The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has released new information regarding the state of religious freedom in India, noting that the situation has significantly deteriorated.
The USCIRF published this report on Wednesday. However, India’s Ministry of External Affairs rejected the report, labeling it as “biased.”
According to a summary on the USCIRF’s website, the report highlights incidents throughout 2024 where extremists allegedly targeted individuals, carried out attacks, detained religious leaders without cause, and demolished homes and places of worship.
The report describes these incidents as severe violations of religious freedom. It also discusses how misinformation, hate speech, and misleading statements by government officials have incited violent attacks, particularly against religious minorities and their places of worship.
The USCIRF report further examines legal changes in India, including the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the Uniform Civil Code, and various state-level anti-conversion and cow slaughter laws. These laws are reported to have targeted religious minorities, affecting their voting rights and other freedoms.
The USCIRF recommended that the U.S. State Department designate India as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) for systematic, ongoing, and severe violations of religious freedom, advising the State Department to take action on these issues.
In response, India firmly rejected the USCIRF’s report. The Ministry of External Affairs dismissed it as “biased” and accused the USCIRF of spreading a “motivated narrative.”
Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, commented, “Our views on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) are well known. It is a biased organization with a political agenda. We reject this biased report, which only discredits the USCIRF further.”
