Released on September 15, 2006

The constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respected this right in practice. However, the Government sometimes did not act swiftly enough to counter effectively societal attacks against religious minorities and attempts by some leaders of state and local governments to limit religious freedom. This resulted in part from legal constraints on national government action inherent in the country's federal structure and from shortcomings in its law enforcement and justice systems, although courts regularly upheld the constitutional provision of religious freedom. Despite Government efforts to foster communal harmony, some extremists continued to view ineffective investigation and prosecution of attacks on religious minorities, particularly at the state and local level, as a signal that they could commit such violence with impunity, although numerous cases were in the courts at the end of the reporting period.

While the National Government took positive steps in key areas to improve religious freedom, the status of religious freedom generally remained the same during the period covered by this report. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) continued to implement an inclusive and secular platform based on respect for the country's traditions of secular government and religious tolerance, and the rights of religious minorities. Terrorists attempted to provoke religious conflict by attacking Hindu Temples in Ayodhya and Varanasi. The Government reacted in a swift manner to rein in Hindu extremists, prevent revenge attacks and reprisal, and assure the Muslim community of its safety. The Government also quelled religious violence in Vadodara, Gujarat, after protests over the demolition of a Muslim shrine threatened to spark Hindu-Muslim violence. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) continued monitoring ongoing legal battles surrounding the 2002 Gujarat riots.

Despite the Government's 2005 action to withdraw controversial textbooks espousing a Hindu nationalist agenda, continuing problems with biased textbooks in some states led the Government to take further action by recommending the formation of a National Textbook Council to ensure such books no longer appear in the curriculum.

Despite the UPA Government's rejection of "Hindutva," the ideology that espouses politicized inculcation of Hindu religious and cultural norms above other religious norms, the ideology continued to influence governmental policies and societal attitudes in some regions at the state and local levels. However, "Hindutva"-based policies could not be implemented without passing court review to determine whether they were consistent with the principles enshrined in the country's secular constitution.

In March 2006, the Government of Rajasthan passed an anti-conversion bill. However, by the end of the period covered by this report, it had not taken effect, since it was not approved by the governor and continued to await presidential review.

In August 2005, the Nanavati commission, tasked with conducting a re-inquiry into the anti Sikh riots of 1984, released its report. The report cited several prominent Congress party leaders for complicity in the violence and implicated law enforcement personnel in the deaths, accusing them of refusing to perform their duty to maintain law and order. Minister Jagdish Tytler and Member of Parliament Sajjan Kumar were indicted in the report for purportedly leading the rioters. After the report's release, Tytler resigned from his post in the Ministry of Overseas Affairs and Kumar resigned from the Delhi Rural Development Board, but no formal punishment had been handed down by the end of the period covered by this report. The Government also set up two committees to disburse financial compensation promised by Prime Minister Singh to the victims' families. The Government approved an extra $158 million (7 billion INR) in compensation: $7,800 (350 thousand INR) for every family member killed and $2,800 (125 thousand INR) for those injured.

A formal judicial resolution to the 2002 Gujarat violence remained uncertain. However, there were significant developments during the period covered by this report, most notably convictions in the Best Bakery case. In February 2006, a Mumbai court gave life sentences to nine persons convicted for their role in the death of fourteen persons who took refuge in the bakery. All nine were among twenty-one individuals acquitted by a Vadodara fast-track court almost three years ago. Of the remaining twelve, eight were acquitted and four were "in hiding". In response to a supreme court mandate, in February 2006, the Gujarat police stated that it would reinvestigate 1,600 of the approximately 2,000 cases that were filed and closed in 2002. In March 2006, the Banarjee Commission report stated that the Godhra train fire was an accident.

The vast majority of Indians of every religious faith lived in peaceful coexistence; however, tensions between religious groups were a problem in some areas. While the Government took some steps, violence directed against minorities by both state and non-state actors occurred in several states.

Terrorists continued deadly attacks against religious targets. In July 2005, they attacked the Ram Hindu temple complex in Ayodhya. In October 2005, terrorists attacked markets throughout Delhi on the eve of the Hindu festival of Diwali and the Muslim Eid festival. In March 2006, terrorists also bombed Delhi's Jama Masjid mosque, injuring five, and a prominent Hindu temple in Varanasi, killing at least twenty-one and injuring sixty-two others. Terrorists also killed thirty-five Kashmiri Hindus in two massacres in May 2006.

Hindu-Muslim tension continued over disputed places of worship claimed by both groups to be sacred sites. There were instances of politically-manipulated religious tension in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh and Vadodara, Gujarat in early 2006. Police and state authorities took appropriate steps to end the violence and curb mob actions.

Conversion continued to be a highly contentious issue. Some Hindu organizations and others frequently alleged that Christian missionaries lured converts, particularly from the lower castes, with offers of free education and healthcare, and equated such actions with forced conversions. Some Christian groups alleged that Hindu groups forcibly "reconverted" those who had embraced Christianity. Several state governments, most recently the Government of Rajasthan, enacted laws to criminalize coerced and/or fraudulent conversions. Some nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) claimed some state governments used these laws to restrict voluntary conversions and to harass religious minorities.

The U.S. government discussed religious freedom issues with the Government as part of its overall policy to promote human rights. The U.S. Embassy and its consulates promoted religious freedom in their discussions with the country's senior leadership, as well as with state and local officials, and supported initiatives to encourage religious and communal harmony. During meetings with key leaders of all significant religious communities, U.S. officials discussed reports of ongoing harassment of minority groups, converts, and missionaries, explained U.S. government policies around the world, and endeavored to better understand Indian religious attitudes towards the United States. Embassy officers continued to investigate and discuss religious freedom incidents of concern such as violence in Gujarat, the implementation and reversal of anti-conversion legislation, attacks on places of worship, caste-based discrimination, and the plight of internally displaced Hindu Kashmiris.

Section I. Religious Demography

The country has an area of 1.3 million square miles and a population of 1.03 billion. According to the 2001 Government census, Hindus constituted 80.5 percent of the population, Muslims 13.4 percent, Christians 2.3 percent, Sikhs 1.8 percent, and others, including Buddhists, Jains, Parsis (Zoroastrians), Jews, and Baha'is, 1.1
percent. Slightly more than 90 percent of Muslims were Sunni; the rest were Shi'a. Buddhists included followers of the Mahayana and Hinayana schools, and there were both Roman Catholic and Protestant Christians. Tribal groups (members of indigenous groups historically outside the caste system), which in government statistics generally were included among Hindus, often practiced traditional indigenous religions (animism). Hindus and Muslims were spread throughout the country, although large Muslim populations were found in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala, and Muslims were the majority in Jammu and Kashmir. Christians were concentrated in the northeast, as well as in the southern states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Goa. Three small northeastern states (Nagaland, Mizoram, and Meghalaya) had large Christian majorities. Sikhs were a majority in the state of Punjab.

The country's 200 million dalits (formerly called "untouchables"), constituted 21-25 percent of the population. However, it was difficult to accurately determine how many Indians fell within this category, since the Indian census did not ask respondents for caste status. Over the years, many lower caste Hindus, dalits, and non-Hindu tribal groups converted to other faiths to escape widespread discrimination and achieve higher social status. However, those from lower castes and dalits often continued to be viewed by both their new coreligionists and by Hindus through the prism of caste. Converts were regarded widely as retaining the caste of their ancestors, and caste identity, whether or not acknowledged by a person's own religion, had an effect on marriage prospects, social status, and economic opportunity. Historical stratification structures in the country also affect Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs, resulting in discrimination between coreligionists based on caste.

Immigrants, primarily from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal, practiced various religions and tended to concentrate in the border regions near these countries.

According to the Catholic Bishop's Conference of India, there were approximately one hundred registered foreign Christian missionaries (both Catholic and Protestant) in the country, most over the age of seventy. Buddhist, Muslim, and Hindu missionaries also operated. Foreign rabbis also regularly visited and participated in religious ceremonies for the very small Jewish population, estimated at fewer than 5 thousand individuals.

Section II. Status of Religious Freedom

Legal/Policy Framework

The constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the National Government generally respected this right in practice; however, some state and local governments restricted this freedom.

The country is a secular state with no official religion. The country's political system is federal, according state governments exclusive jurisdiction over law enforcement and the maintenance of order, which has limited the national government's capacity to deal directly with abuses of religious freedom. The country's national law enforcement agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), cannot investigate a crime committed in a state without the state government's permission. However, the national government's law enforcement authorities, in some instances, have intervened to maintain order when state governments were reluctant or unwilling to do so.

The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held power in eight states. Its political platform called for the construction of a Hindu temple on the site of a mosque in Ayodhya destroyed by a Hindu mob in 1992; the repeal of Article 370 of the constitution, which grants special rights to the state of Jammu and Kashmir, the country's only Muslim majority state; the enactment of a Uniform Civil Code that would apply to members of all religious groups; and the enactment of state-level anti-conversion legislation in all states in the country. The BJP was one of a number of offshoots of the Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a Hindu nationalist organization. The BJP, the RSS, and other affiliated organizations (collectively known as the Sangh Parivar) claimed to respect and tolerate other religious groups; however, the RSS in particular opposed conversions from Hinduism and believed that all citizens, regardless of their religious affiliation, should adhere to Hindu cultural values. The RSS has been implicated in incidents of violence and discrimination against Christians and Muslims.

The NHRC and the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) are governmental bodies created to investigate allegations of discrimination and make recommendations for redress to the relevant local or national government authorities. Although NHRC recommendations do not have the force of law, central and local authorities generally follow them.

In January 2006, in an effort to build bridges with minority communities, the UPA Government set up a Ministry for Minority Affairs and appointed former Maharashtra Chief Minister, A. R. Antulay, as its first minister. The ministry's charter included overall policy planning, coordination, evaluation and review of the Government's regulatory and developmental programs intended to benefit minority communities.

The NCM and NHRC intervened in several high profile cases, including the 2002 anti-Muslim violence in Gujarat and other instances of communal tension, the enactment of anti-conversion legislation in several states, and incidents of harassment and violence against minorities.

Although religious groups were not required to register with the Government, all foreigners, including missionaries, must register with the local police station before working in the country.

A number of federal and state laws regulate religious life in the country. These include the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) of 1976, several state anti-conversion laws, the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act of 1967, the Religious Institutions (Prevention of Misuse) Act of 1988, India's Foreigners Act of 1946, and the Indian Divorce Act of 1869.

The Government may ban religious organizations that provoke intercommunity friction, have been involved in terrorism or sedition, or have violated the FCRA, which restricts the disbursement of foreign funds to missionaries and religious organizations, both foreign and local. Some organizations complained that the FCRA prevented them from properly financing humanitarian and educational activities.

The states of Arunchal Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Orissa have laws against forcible conversions. Gujarat and Tamil Nadu have inactive anti-conversion laws or bills awaiting accompanying regulations needed for enforcement. In 2006, the Rajasthan state assembly passed a law against forcible conversion, which is pending approval by the governor and cabinet. However, the National Government can intervene to prevent states from taking action if it determines that such moves pose a threat to national integrity and communal harmony or violate the spirit of the constitution.

The Orissa Freedom of Religion Act of 1967 requires the state government to submit a monthly report specifying the number of conversions that have taken place in the state. It also requires that potential converts inform the district magistrate of pending conversions and that local police officers conduct an inquiry to determine whether a proposed conversion is legitimate and submit a report to state authorities. There were no reports of district magistrates denying permission for conversions or of convictions under OFRA during the period covered by this report.

Under current provisions in Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, a conversion offense is punishable with imprisonment for a maximum of two years, and a maximum fine of $220 (10 thousand INR).

The Gujarat anti-conversion law prohibits conversion by force or allurement; however, the law had not been implemented by the end of the period covered in this report.

On March 26, 2006, the Rajasthan State Assembly passed an anti-conversion bill, which continued to await approval by the state governor and ratification by the state cabinet. At the end of the reporting period, the bill could not be implemented since the governor had sent the bill to the president of the country for comment. The
proposed law prohibits "conversion from one religion to another by the use of force or allurement or by other fraudulent means," and defines allurement as "any gift or gratification, either cash or kind."

Reportedly, there were approximately twenty arrests in Madhya Pradesh under the state's anti-conversion law during the reporting period. There were no convictions and all those arrested were released on bail. There were no available official figures for other states; however, reports from faith-based NGOs and the media indicated that there were four arrests in Andra Pradesh, fourteen in Chhattisgarh, twenty-eight in Madhya Pradesh, two in Orissa, and one in Uttar Pradesh during the period covered by this report.

In November 2004, the Government amended the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) of 1967 to correct excesses contained in the controversial Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), often criticized by Muslim groups as a tool used to target them. Despite its 2004 repeal, POTA contains a sunset feature, which gives the Central POTA Review Committee a year to review all existing POTA cases. This clause allows the Government to make new arrests if they are tied to existing POTA cases. The Government can issue a new indictment on a case opened years ago under POTA, even against a person never previously associated with the case. It can also extend the one-year limit for reviews. The UAPA empowers the Government to ban religious organizations that provoke intercommunity friction, have been involved in terrorism or sedition, or violated the 1976 FCRA. The UAPA was applied intermittently and no religious organizations were banned under UAPA during the reporting
period.

The Religious Institutions (Prevention of Misuse) Act of 1988 makes it an offense to use any religious site for political purposes or to harbor persons accused or convicted of crimes.

Since 2000, Uttar Pradesh's "Religious Buildings and Places Bill" has required a permit endorsed by the state government before the construction of any religious building.

Legislation in West Bengal requires a district magistrate's permission before the construction of a place of worship.

The Tamil Nadu Government continued to actively work to strengthen Hindu institutions. In 2005, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa extended the government-aided free meal program to include Christian churches. Previously, it was limited to Hindu temples and mosques.

There is no national law barring a citizen or foreigner from professing or propagating religious beliefs; however, speaking publicly against other beliefs is deemed dangerous to public order and is prohibited by the country's Foreigners Act. This act strictly prohibits visitors on tourist visas from religious preaching without permission from the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Government forbids foreign missionaries of any faith from entering the country without prior clearance, and expels those who perform missionary work without the correct visa. Long-established foreign missionaries generally can renew their visas, but the Government has not admitted new resident foreign missionaries since the mid-1960s.

A number of cable and satellite television networks dedicated to religious programming operated in the country without difficulty.

In an attempt to combat communal violence, the Government introduced the Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation of Victims) Bill of 2005 on November 26. If passed, the bill would double fines and prison terms, allocate funds for rehabilitation, and provide compensation to victims.

On May 5, 2005, to prevent communal forces from upsetting peace and harmony, parliament amended the Code of Criminal Procedure, Section 144 to allow district magistrates to ban the use of trishuls in any procession or gathering. In 2003, the Congress-led government in Rajasthan banned trishul distribution, while allowing their use in religious places and functions.

The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989 lists offenses against disadvantaged persons and provides for stiff penalties for offenders; however, this act has had only a modest effect in curbing abuse due to victims' fears of retaliation if they accused high-caste members of committing atrocities. Intercaste violence was especially pronounced in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh, and reportedly claimed hundreds of lives. Human rights NGOs alleged that caste violence, which crossed religious lines, remained at prior years' levels.

Article 17 of the constitution outlawed untouchability in 1950 and the Government continued to implement "reservations" for dalits in public sector employment and education. There were more than 50 percent "reservation" in some areas.

According to a 2004 NCM report, 24 percent of government jobs were reserved for members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, including dalits. Benefits accorded dalits were revoked once they converted to Christianity or Islam, but not to Buddhism or Sikhism.

Christian groups filed a court case demanding that converts to Christianity and Islam enjoy the same access to "reservations" as other dalits. The case was appealed to the supreme court, which had not ruled by the end of the period covered by this report.

On January 4, 2006, the supreme court upheld an earlier high court decision to provide a five percent quota for Muslims in education and government jobs in Andra Pradesh. The new "reservations" increased the number of reserved jobs and positions in educational institutions to 51 percent and excluded Muslims who had already benefited from "reservations" or who were successful in their own right. Previously, the state had added Muslims to its list of backward classes, which included castes and classes not included in the constitution that,
while not subject to systematic caste discrimination, have less social mobility and economic advantages than other castes. This category included former untouchables who converted from Hinduism to other religions, nomads, and tribes people.

Although the constitution specifies that the Buddhist, Jain, and Sikh faiths are different from the Hindu religion, interpretations by Hindu nationalist groups have defined them as Hindu sects. Such interpretations have been contentious, particularly for the Sikh community, many of whose leaders viewed Sikhism as a unique religion,
distinct from Hinduism. Sikhs have sought a separately codified body of law to recognize this distinction legally and preclude ambiguity. The supreme court rejected the inclusion of Jains under the NCM Act, stating that the practice of adding new religious groups as minorities should be discouraged, although the NCM in May 2006 stated again that Jains and Kashmiri Pandits should be accorded minority status. The court decreed that increasing social divisions along religious lines would be detrimental, and the country, which was already heavily stratified by class, should attempt to move away from such separation.

There are different personal status laws for the various minority religious communities, and the legal system accommodates religion-specific laws in matters of marriage, divorce, adoption, and inheritance. Muslim personal status law governs many non-criminal matters, including family law and inheritance.

On May 2, 2005, in response to concerns about the improper use of the triple talaq (the ability of a husband to divorce his wife by repeating, "I divorce thee" three times), the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) adopted new talaq guidelines, stating that men should use a reversible single talaq followed by a three-month waiting period known as the iddat. The guidelines also call for the husband to pay compensation to the wife's family in case of divorce, equality in property rights, protection against physical and emotional abuse of wives by their husbands, and assurances that remarried women will be able to maintain contact with their families.

In April 2006, the supreme court overruled a fatwa (decree) issued by local clerics which demanded that, against their will, a couple live separately after an inebriated husband gave talaq to his wife. The Jamiat ul Ulema (religious leaders) threatened to excommunicate the couple if they remained together, and criticized the supreme court for hurting Muslim religious sentiments after it intervened in the case.

The AIMPLB asserted that fatwas are only opinions and therefore are not binding on any person in an attempt to convince the supreme court that a legal prohibition against the issuance of fatwas was not necessary.

The Indian Divorce Act of 2001 limits inheritance, alimony payments, and property ownership of persons from interfaith marriages and prohibits their use of churches to celebrate marriage ceremonies in which one party is a non-Christian. Clergymen who contravene its provisions could face up to ten years' imprisonment. However, the act does not bar interfaith marriages in other places of worship.

The Government permits private religious schools, but does not permit religious instruction in government schools. The supreme court ruled that the Government can prescribe merit-based admission for religious colleges that receive public funding, while those that do not may use their own criteria, including religious affiliation.

Many Hindu sects have established their own schools, although they did not receive aid from the state. Most Islamic madrassahs did not accept government aid, alleging that it would subject them to stringent security clearance requirements.

In 2003, the West Bengal Government brought the undergraduate and post-graduate sections of madrassahs under the higher education department of the state while promising to extend college status to the Calcutta Madrassah. The Government also decreed that the state's Public Service Commission would hire madrassah teachers and introduced new subjects like economics, computer science, and political science into their curriculum.

In the country, school textbooks were published by the Government's National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT) and were uniformly used in government and private schools and printed in various languages. In March 2005, the Government released new NCERT textbooks which they asserted were more accurate and restored the secular character of education.

In June 2004, an NCERT panel reviewed forty-seven new textbooks prepared by the Directorate of Education in Delhi and determined that they had poor content, shoddy presentation, and significant amounts of irrelevant information. It recommended that the books not be introduced until the defects were corrected, which, according to NCERT, would be ready by the 2007-2008 academic year. NCERT, upon a recommendation from the NCM, also withdrew four textbooks during the year for "factual distortions."

In July 2005, the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) released a report on textbooks used in schools that did not follow the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) syllabus and were not approved by NCERT. The report stated that some textbooks used in private schools affiliated with religious bodies propagated a narrow, often communal view of the world. In October 2005, the Human Resource Development Ministry proposed the creation of a National Textbook Council to monitor school textbooks produced outside of the NCERT system. By the end of the reporting period, the council had not been formed.

On December 16, 2004, parliament passed a bill creating the National Commission for Minority Education Institutions to resolve disputes involving allegations of discrimination against minority schools. In March 28, 2006, a legislative act empowered the commission to investigate complaints regarding violations of minority rights, including the right to establish and administer educational institutions.

The Government maintained a list of banned books that may not be imported or sold in the country because they contain material that governmental censors deem inflammatory and could provoke communal or religious tensions. In March and April 2006, the Rajasthan Government banned the books Haqeeqat (The Truth) and Ve Sharm Se Hindu Kahate Hain Kyon? (Why do they say with shame they are Hindus?) because they disparaged Hinduism.

In September 2005, the Calcutta High Court lifted the ban on Split in Two in response to a petition by the Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR).

The board continued to refuse a censor certificate to the film Chand Buz Gaya, featuring a character resembling controversial Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

The major holy days of the country's major religious groups are considered national holidays, including Good Friday and Christmas (Christian); the two Eids (Muslim); Lord Buddha's birthday (Buddhist); Guru Nanak's Birthday (Sikh); Dussehra, Diwali and Holi (Hindu); and the Birthday of Lord Mahavir (Jain).

Restrictions on Religious Freedom

No religious organizations were banned under UAPA during the reporting period. The Government renewed the ban on the Student Islamic Movement of India in February 2006 for the third time. In 2001, the Government banned the Muslim group Deendar Anjuman for "fomenting communal tension" and actions "prejudicial to India's security." In 2003, the Government extended the ban for another two years, and in 2005, extended it until 2007.

In April 2006, the Government of Gujarat refused to renew the service contract of five Catholic nuns, whose order had been caring for lepers in a government hospital for fifty-seven years.

Legislation in West Bengal requires a district magistrate's permission before construction of a place of worship. Anyone intending to convert a personal place of worship into a public one is also required to obtain the district magistrate's permission.

Unlike in previous years, there were no reports of widespread distribution of trishuls, a Hindu symbol that was sometimes used to intimidate non-Hindus. In May 2005, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal handed out approximately 500 trishuls at a ceremony in Nimapara, Orissa.

In 2005, the Kerala Bar Council's Enrollment Committee denied membership to two nuns and a priest, arguing that it could not grant membership to those in religious vocations. The Kerala High Court ruled against the committee on November 7, 2005, stating that religious vocation could not disqualify an individual from practicing law.

The Congress Party of Assam set aside thirty-four state assembly tickets for Muslim candidates during the period covered by this report. In January 2005, the Assam Congress Minority Cell demanded that the party allot at least three additional tickets to Christian candidates. Christians comprised 4 percent of Assam's population and had no "reservations."

In 2003, the Tamil Nadu Government ordered the Christian Medical College of Vellore to accept government-sponsored candidates into 40 percent of its school seats, in violation of constitutional guarantees given to unaided minority institutions. The supreme court, while permitting the hospital to follow its prior admission policy, directed the Government of Tamil Nadu to form a committee to look into the question of admission procedures followed by privately funded minority education institutions. In 2004, the state government constituted a committee, but the supreme court had not issued a verdict by the end of the reporting period.

In January 2005, the Gujarat Charity Commissioner sent letters mainly to Christian faith-based charities asking for their financial statements from the preceding ten years, claiming that he was acting at the behest of the Government of Gujarat. The law governing charities only requires the submission of annual reports. Most charities objected to the measure and were excused.

Unlike in previous years, the Gujarat police conducted no illegal surveys of Christians during the period covered by this report.

During the period covered by this report, press reports documented the activities of Christian missionaries who entered on tourist visas and illegally proselytized. Their activities led to a public outcry and calls for the Government to enforce existing laws more rigidly. U.S. citizens accused of religious preaching while visiting the country as tourists were expelled and faced difficulties obtaining permission to return for up to a decade after the event.

On June 11, 2005, residents of a slum in a Mumbai suburb assaulted four missionaries leading a vacation Bible school. The four departed the country on June 12. No formal charges were filed for the assault or against the missionaries for violating the FCRA. On June 13, four other missionaries with tourist rather than missionary visas were deported for conducting religious activities.

On October 18, 2005, the Times of India reported that a mob attacked two Americans in the Antantnag district of Kashmir who were preaching Christianity. Police intervened and rescued them.

Workers from Christian relief organizations continued to report that bureaucratic obstacles prevented them from renewing their visas.

Missionaries and foreign religious organizations must comply with the FCRA, which limits overseas assistance to certain NGOs, including ones with religious affiliations. There were no reports of religious-based relief operations related to the 2004 tsunami being hampered by the requirement.

Abuses of Religious Freedom

While the National Government has not been implicated in abuses of religious freedom, human rights activists criticized it for alleged indifference and inaction in the face of abuses committed by state and local authorities and private citizens. Weak enforcement of laws protecting religious freedom was partly due to an overburdened, outmoded, and corrupt judiciary. The legal system had many years of backlog, and all but the most prominent cases moved slowly.

A federal system in which state governments have jurisdiction over law and order within their borders contributed to the National Government's ineffectiveness in combating religiously based violence directly. The
only national law enforcement agency, the CBI, is required to secure state government permission before investigating a crime in the affected state. States often delayed or refused to grant such permission.

Although discrimination based on caste is officially illegal, it remained ubiquitous, stratifying almost every segment of society. Many members of lower castes were relegated to the most menial of jobs and had little social mobility, although a segment of the lower castes had achieved success in many fields of endeavor. Some dalits and other low caste members converted in an attempt to escape caste-based discrimination.

In October 2004, Amnesty International (AI) called for the perpetrators of the 1984 anti-Sikh violence that occurred after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards to be brought to justice. AI stated that only a small minority of police officers responsible for the 1984 human rights violations had been prosecuted.

In 2004, persons involved in the 1984 riots were sentenced to three years' imprisonment for looting. In May 2005, a Delhi court sentenced five individuals to life imprisonment for murder and, also in May, the Delhi High Court ruled that the Government was liable for its failure to "protect the life and liberty of its citizens" and must pay $2,860 (123,000 INR) to all persons injured during the riots, an increase from the previous amount of $46 (2,000 INR) per victim. In another riot-related case which had not come to trial by the end of reporting period, on June 28, 2005, a Delhi city court charged five men for stabbing a Sikh policeman, his son, and another relative.

The Nanavati commission, tasked with conducting a re-inquiry into the massacre, released its report in August 2005. It cited several prominent Congress party leaders for complicity in the violence and highlighted law enforcement culpability in the deaths due to a deliberate lack of action. It noted that only one policeman was convicted for committing atrocities during the riots. Minister Jagdish Tytler and Member of Parliament Sajjan Kumar were indicted in the report. Tytler resigned from parliament and Kumar resigned from the Delhi Rural Development Board after its release, but at year's end no formal punishment resulted from the report. The Government set up two committees to provide compensation to the victims' families. However, during the reporting period, the NCM criticized the Government for failure to open cases against Tytler, Kumar, or any police officers on duty during the riots.

The Home Ministry reported that a communal riot, which took place between May and October 2005 in Mau, Uttar Pradesh, left seven persons dead and thirty-six injured, including eight police officers. On October 17, 2005, the Uttar Pradesh Government convened a three-member committee to determine the cause of the riots. On October 19, 2005, the police filed charges against BJP politicians Mukhtar Ansari and Ramji Singh for inciting communal discord. The Government instituted a curfew on the town and directed paramilitary forces to the area to stop the violence. On November 20, 2005, the committee reported that BJP Member of Parliament Yogi Adityanath had a role in instigating the communal clashes, but no charges were filed against him by the end of the period covered by this report.

Outbreaks of politically-manipulated religious tension in Uttar Pradesh and Vadodara, Gujarat, in early 2006 did not spread after police and state authorities took timely steps to end the violence and curb mob actions.

In April 2006, communal clashes between Hindu and Muslim residents of Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, stemming from the use of loudspeakers during a religious festival resulted in two deaths and eight injuries. An NCM investigation determined that the Uttar Pradesh administration initially did not take appropriate steps to prevent the violence. The police have launched a judicial inquiry.

On May 1, 2006, despite the Muslim community's request that authorities preserve a 300-year-old shrine in Vadodara, Gujarat, and declare it a heritage site, the Vadodara Municipal Corporation demolished the shrine, alleging that it obstructed traffic. While attempting to disperse a mob that had gathered to protest the demolition, the Gujarat police killed two Muslims. In reaction, members of the Muslim community threw stones and set four shops on fire. On May 1, 2006, the Home Ministry asked the Gujarat Government to control the situation, and deployed paramilitary forces to assist local security personnel. On May 3, 2006, the Government applied a curfew and deployed the army. The NCM urged the state government to ascertain if police firing was
unavoidable and if the decision to destroy the shrine was justified. The media reported that six persons were killed and forty-two injured, sixteen as a result of police fire, and that on May 3, 2006, a crowd defying the curfew killed a Muslim man by setting him on fire.

In February 2005, activists from the Hindu nationalist Bajrang Dal attacked and beat a group of Christians in Kota, Rajasthan, while attending a Christian graduation ceremony, and subsequently set up checkpoints to harass Christians attempting to leave by bus. The victims claimed that the local government sided with the attackers, and allowed assaults against 275 persons. The district government stated it ended the harassment and arrested thirty-seven Bajrang Dal members. A two-person NCM team investigated the incident and negotiated a peace agreement.

In February 2006, members of the Bajrang Dal and Shiv Sena forced their way into a church belonging to Emmanuel Ministries International (EMI), a Christian charitable institution, in Kota, Rajasthan, and burned an
effigy of its founder on the rooftop. Local Hindus alleged that EMI used monetary inducements and charity to encourage conversions and distributed the book, Haqeeqat, (The Truth) to denigrate Hinduism. Hindu nationalists in Rajasthan publicized the alleged connection between EMI, the offensive book, and conversions, and pressed for anti-conversion legislation in the state assembly.

EMI officials asserted that, while their library had a copy of Haqeeqat , they did not condone its offensive message and have since removed the book. Numerous sources in Rajasthan contradicted EMI's claim regarding
the book and asserted that EMI deliberately distributed it widely. Authorities held EMI President Samuel Thomas in judicial custody from March 17 to May 2, 2006, when he was released on bail, under a law that criminalizes hurting the religious sentiments of any religion. Thomas was later charged with sedition on May 14, 2006, for the use of a map on an EMI affiliated website that did not include Jammu and Kashmir as part of the country. EMI asserted that the charges constituted ongoing harassment by the state government.

In February 2006, the Rajasthan state Government froze all EMI assets, citing the group for its failure to properly file its tax documents. However, on June 26, 2006, the Jaipur High Court overturned the state government's actions and ruled that all EMI bank accounts be opened. Human rights groups noted that such tax errors were commonplace.

Religious press outlets reported that on June 15, 2006, in Kasa, Maharashtra, policemen verbally and physically abused four tribal Christians who tried to follow up on a First Information Report (FIR) lodged on June 8, 2006. The FIR alleged that members of the local Tribal Welfare Committee assaulted Christians. Subsequently, the four were charged with breach of the peace. Following a complaint by a human rights organization, a police inquiry into the case was ordered, resulting in the removal of one police officer. No further action had been taken by the end of the period covered by this report.

Religious press outlets reported that on April 16, 2006, in Bathinda, Punjab, a group of approximately five Hindu extremists led by the RSS broke up an Easter Day event at the home of a member of the "House of Prayer," an independent Christian denomination, warning its members not to hold further meetings and vandalizing some of the property. When the pastor attempted to register a FIR, the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) reprimanded him for his Christian activities and told him that he required permission from the district magistrate to hold this event. On May 4, 2006, after Delhi All-India Christian Council (AICC) leaders contacted the superintendent, he recanted and permitted the services. Two Shiv Sena members and another man were arrested for the raid, but were released the same day.

In the Balmikinagar jungles bordering Nepal, police and the RSS accused missionaries and Oraon tribal Christians of "links" with the Maoist Communist Center (MCC). As a result, in June 2005, police detained and questioned two priests regarding alleged MCC ties, while ordering others to leave the area. During the previous reporting period, police detained more than one hundred Oraon tribespeople, expelling a number of them from the area. There were no reports of further detentions during the year.

There was continued concern about the failure of the Gujarat Government to arrest and convict those responsible for the widespread communal violence in 2002 following the burning in Godhra of the Sabarmati Express train, in which fifty-nine men, women, and children died. Home Ministry figures released in May 2005 indicated that, in the days following the train burning, 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus were killed, and 2,500 others were injured. Some NGOs maintained the number of Muslims killed was higher than official estimates, with figures ranging anywhere from 1,000 to 2,500 dead. There were also reports that Muslim women were subjected to rape, gang rape, and molestation. Reportedly, approximately 10 thousand families continued to be internally displaced and government-provided services remained inadequate.

In March 2006, a government-established commission headed by Justice Banerjee determined that the train fire was an accident rather than a criminal conspiracy, as alleged by the Government of Gujarat. The report categorically ruled out a Muslim conspiracy, noting that local Muslims helped douse the fire. The commission also reported that the then railway minister and the Railway Safety Commission failed to adequately investigate the possibility that the fire was accidental. The Gujarat Government rejected the report, and the VHP accused the
Banerjee Commission of political bias. Legal challenges to the commission still pending in the Gujarat High Court have prevented the release of its report to parliament.

The Government of Gujarat established the Nanavati-Shah judicial commission to investigate the train fire and the subsequent violence, but the supreme court stayed its report in May and by the end of the period covered by this report, the report had not been made public.

In February 2006, in response to a supreme court inquiry, the state government ordered the reopening of 1,242 of 2,108 cases that the Government had dropped because it could not substantiate the charges. The Gujarat police pledged to reinvestigate 1,600 cases. The total number of cases registered in connection with the Gujarat violence was 4,256.

According to the Gujarat police chief, the Gujarat police registered 13 new riot-related cases and arrested 640 accused between August 2004 and February 2006. However, accused individuals were acquitted in several more cases during the reporting period because of lack of evidence or changes in testimony.

In 2005, the Government of Gujarat established "fast track" courts to overcome delays and ensure access to justice for riot victims, resulting in some convictions. On October 24, 2005, five persons were sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of a Muslim youth in Halol and for the murder of eleven Muslims in the Panchmahal district of Gujarat during the riot period. Others were sentenced to three years' imprisonment and ordered to pay a fine of $11 (500 INR) each. A local court acquitted 107 of 113 persons arrested for killing 2 Muslims in the post-Godhra riots and, in February 2006, a local court indicted 39 police officers for riot-related conduct.

In April 2004, the supreme court ordered the retrial of the Bilkis Bano case and Best Bakery case in Mumbai courts outside the purview of the Government of Gujarat. It also stayed the trial of ten other major cases until the two retrials were completed. There were no developments in the Bilkis Bano case during the period covered by this report and on February 24, 2006, a special court in Mumbai convicted nine persons of the murder of fourteen Muslims in the Best Bakery case and sentenced them to life in prison. The court acquitted another eight accused in connection with the case.

Many human rights groups continued to argue that, despite the Best Bakery verdict, those responsible for the 2002 Gujarat violence would go unpunished.

On June 22, 2005, Central POTA Review Committee recommended that POTA charges be dropped against many Muslims in connection with the Gujarat violence due to insufficient evidence; however, at the end of the reporting period the charges were still in effect.

Unlike in previous years, there were no reports of intimidation and harassment of witnesses during the reporting period.

In March 2005, Gujarat police detained at least 400 persons to prevent Hindu-Muslim clashes during the Shi'ite Muslim day of mourning (Muharram); the same month, Muslims called off a Muharram procession in Vadodara to prevent potential clashes with Hindus. No updates on these events were available during the reporting period.

Since an organized insurgency erupted in Jammu and Kashmir in 1989, there have been numerous reports of human rights abuses by security forces and local officials, including execution-style killings, beatings, rapes, and other physical abuse. Terrorist groups have also perpetrated atrocities against civilians, including car bombings,
forced housing of terrorists, executions, and sexual assaults. Retaliatory killings by terrorists were also common. Terrorists have also routinely targeted and killed minority Hindu members of the Pandit (Hindu Brahmin) community since 1989, resulting in their mass exodus from Kashmir to refugee camps in Jammu or other parts of the country. On April 30 and May 1, 2006, terrorists rounded up and shot thirty-five Hindu residents of remote Jammu villages. The executions were allegedly punishment for the villagers' participation in the April 24, 2006, state assembly elections.

Government forces denied allegations of excessive use of force and asserted that they targeted persons not on the basis of religion but of involvement in terrorist activity or suspicion of terrorist links. For their part, terrorists killed and otherwise attacked hundreds of Hindu and Muslim civilians, including Kashmiri Muslims and Hindus, during the period covered by this report.

It remained difficult to separate religion and politics in Kashmir; Kashmiri separatists were predominantly Muslim, and almost all the higher ranks as well as most of the lower ranks in the Indian military forces stationed there were non-Muslim. The vast majority of the Jammu and Kashmir police force of 61 thousand was Muslim. Kashmiri Hindus remained vulnerable to violence. Most lived in refugee camps outside of the valley awaiting safe return. In 2003, for the first time in fourteen years, the Jammu and Kashmir Government allowed a procession of separatist groups to mark the anniversary of the Birth of the Prophet Muhammad. It was held again in May 2004 and 2005.

Forced Religious Conversion

Four states have laws in place banning forced religious conversion. Three other states have inactive laws or bills that await accompanying regulations before they can be enforced. Some NGOs claimed state governments used these laws to restrict voluntary conversions and to harass religious minorities. The issue of conversion, especially to Christianity, was highly contentious in the country. Hindu nationalist organizations frequently alleged that Christian missionaries lured Hindus, particularly from lower castes, with offers of free education and healthcare and equated such actions with forced conversions. Christians denied this, responding that low-caste Hindus convert of their own free will and that efforts by Hindu groups to "re-convert" these new Christians to Hinduism were themselves coercive. Arrests under these laws occurred during the reporting period in several states. All arrested were Christians. The Christian community contended that the anti-conversion laws were applied in a discriminatory manner and only enforced when a person converted from Hinduism to another religion.

Religious press outlets reported that, in August 2004, Pastor Subas Samal and an associate were arrested under Orissa's anti-conversion law and spent six weeks in jail after leading a group of Christians in Orissa back to their village, from which they had been expelled by their non-Christian neighbors. The pastor claimed he had attempted to end the conflict and had never forced anyone to convert.

In February 2005, the NCM urged the Governments of Rajasthan and Maharashtra to immediately stop forced reconversions of Christians and to protect Christians and their property. The action was in response to an attack on Christians in Kota and calls by "Hindutva" supporters for a social boycott against Christians who refused to reconvert.

On May 1, 2005, the press reported that the VHP in Bargarh, Orissa, reconverted 567 Christians. The reconverted reportedly had signed affidavits declaring their intention to change their faith in keeping with the provisions of the Orissa Freedom of Religion Act. A Christian community leader in Orissa asserted that the reconversion was not genuine and was staged by the VHP to keep the communal issue alive. Religious press reported that approximately 600 Christian dalit tribespeople converted to Hinduism in Bijepur, Orissa, due to VHP pressure.

On May 14, 2005, four Christian missionaries were arrested in Brajarajnagar, Orissa, and charged with forced conversion. They accused the missionaries of using offers of financial assistance to propagate Christianity. The missionaries had not received permission to perform conversions in the area, but were released the following day.

Religious press outlets reported that on July 10, 2005, police detained thirty-five members of the Gosner Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ambikapur, Chhattisgarh, for performing forced conversions. All were released on July 11, 2005, but a FIR was filed against two women.

Religious press outlets reported that on July 19, 2005, police arrested a Christian couple under the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act (MPFRA) after their neighbors accused them of engaging in "fraudulent conversion" activities. They released the couple on bail within twenty-four hours and were awaiting trial at the end of the period covered by this report. On August 21, 2005, a mob targeting the couple injured approximately ten persons, including women and a two-year old child.

Religious press outlets reported that on September 26, 2005, the pastor and eight members of a church in Durg, Chhattisgarh, were convicted of fraudulent conversion activities for offering money to Hindus willing to convert.

Religious press outlets reported that on October 11, 2005, police arrested Sunny John under MPFRA for allegedly engaging in fraudulent conversions of children from poor Hindu families. John, who runs three schools, was accused of converting eleven children between the ages of five and ten.

Religious press outlets reported that on October 15, 2005, Hindu extremists attacked the annual convention of a church in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, alleging that the organizers had kidnapped tribespeople for conversion. Police interrogated the tribespeople, who denied the reports. Police did not press charges.

Religious press outlets reported that on November 18, 2005, police arrested Pastor Masih Das Rai under the Freedom of Religion Act for performing forcible conversions in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. Members of a Hindu extremist group attacked the pastor and twelve members of his church prior to the arrest. Despite two applications for bail, Pastor Rai remained in police custody at the end of the period covered by this report.

Religious press outlets reported that on January 16, 2006, approximately fifteen Hindu extremists attacked Pastor Kulamani Mallick, his wife, and child, and set fire to their home in Matiapada, Orissa. The extremists beat other Christians in the village and destroyed seven houses, six of which belonged to Christians. Pastor Mallick and his cousin were subsequently arrested under the Orissa Freedom of Religion Act. Five men were charged with starting the fires and destroying property.

Religious press outlets reported that on January 24, 2006, a group of up to 200 Hindu extremists assaulted Pastor Ram Prakash and a number of others for allegedly converting local persons to Christianity in Ramchandrapur, Uttar Pradesh. Prakash was arrested when he called the police to report the attack. Reportedly, he was beaten while in police custody. Prakash was released on bail, but was rearrested for encouraging communal tension.

Religious press outlets reported that on January 26, 2006, police arrested three Christian leaders belonging to the Church of the Nazarene in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, under MPFRA, and charged them with forced conversion of tribespeople. According to an NGO, the arrests were based on the affidavits of twenty-three non-Christian tribespeople asserting that they were forced by the leaders to attend a Christian convention. The NGO contended that the affidavits were themselves coerced by the police.

Religious press outlets reported that on March 17, 2006, a group of men interrupted a prayer meeting in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, reportedly questioning the participants, injuring six and "sexually molesting" female trainees. The attackers were also alleged to have destroyed Bibles and damaged property. Police detained five attackers, who were later released on bail, and registered a case against the sponsor under MPFRA.

Religious press outlets reported that on April 5, 2006, in Naudara Bridge, Madhya Pradesh, a Methodist high school was attacked by extremists who accused the staff of forced conversions after a former teacher filed a case of forcible conversion against three staff members. The Madhya Pradesh State Minorities Commission determined the accusation to be false.

Religious press outlets reported that on April 7, 2006, in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, extremists beat approximately twenty-five Christians protesting the arrest of seven Christians under MPFRA. The attackers reportedly injured at least seven Christians while police watched. No action was taken against the perpetrators.

The AICC reported on April 20, 2006, that police arrested two Christian women for attempting to convert persons in the Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh. The local superintendent of police alleged that the two women were distributing material urging Hindus to follow the Bible. The Christian press also reported that on April 18, 2006, police arrested Avinash Lal, an independent Pentecostal pastor, and six other Christian leaders in the same Madhya Pradesh district for conversion by allurement and conducting illegal religious gatherings.

Religious press outlets reported that on May 1, 2006, in Gwarighat, Madhya Pradesh, police arrested a social worker, Sunil Kumar Rao, of forcibly converting children to Christianity in violation of the state anti-conversion law. He was released on bail.

Religious press outlets reported that on May 2, 2006, in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, assailants attacked Pastor Andreas Soni, a Pentecostal pastor, as he distributed Christian literature. Subsequently, the police arrested him under the state anti-conversion law. He was later released on bail.

Religious press outlets reported that on May 14, 2006, in Gaur Nadi, Madhya Pradesh, approximately fifty members of the Dharam Jagran Sena attacked a church, beat a church member who had just converted to Christianity, assaulted the pastor, and ordered him to stop converting persons to Christianity. The attackers accused the church of undertaking forcible conversions and filed a formal complaint against the pastor at the police station. He was detained under MPFRA and was released after local Christians paid his bail fee.

Religious press outlets reported that on June 18, 2006, in Kosa Nala, Chhattisgarh, approximately twenty-five members of the Dharam Jagran Sena raided the Hosanna Church during a service and physically assaulted Pastor David Raj and his wife. The assailants then took the pastor to the police station where police detained him and arrested his wife, charging them with forced conversions. The couple was released on bail but had to report regularly to the police for the duration of their case, which was still pending by the end of the period covered by this report.

Religious press outlets reported that on June 25, 2006, in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, a large mob threatened four Missionaries of Charity nuns distributing food to impoverished patients at the Ruya Hospital and accused them of converting persons to Christianity. Police subsequently arrested the four nuns and released them after several hours at the behest of the local diocesan bishop. A case was registered against those who threatened the nuns.

Persecution by Terrorist Organizations

Throughout the period covered by this report, Jammu and Kashmir continued to be a focus of terrorist violence. Terrorist adherents to a violent strain of Islam committed atrocities against Hindus and other Muslims, and security forces used targeted but at times excessive force to suppress them, with civilians frequently the main victims. The deaths of suspected terrorists, almost all of whom were Muslim, occurred frequently in police custody, although the government of Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad was working to improve human rights practices. Islamist terrorists forced the overwhelming majority of Hindu Kashmiri Pandits to flee their ancestral homes in the Kashmir Valley in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Although 6,000 Pandits remained, more than several hundred thousand have left since violence against Hindus began in Jammu and Kashmir in the late 1980s. During the conflict, terrorists demolished ancient Hindu temples, destroyed religious artifacts, and desecrated Hindu religious sites throughout the Kashmir valley.

In May 2005, terrorists threw grenades at a Christian school in Srinagar, killing two women and wounding sixty persons, including twenty-five children.

On May 22, 2005, militants detonated bombs at two movie theaters in New Delhi, killing one and injuring sixty during the screening of the Hindi film Jo Bole So Nihal. Sikh groups objected to the film, stating that it negatively portrayed members of their religion. On May 31, 2005, police announced the arrest of two Sikhs in Punjab on suspicion of carrying out the attacks. Police reported that the two men were members of the Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) terrorist group.

On July 5, 2005, suspected Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LET) terrorists attacked a makeshift Hindu temple erected amidst the ruins of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. Indian security forces protecting the site killed all the attackers.

Terrorists bombed the Jama Masjid, the country's largest mosque located in Old Delhi, injuring approximately a dozen persons in two explosions that took place in quick succession on April 16, 2006. No group claimed responsibility.

LET terrorists killed at least thirty-five Hindus on April 30 and May 1, 2006, in Jammu and Kashmir. Terrorists struck two remote Hindu-dominated mountain villages in Doda district, some 100 miles northeast of Jammu, and shot and killed twenty-two Hindus. On the same day, the bodies of nine Hindus were recovered from neighboring Udhampur district. Police stated the dead were Hindu cattle herders reportedly kidnapped by suspected terrorists on April 30, 2006.

Improvements and Positive Developments in Respect for Religious Freedom

During the reporting period, the UPA introduced legislation that would give New Delhi the power to intervene in states in which the Government refuses to take strong measures to end communal outbreaks. The UPA also acted to increase the powers of the human rights commission to investigate abuse cases.

The Government acted forcibly to prosecute those responsible for the Godhra attacks and win proper compensation for the victims of the Delhi anti-Sikh riots.

After the Mumbai terrorist attacks, the prime minister and others deliberately stated that it was not a case of "Muslim terrorism," told the nation to respect and protect innocent Muslims, and praised Muslims for their patriotism.

The Government acted systematically to remove "tainted" textbooks with communal bias from schools and introduce secular, more objective textbooks that seriously examine atrocities committed against minorities in the country.

In Rajasthan, opposition parties marched with Christians and Muslims to protest the BJP-sponsored anti-conversion bill, and the Government condemned it.

Speeches by the prime minister and some state government officials promoted communal harmony and the Government drafted a model comprehensive law to deal with communal violence, appointed activists to high-level positions responsible for minority concerns, created a Commission for Minority Educational Institutions to improve minority access to education, established a national commission to determine effective ways to improve the social welfare of religious minorities, and created a new Ministry for Minority affairs.

The UPA Government continued efforts to make statements and implement campaign promises to improve religious tolerance.

The NHRC and NCM continued to promote freedom of religion during the period covered by this report. Through their annual reports and investigations, they focused attention on human rights problems and, where possible, encouraged judicial resolutions.

In September 2005, the NCM convened a meeting between prominent Hindu and Muslim leaders to promote communal harmony and deepen understanding and trust among their communities.

The NHRC also directed the Gujarat state Government to entrust the investigation of certain Gujarat cases to the CBI, to support NGOs working on behalf of religious minorities and to reform the police.

On May 19, 2005, the Orissa High Court commuted Dara Singh's death sentence to life imprisonment, upheld the life sentence decision for one of his accomplices, Mahendra Hembram, and acquitted the other eleven defendants in the case of the killing of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons. Singh has been charged with three other murders and continued to face trial in those cases. In October 2005, the supreme court accepted an appeal by Dara Singh against his conviction and life sentence, and also accepted the CBI's appeal seeking capital punishment. The supreme court had not heard either appeal by the end of the period covered by this report.

In August 2005, the Government of Maharashtra amended its 2000 State Minorities Commission Bill to stipulate that the commission present its annual report to the state parliament and required parliament to report on actions taken as a result of the commission's findings.

In response to the communal violence in Vadodara, the supreme court on May 4, 2006, overturned a Gujarat High Court order directing all municipal corporations in the state to demolish places of religious worship that were obstructing roads. The supreme court's order stopped the ongoing demolitions in Vadodara in order to prevent the destruction of other mosques and the resulting communal friction. The supreme court argued that the Gujarat court had directed the police and other authorities "to take immediate steps to remove encroachments by religious structures on public space without discrimination, and submit their reports." The Government also noted that the removal of religious structures was intrinsically sensitive, and must be subjected to scrutiny and classification before demolition.

Journalists and numerous NGOs noted that the Government's response to the Vadodara violence was much improved over its 2002 post-Godhra reaction. Journalists noted that the Gujarat Government quickly appealed for peace and local B