No nation can fulfil potential if religious freedom denied:US

Rabbi David Saperstein, the US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, in his keynote address to the inaugural policy conference of the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) said in all countries including the US and India, “holding of fundamental freedom is responsibility of government” and each and every person.

“During her visit to India earlier this year, the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights, Sarah B Sewall, noted that in India more than 170 million Muslims live alongside Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains,” the top American diplomat on international religious freedom said.

“Across India faith communities and civil society organisations are mobilising to challenge religious intolerance,” he noted.

“When some voices openly worry that Indian Muslims would be swayed by Daesh propaganda, (Union) Home Minister (Rajnath) Singh responded by calling the Muslim community patriots and praising the diversity as an enduring trend. That is the kind of leadership we need to see from public officials more of across the globe,” he said.

Religious freedom, Saperstein said, remains a top priority for the Obama Administration.Noting that current challenges of international religious freedom are daunting, the US official said no nation can fulfil its potential if people are denied the right to practice freedom of religion. 

“We apply this principle in bilateral relations with every country in South Asia,” he said in his remarks at HAF, the top Hindu advocacy group for the Hindu community in the US. Of the view that in South Asia, challenges to religious freedom are serious, Saperstein in response to a question said the bulk of what is happening in the region is the bulk of what is happening in America.