"Peddles Motivated Narrative": India Trashes US Religious Freedom Report

Rubbishing a report by a US federal government commission which has pointed to the alleged worsening of religious freedom in India and called for it being designated a "country of particular concern", the Ministry of External Affairs has termed it an attempt to "peddle a motivated narrative".

Responding to queries on the annual report by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), the ministry's spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, said its views on the "biased organisation with a political agenda" are well known.

"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," Mr Jaiswal said.

Urging the commission to look within, the spokesperson also said that its time would be better spent addressing human rights issues in the United States. 

"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," he added.

In the India section of its annual report, the USCIRF said misinformation and disinformation has been used to incite attacks against religious minorities and their places of worship in the country.

It also urged the US State Department to designate India as a "country of particular concern for engaging in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom".

"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 commission said in the document. 

This is not the first time that the USCIRF has been accused by India of being biased or having a clear political agenda. 

Reacting to a report in May, released while the Lok Sabha elections were on, the Ministry of External Affairs had said, "We really have no expectation that the USCIRF will even seek to understand India's diverse, pluralistic and democratic ethos. Their efforts to interfere in the largest electoral exercise in the world will never succeed."