Religious intolerance in India was first flagged by the United States government officially in 2004. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) looked at the post-Godhra riots situation in Gujarat and recommended to the George W Bush administration that Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government be classified as a “Country of Particular Concern (CPC)”.
The report observed that Vajpayee “had not condemned the massacre of Muslims unequivocally” for more than a year. It noted that there was no justice for the victims, mostly Muslims, in Gujarat, and it also noted the anti-conversion legislation that was passed, also in Gujarat.
Four of the USCIRF’s
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