Indian Minorities Foundation slams US report on India’s religious freedom

The US issued rare criticism of its close partner India in a report on religious freedom published on June.26.

The Foundation aims to facilitate and leverage dialogue to empower minorities. / Indian Minorities Foundation website

The Indian Minorities Foundation on June.27 strongly criticized the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), accusing the religious watchdog of publishing a “misguided” report in an attempt to “lump India”.

The Indian Minorities Foundation also accused USCIRF of harboring a divisive agenda and criticized it for attempting to categorize India alongside authoritarian regimes like Afghanistan, Cuba, North Korea, Russia, and China. They argued that this comparison ignores India's democratic framework.

“USCIRF's efforts to label India alongside authoritarian regimes like Afghanistan, Cuba, North Korea, Russia, and China overlook India's democratic framework, vibrant civil society, and pluralistic history,” the Indian Minorities Foundation said in a statement. “This mischaracterization undermines USCIRF's credibility and understanding of India's religious freedom landscape.”

IMF strongly condemns the USCIRF'S International Religious freedom report. USCIRF's efforts to label India alongside authoritarian regimes like Afghanistan, Cuba, North Korea, Russia, and China overlook India's democratic framework, vibrant civil society, and pluralistic history.… pic.twitter.com/jHYGY6lPqp
— Indian Minorities Foundation (@Minoritiesfdn) June 27, 2024

The Indian Minorities Foundation made the remarks while responding to the USCIRF’s 2023 report, and recommended India as a “country of particular concern”. The report was released on June.26 by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who said there was a "concerning increase" in hate speech, anti-conversion laws, demolition of homes and places of worship for people belonging to minority groups in India.

In response, the Indian NGO asked whether the USCIRF was acting as an “agent of conflict” or an “instrument of harmony”. It accused Blinken of bias and challenged the fairness of evaluating free speech and hate speech based on one's country of origin.

The IMF stated that it is puzzling that Blinken, in his remarks at a recent event in Washington, DC, spoke of an "increase in anti-conversion laws" when, in reality, no new laws were passed by any state during the period covered by the report.

“His broad sweep reference to ‘hate speech’ is at odds with the kind of hateful speech targeted against India and its elected leaders that routinely emanates from North America these days,” the letter stated. “It would appear perhaps that the line blurs between ‘free speech’ and ‘hate speech’ depending on the country of origin.”

Furthermore, the IMF asserted that the USCIRF's report appears to be unduly influenced by non-governmental organizations and activists who have faced regulations unrelated to religion or religious identity.

“By giving a communal twist to the ethnic violence in Manipur, the USCIRF report crosses a very dangerous line with its patently false and communal labelling of Meitei as Hindu and Kuki as Christian to further exacerbate the ethnic fault lines in Manipur,” the IMF highlighted in the letter.

The IMF emphasized two issues that demonstrate USCIRF's lack of respect for India's unity and territorial integrity regarding religious freedom. Firstly, it criticized USCIRF's stance on Kashmir and Article 370, noting that USCIRF failed to acknowledge that the revocation of Article 370 aimed to integrate Jammu and Kashmir more closely with the rest of India, promote economic development, and ensure equal rights for all residents.

Secondly, the IMF criticized USCIRF for referencing the Khalistani Movement and adopting a new phrase commonly used by Khalistan advocates, "transnational repression." It suggested that USCIRF's portrayal implied that the world's largest democracy is obligated to support those who aim to destabilize India's territorial integrity from outside its borders. By framing the issue as one of "religious freedom”, USCIRF's comments sums up all that is wrong with its mission, IMF said.