IV 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 542 
Condemning human rights violations and violations of international religious 
freedom in India, including those targeting Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, 
Dalits, Adivasis, and other religious and cultural minorities. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 22, 2023 
Ms. OMAR (for herself, Mr. TRONE, Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. TLAIB, and Ms. JA-
COBS) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Condemning human rights violations and violations of inter-
national religious freedom in India, including those tar-
geting Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, Adivasis, and 
other religious and cultural minorities. 
Whereas the United States Commission on International Reli-
gious Freedom (USCIRF) has called for designating 
India as a Country of Particular Concern for 4 consecu-
tive years; 
Whereas USCIRF’s 2023 annual report states that in 2022, 
‘‘the Indian Government at the national, State, and local 
levels promoted and enforced religiously discriminatory 
policies, including laws targeting religious conversion, 
interfaith relationships, the wearing of hijabs, and cow 
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slaughter, which negatively impact Muslims, Christians, 
Sikhs, Dalits, and Adivasis’’; 
Whereas the USCIRF report further states that, ‘‘The na-
tional government also continued to suppress critical 
voices—particularly religious minorities and those advo-
cating on their behalf—including through surveillance, 
harassment, demolition of property, and detention’’; 
Whereas the USCIRF report describes the use of laws such 
as the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and the Sedi-
tion law ‘‘to target freedom of religion and expression, 
creating an increasing climate of intimidation and fear’’; 
Whereas the USCIRF report enumerates increasing criminal-
ization of religious conversion, particularly targeting 
Christians and Muslims, including bans on interfaith 
marriages; 
Whereas, according to USCIRF, ‘‘The ruling Bharatiya 
Janata Party committed to enforcing harsher penalties 
for interfaith marriages in its 2022 election manifesto for 
Uttar Pradesh’’; 
Whereas the USCIRF report highlights the severe risks of 
the Citizenship Amendment Act and National Registry of 
Citizens for Indian Muslims, including the possibility of 
rendering hundreds of thousands stateless or subject to 
indefinite detention; 
Whereas the USCIRF report outlines a trend of attacks on 
religious minorities in their homes and places of worship, 
including the physical destruction of mosques and homes 
in Muslim neighborhoods, and mob violence against Mus-
lims and Christians; 
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Whereas the USCIRF describes rampant sexual violence and 
harassment against women belonging to religious minor-
ity and Dalit communities; 
Whereas, as of June 2023, the United States Commission on 
International Religious Freedom lists 55 Indian nationals 
on its Freedom of Religion or Belief Victims list, 53 of 
whom are listed as detained with one under house arrest 
and one disappeared; 
Whereas, as of June 2022, 41 of the 53 remain detained, 
with one, the Catholic priest and human rights activist 
Father Stan Swamy, having died in custody; and 
Whereas, in February 2022, the UN Working Group on Arbi-
trary Detention released an opinion, declaring Swamy’s 
detention arbitrary and his death ‘‘utterly preventable’’: 
Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) condemns human rights violations and vio-
lations of international religious freedom in India, 
including those targeting Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, 
Dalits, Adivasis, and other religious and cultural mi-
norities; 
(2) expresses grave concern about the wors-
ening treatment of religious minorities in India; and 
(3) calls on the Secretary of State to designate 
India as a Country of Particular Concern in the next 
annual report submitted pursuant to section 102 of 
the International Religious Freedom Act of 1988 
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and section 302 the Frank R. Wolf International 
Religious Freedom Act of 2016. 
Æ 
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