By Mamoona Ali Kazmi

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Recently, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) placed India on its “Watch List” for 2009 because it found the Central government had failed to take effective measures to ensure the rights of religious minorities in several States. It is not the first time that the Commission has taken such a step. In 2002 and 2003, the Commission had recommended that India be designated a “country of particular concern (CPC)” in the wake of the “severe riots” in Gujarat . This is a grade higher than “Watch List,” which includes countries “where religious freedom conditions do not rise to the statutory level requiring CPC designation but which require close monitoring due to the nature and extent of violations of religious freedom engaged in or tolerated by the governments.”