MEA blasts USCIRF, describes it as ‘biased’ entity with political agenda

New Delhi: India on Thursday blasted the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for attempting to “interfere” in its electoral exercise and continuing to indulge in “propaganda” against the country, “masquerading” as part of an annual report.

In an unusually sharp reaction to the USCIRF’s latest report that has criticised India for alleged violations of religious freedom, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the organisation is known to be a “biased” entity with a political agenda. “The US Commission on International Religious Freedom is known as a biased organisation with a political agenda. They continue to publish their propaganda on India masquerading as part of an annual report,” Jaiswal said.

“We really have no expectation that the USCIRF will even seek to understand India’s diverse, pluralistic and democratic ethos,” he added. “Their efforts to interfere in the largest electoral exercise of the world will never succeed,” Jaiswal said at his weekly media briefing. In its latest annual report, the USCIRF has criticised India for alleged violations of religious freedom. It has also renewed its recommendation to the US state department to declare India as a “Country of Particular Concern (CPC)” in view of the alleged violations of religious freedom. In its annual report, the USCIRF has said religious freedom in India continues to deteriorate and that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre has reinforced “discriminatory” nationalist policies. It has also alleged that a continued enforcement of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and anti-conversion and cow-slaughter laws has resulted in arbitrary detention, monitoring and targeting of religious minorities and those advocating on their behalf. “Both news media and nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) reporting on religious minorities were subjected to strict monitoring under FCRA regulations,” the report has said.

“In February 2023, India’s Ministry of Home Affairs suspended the FCRA licence of the Centre for Policy Research, an NGO dedicated to reporting on social issues and state capacity, including discrimination against religious and ethnic minorities,” it has said.