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To: HG who wrote (332)	10/27/2001 10:45:51 PM
From: HG	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1595

huh ? Georgie, you better go preach tolerance to your friends in Saudi and Pakistan !! Maybe even Jorden and Israel ! Sheesh ! US report criticises BJP over religious freedom WASHINGTON: The US State Department has criticised the BJP on the issue of religious freedom in India saying Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Home Minister L K Advani and most of the party members are associated with RSS which, along with its affiliated organisations, "has been implicated in violence and discrimination against Christians and Muslims." The criticism of India as well as of Pakistan, Bangladesh and other countries of South Asia and around the world is contained in the state department's annual report on religious freedom released on Friday. Similar criticisms have been found in earlier reports and what the latest report does is to update the report to include recent developments or incidents. The report says "the Indian Constitution provides for secular government and protection of religious freedom and the central government generally respects these provisions in practice. "However, it sometimes does not act effectively to counter societal attacks against religious minorities and attempts by state and local governments to limit religious freedom." It says. "This failure results in part from the legal constraints inherent in the country's federal structure and in part from the law enforcement and justice systems which are at times ineffective," according to the report. The ineffective investigation and prosecution of attacks on religious minorities is interpreted by some extremist elements as a signal that such violence is likely to go unpunished, says the report. In Pakistan, says the report, "discriminatory religious legislation adds to an atmosphere of religious intolerance, which contributes to acts of violence directed against Muslim groups as well as against Christians, Hindus and members of Muslim offshoot groups, such as Ahmadis and Zikris. "The government does not encourage sectarian violence; however, there were instances in which the government failed to intervene in cases of societal violence directed at minority religious groups," it says. "The lack of an adequate government response contributed to an atmosphere of impugnity for acts of violence and intimidation committed against religious minorities. Parties and groups with religious affiliations target minority groups," the report adds. ( PTI )