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India rejects USCIRF report as "biased and politically motivated"
MEA official spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal in a statement accused the USCIRF of continuing to misrepresent facts and perpetuating a politically motivated narrative against India.
MEA India / Image- MEA India
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) dismissed the latest Country Update on India in the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) report, characterising it as biased and agenda-driven.
MEA official spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal in a statement on Oct. 3 accused the USCIRF of continuing to misrepresent facts and perpetuating a politically motivated narrative against India.
Our Statement on Agreement between the United Kingdom and Mauritius regarding return of Mauritian sovereignty over Chagos Archipelago:https://t.co/mqhi24BysS pic.twitter.com/y2VlMCOH5F
— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) October 3, 2024
“Our views on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) are well known. It is a biased organization with a political agenda. It continues to misrepresent facts and peddles a motivated narrative about India,” Jaiswal said.
“We reject this malicious report, which only serves to discredit USCIRF further. We would urge USCIRF to desist from such agenda-driven efforts. The USCIRF would also be well advised to utilize its time more productively on addressing human rights issues in the United States,” he added.
The USCIRF report has recommended that the U.S. Department of State designate India as a "Country of Particular Concern" (CPC), citing what it describes as systematic violations of religious freedom. It also calls for targeted sanctions against individuals it deems responsible for these violations and urges the U.S. government to prioritize religious freedom in diplomatic and multilateral engagements, including meetings within the Quad framework.
Additionally, the report suggests that the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi strengthen its engagement with religious communities and facilitate meetings with human rights defenders. The USCIRF has further recommended a review by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to ensure India's counterterrorism measures are not misused to target religious minorities.
The USCIRF report also highlights recent communal violence, notably in Manipur, which saw clashes between the tribal Kuki and Hindu Meitei communities. According to the report, the violence led to the destruction of numerous places of worship, displacing tens of thousands and triggering widespread concerns over religious persecution.
In response, the MEA has consistently rejected such claims, accusing the USCIRF of lacking a proper understanding of India’s democratic framework and its diverse social fabric. The Indian government maintains that its laws, such as the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and state-level anti-conversion measures, are intended to protect national security and the rights of its citizens, rather than to target any particular religious group.
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