The US Commission on International Religious Freedom accuses India of weaponizing the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act to detain religious minorities, including activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam. The panel also calls for the release of other 'freedom of religion or belief' prisoners.
A United States Panel on religious freedom has accused India of ‘weaponising’ the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act to detain religious minorities, including activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam. These individuals have been in judicial custody for six years in connection with the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case, and remain jailed in pre-trial detention for ‘simply engaging in peaceful protests’.
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom also urged Washington’s Department of State to work with Indian authorities to facilitate the release of other ‘freedom of religion or belief’ prisoners. The panel defines this term as individuals who are jailed, detained, or placed in confinement by governments primarily because of their religious faith, peaceful worship, or expression of personal beliefs.
The panel made this statement after the Delhi High Court on September 18 granted bail to British citizen Jagtar Singh Johal, who is accused of targeted killings linked to a transnational conspiracy allegedly involving the Khalistan Liberation Force, a Khalistan separatist group. Johal was arrested in 2017 in Punjab and is accused in eight cases linked to a series of targeted killings and attempted murders in Punjab’s Ludhiana and Jalandhar districts during 2016-’17.
After he was granted bail, the religious freedom panel said that it welcomed the High Court’s decision and urged Washington to facilitate the release of other such prisoners. Vice Chairperson of the panel CeCe Heil stated that Johal’s case is ‘demonstrative of a larger pattern by the Indian government to silence or imprison religious minorities’.
In its 2026 annual report, the religious freedom panel had recommended that the state department designate India as a country of particular concern for engaging in ‘systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations’.
Source:
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