IV 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 434 
Condemning the recent religious violence in India and calling on the 
Government of India to stop the violence and address its root causes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 26, 2008 
Mr. AKIN (for himself, Mr. WOLF, Mr. PITTS, Mr. MCGOVERN, and Mr. 
MCCOTTER) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Condemning the recent religious violence in India and calling 
on the Government of India to stop the violence and 
address its root causes. 
Whereas India is the largest democracy in the world, with a 
Constitution that provides for the protection of religious 
freedom and the fundamental rights of all citizens; 
Whereas the United States respects and admires the commit-
ment of India’s present government and Prime Minister 
Manmohan Singh to preserve pluralism and religious di-
versity in India; 
Whereas the murder of Swami Laxmananand Saraswati was 
a hideous act of violence; 
Whereas an act of violence should never lead to violent ret-
ribution or mob governance; 
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•HCON 434 IH 
Whereas recent violence in the state of Orissa has resulted 
in the deaths of significant number of Christians and 
Hindus, the burning of churches, Christian institutions 
and homes, and has forced tens of thousands of Chris-
tians to flee their homes; 
Whereas the violence in the state of Orissa continues to flare 
and is spreading to other states such as Karnataka and 
Madhya Pradesh; 
Whereas this is the second major outbreak of religious vio-
lence against Christians since December of 2007; 
Whereas the efforts of the state governments have had little 
effect in preventing the continuing violence; 
Whereas certain leaders belonging to the ruling parties in the 
states are publicly encouraging such violence against 
Christians to create animosity between the Hindus and 
others; 
Whereas the Supreme Court of India has ordered the state 
government of Orissa to detail its efforts to stop the vio-
lence; 
Whereas India’s National Human Rights Commission, an of-
ficial body, is sending a team to investigate the origins 
of the violence in Orissa; 
Whereas the National Commission for Women has expressed 
shock at the level of violent crimes committed towards 
the Christian women by police forces; 
Whereas the Government of India has not moved quickly to 
prevent further violence or address the root causes of the 
violence; 
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•HCON 434 IH 
Whereas maintaining the rule of law, rather than mob rule, 
is of vital importance to building a strong democratic 
government; and 
Whereas it is in the interest of the Government of India to 
prevent tension between different religious groups, pro-
mote religious liberty and freedom of peaceful religious 
expression in India: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That Congress— 
(1) strongly condemns the religious violence in 
India, including the killings, rapes, and home and 
church destruction; 
(2) calls on the Government of India to take all 
necessary steps to restrict the reach and resources 
of the radical religious party elements that cause 
such violence regularly, including the direct incite-
ment to violence against Christians; 
(3) calls on the Government of India to take 
strong steps to prevent ongoing and future violence, 
including the provision of adequate police protection 
for targets of violence, and active prosecution of per-
petrators of violence; 
(4) calls on the state governments of India and 
elected bodies in all levels of government to protect 
all their citizens regardless of their religious beliefs; 
(5) condemns the implementation of any laws 
restricting the freedom of religion or the freedom to 
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•HCON 434 IH 
change one’s religion, the fundamental rights in any 
democracy; and 
(6) urges the people of India to respect all 
peaceful religious beliefs and live together as a 
model to the rest of the world. 
Æ 
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