India on Thursday rejected a report by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), stating that it misrepresents facts and “peddles a motivated narrative”.
The USCIRF, in its 2024 annual report released on Wednesday, recommended that the US state department designate India as a “Country of Particular Concern” for engaging in “systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom”.
Responding to the development, external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India’s views on the USCIRF are well known. “We reject this malicious report, which only serves to discredit USCIRF further,” he said in a statement.
Jaiswal described the USCIRF as a “biased organisation with a political agenda” that “continues to misrepresent facts and peddles a motivated narrative about India”.
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He added, “We would urge USCIRF to desist from such agenda driven efforts.”
The USCIRF, Jaiswal said, would be “well advised to utilise its time more productively on addressing human rights issues in the United States”.
{{/usCountry}}The USCIRF, Jaiswal said, would be “well advised to utilise its time more productively on addressing human rights issues in the United States”.
{{/usCountry}}The USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the US Congress to monitor and report on religious freedom abroad. This is not the first time India has rejected the findings of the commission, and New Delhi has dismissed its findings over the past few years.
In its latest report, the USCIRF highlighted alleged incidents of violence against Christians and Muslims throughout 2024. The report alleged individuals “have been killed, beaten, and lynched by vigilante groups”, religious leaders were “arbitrarily arrested”, and homes and places of worship “have been demolished”.
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“These events constitute particularly severe violations of religious freedom. 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,” the USCIRF said in a statement.