India Rejects US Religious Freedom Report As 'Malicious', Says 'Peddling Motivated Narrative'

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal rubbished another report by the USCIRF and urged the US to look within and address the human rights issues in its country.

MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal rejected a report by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Source : @MyLordBebo (X)

India on Thursday rejected a report by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), calling it an “attempt to peddle a motivated narrative”.

Reacting to the US report, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal shared India’s stance on it and said that USCIRF “continues to misrepresent facts and peddles a motivated narrative about India.”  MEA also called USCIRF a “biased organisation with a political agenda”.

“Our views on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) are well known. It is a biased organisation 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," a statement issued by Jaiswal noted.

The MEA spokesperson further urged the US to look within and address the human rights issues in its country.

“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 read.

The agency websites states that the USCIRF is "an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyse, and report on religious freedom abroad and produce annual reports." It also makes foreign policy recommendations to the US government to “deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion or belief.”

This is not the first time India has slammed the commission of being biased and working as per a politically driven agenda. In May 2024, India rubbished another report by the USCIRF, released ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, calling it “propaganda on India”. 

The US federal government commission’s recent report alleged that religious freedom in India was worsening and called for the country be “designated as a country of particular concern”.

The USCIRF report said that there have been severe violations of religious freedom throughout 2024, including individuals getting killed, beaten, and lynched by vigilante groups.

“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 USCIRF claimed.

It further alleged that the Indian government officials were spreading “hate speech” and “misinformation” to “attack” religious minorities and their places of worship.

“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 commission claimed in its report.

Urging US State Department to designate India as a “Country of particular concern”, the report stated, "In its 2024 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S. Department of State-designate India as a “Country of Particular Concern,” or CPC, or engaging in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.”