The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has strongly dismissed the recent report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) on religious freedom in India, labeling it “malicious” which discredits the organisation.
It further called USCIRF a “biassed organisation” with a political agenda, which continues to misrepresent facts and peddles a “motivated narrative” about India.
In a statement released on Thursday, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal condemned the USCIRF report, asserting that it misrepresents facts about India and serves only to discredit the commission further.
“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. We reject this malicious report, which only serves to discredit USCIRF further,” Jaiswal said.
The MEA also criticized the USCIRF for its continued focus on India, urging the commission to redirect its attention toward human rights issues in the United States. “We would urge USCIRF to desist from such agenda-driven efforts.
“We would urge USCIRF to desist from such agenda driven efforts. The USCIRF would also be well advised to utilise its time more productively on addressing human rights issues in the United States,” the statement added.
The USCIRF report, released earlier this week, alleged significant violations of religious freedom in India throughout 2024.
“This report highlights how throughout 2024, individuals have been killed, beaten, and lynched by vigilante groups, religious leaders have been arbitrarily arrested, and homes and places of worship have been demolished. These events constitute particularly severe violations of religious freedom,” the report stated.
“It describes the use of misinformation and disinformation, including hate speech, by government officials to incite violent attacks against religious minorities and their places of worship. It further describes changes to and enforcement of India’s legal framework to target and disenfranchise religious minorities, including the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and several state-level anti-conversion and cow slaughter laws,” the USCIRF report said.
(Inputs from ANI)