U.S. Commission on International Religious
Freedom
Hearing on Gujarat, India
June 10
Washington, D.C.
Commissioner Felice Gaer, Hearing Chair
The Commission heard prepared testimony on the "Events on the Ground in
Gujarat" from Najid Hussain, University of Delaware and Kamal Mitra Chenoy,
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Then the Commission heard prepared testimony on "The Future of Communal
Relations in India and the U.S. Policy Response" from Robert Hathaway,
Woodrow Wilson International Center.
Excerpt from Robert Hathaway on the U.S. Response:
...the tragedies of Gujarat and of Kashmir are inextricably linked. Kashmir
was certainly not the cause of Gujarat. Sadly, the seeds of Godhra and Ahmedabad
and Baroda spring from still more ancient soils.
But the continued violence in Kashmir makes the hatred we have recently seen
in Gujarat more likely, and in a perverted sense, more "respectable,"
or at least acceptable.
Perhaps it does not go too far to assert that until the Kashmir sore is at
last healed, the poison that produced Gujarat will make other Gujarats increasingly
likely.
There now exists in this country a widespread consensus that India is too important a country, and possesses too much potential, for the United States to treat it with the disdain or indifference that, in the past, was frequently our custom.
Gujarat has not changed this calculation.
And yet, it is neither possible nor practical for us simply to move forward
and pretend that Gujarat did not happen.
... while at the moment Prime Minister Vajpayee presents a more reassuring face
for the current government, we have to recognize that Vajpayee's tenure in office
is subject to the vagaries of domestic politics, ill health, and advancing years.
The less benign face of the BJP represented by the official with whom I spoke
could well be the predominant strand of the BJP, and of the Indian government,
in the years ahead.
We ought to take note of that possibility, and to regard it as an issue of
concern and a factor that would almost surely greatly complicate the U.S. -
India relationship.
A few of the specific recommendations for action are listed here.
This Commission should call upon the government of India to take decisive steps
to stop the killings and other communal violence that continue to this day.
The United States and concerned Americans should work with the central and
state governments of India, with international agencies, and with Indian, American,
and other non-governmental organizations to provide relief for the victims of
the bloodletting in Gujarat, and to help them begin the process of rebuilding
their lives.
Senior U.S. officials in India, including the American ambassador, should undertake
high-visibility actions to demonstrate America's sympathy for the victims of
the Gujarat carnage.
The United States should encourage the government of India to bring to justice
those, of all religious persuasions, who bear a responsibility for this tragedy.
Sadly, India has a long history of failing to punish those who have fomented
sectarian or communal violence. Until the Indian judicial system redresses this
failure, Indians can expect to see reoccurrences of the Gujarat pogrom.
Credible reports suggest that substantial sums of money are sent from Indians
resident in the United States, and from American citizens of Indian origin,
to groups and organizations in Gujarat and elsewhere in India that are directly
linked to the violence in Gujarat. If these reports prove to be accurate, then
it is possible that such financial transactions violate U.S. anti-terrorism
or other statutes.
Responsible sources report that some U.S. residents make financial contributions
to overseas religious groups in the belief that these funds are to be used for
religious or humanitarian purposes, when in fact the monies so raised are used
to promote religious bigotry. [See Wall Street Journal, May 22, 2002, p. A26,
for one such report.]
See the complete testimonies.