Call for President Biden to Designate India as Country of Particular Concern (CPC)
Dear President Biden,
Since August 9th, 2020 – farmers in India have committed themselves to an ongoing protest against three farm acts which were passed by the Parliament of India. These laws are designed to monopolize the pricing of crops through a minimum support price (MSP) at the decree of the Indian Government and major corporations. Farmers are rejecting the policies as it hinders their ability to independently represent their own yield and wages. Because of this injustice, many farmers have committed suicide as India’s suicide rates have rose with farmers accounting for 11.2% of suicides in 2020. In November 2020, farmers throughout India, peacefully marched to the capital city of New Delhi and expressed their dissatisfaction with the Central government. Due to Punjab being the breadbasket of India, Sikh farmers have been at the forefront of the Kisaan Movement or farmers struggle in India. They have been subjugated to violence perpetrated at the highest levels by the current ruling party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and its affiliated right wing Hindu nationalist paramilitary organizations.
Many of these organizations exist under the banner of the Sangh Parivar, a “family” of over 30 organizations that includes the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and the BJP. Sangh Parivar entities aggressively press for governmental policies to promote their Hindu nationalist agenda and adhere in varying degrees to an ideology of Hinduvta, which holds non-Hindus as foreign to India.
On October 3rd, 2020 – in the Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh (UP), son of the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Ajay Mishra Teni (BJP), charged over farmers who were peacefully assembled, with an SUV-truck. While attempting to flee, the Union Minister’s son began shooting at protesters. There is significant video evidence of this heinous act of hatred. The BJP claims this episode represents nothing more then misinformation.
Eight farmers who were murdered ranged from the ages of nineteen to sixty years old and were all of the Sikh faith. The current Chief Minister of UP, Yogi Adityanath who is a ruthless dictator in the BJP has openly called for violence against anyone who is not Hindu and claims it is their “duty to protect the pure Hindu-State” by doing so. Since his reign as Chief Minister, Adityanath has overseen countless murders of religious minorities.
President Biden, you must see these crimes as both racial and ethnic cleansing in nature. At the United Nations, you addressed global leaders and boldly announced the Build Back Better World initiative. This initiative’s objective is to focus on climate, health security and equality as a whole. As apart of this agenda, you have called on several countries including India to contribute. We the Sikh Community of the United States of America, implore you to cease any operations with known members of the violent right-wing RSS-affiliated groups. They are domestic terrorists in their own nation and threaten Sikhs, Christians and Muslims to the most severe degree imaginable. Please reconsider your strategy with India as Democracy and the Rule of Law – core American tenants are nor practiced or respected in India. In the wake of this targeted anti-Muslim and other religious discrimination, the speakers of the briefing demanded that the United States designate India a Country of Particular Concern, or CPC. According to the US Department of State’s Office of International Religious Freedom, a CPC is a nation that is “engaged in or [tolerates] particularly severe violations of religious freedom,” including “flagrant denial of the right to life, liberty, or the security of persons.” India has been recommended by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) to be placed on the CPC list for two years in a row.
Please summon ambassador Richard R. Verma and take punitive measures against the Modi Administration.  We the undersigned thank you for your consideration