Washington: The US has said the democracy in India is "long-standing" but "flawed" with allegations of corruption influencing court decisions, violence in some elections and restrictions on religious and academic freedom.

The US State Department, in its annual report released yesterday (Feb 25, 2004), said the tension between Hindus on the one hand and Muslims and Christians on the other remained a challenge to India's secular formation.

The leading party in the Government coalition, the report noted, is the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party), "a Hindu nationalist political party with links to Hindu extremist groups that were implicated in violent acts against Christians and Muslims".

However, it added, "The BJP is an independent political party and the degree of RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) influence over its policy-making was not clear."

Among India's shortcomings, the report listed violence in some of the elections, allegations that corruption influenced court decisions, police atrocities, atrocities by both Government forces and militants, including foreign militants, in Kashmir and elsewhere and restrictions on religious and academic freedom.

In 71 closely typed pages, the report alleged that it was reported that members of the BJP, the RSS and other affiliated organisations "harassed and at times threatened the use of violence against Christians and Muslims."

"The BJP and RSS officially expressed respect and tolerance for other religions. However, the RSS in particular opposes conversions from Hinduism and believes that all citizens should adhere to Hindu cultural values. The BJP officially agrees that the caste system should be eliminated, but many of its members are ambivalent about this," the report said.

"Tension between Muslims and Hindus and between Hindus and Christians continued to pose a challenge to the secular foundation of the State," the report said.

It said Hindus had also been victims of violence and referred to the bomb attacks in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai last August in which 44 people were killed.

Some Government officials, the report claimed, continued to advocate "saffronising", or raising the profile of Hindu cultural norms and views in public education, which has prompted criticism from minority leaders, Opposition politicians, academics and advocates of secular values.

The report particularly mentioned the Human Resources Development Ministry "passing strict guidelines to regulate academic partnerships between Indian and Western universities in line with Hindutva philosophy".

In Jammu and Kashmir, the Lashkar-e-Jabbar militant group required all Muslim women to wear a "burqa" when in public or risk retribution and ordered Hindus and Sikhs in the Kashmir valley to wear identifying marks, the report said.

Intimidation by militant groups in Kashmir also caused significant self-censorship by journalists, it added.