissatisfied with its implementations. There are undue delays in the investigations where communal riots are concerned. It is spreading disillusionment and dissent among the religious minorities.

In the past two decades there have been major incidents of religious violence; like the demolition of Babri Masjid, violence against Muslims in Gujarat in 2002, atrocities against Christians in Orissa last year, that have escalated out of proportion because of unheeded impunity given to the perpetrators and political parties using religion as a political tool to gain voter bank.

Jehangir warns if the situation is not checked soon, there might be another major communal violence looming in the near future. She hopes that active participation from the government and non-state actors can help to dispel dissatisfaction among the minorities and bring about a more conducive environment for all.

Source: SPCM