International Religious Freedom Report, 2013: India

摘要

The constitution and other laws and policies protect religious freedom and, in practice, the government generally respected religious freedom; however, some laws and policies restricted this freedom. The country is a secular republic, with all religions equal under the law. Some state governments enforced existing anticonversion laws, and some local police and enforcement agencies in certain instances failed to respond effectively to communal violence, including attacks against religious minorities. There were reports of societal abuses or discrimination based on religious affiliation, belief, or practice. These included violence between religious groups and organized communal attacks against religious minorities. On September 9, Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde stated incidents of communal violence had increased from the previous year. The federal government released data on communal riot victims through September 15, reporting 107 people had died and 1,647 were injured in 479 incidents of communal violence. The countrys democratic system, independent legal institutions, civil society, and free press provided mechanisms to help address violations of religious freedom. During meetings with senior government officials, as well as with state and local officials and religious community leaders, senior U.S. officials raised religious freedom issues, including reports of harassment of minority groups and missionaries, and redress for victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh violence and 2002 communal riots in Gujarat.