Centre calls USCIRF ‘biased organisation with a political agenda’; rejects report on religious freedom

“The USCIRF would also be well advised to utilise its time more productively on addressing human rights issues in the United States,” the Ministry of External Affairs said

The Centre on Thursday (October 3, 2024) rejected the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom’s (USCIRF) report on religious freedom in India, calling the Commission a “biased organisation with a political agenda.”

Responding to media queries on USCIRF’s report on religious freedom in India, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “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.”

He added, “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 USCIRF, in its 2024 annual report, had recommended that the US State Department designate India “as a Country of Particular Concern” for “engaging in severe religious freedom violations.”

The USCIRF, a Washington DC-based bipartisan U.S. federal government agency, had released a country update on India, flagging “collapsing religious freedom conditions”.

The report highlights that religious freedom conditions have “continued to worsen throughout 2024, particularly in the months prior to and immediately following the country’s national elections.”

Offering an overview of the various religious freedom violations that have taken place in India in 2024, it details changes in the country’s legal framework, including the strengthening of “discriminatory legislation like state-level anti-conversion and anti-terrorism laws”, as well as the publication of the rules for implementing the 2019 Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), and the passing of a state-level Uniform Civil Code (UCC) bill in Uttarakhand.

In a section titled, ‘Expropriation and demolition of places of worship and Muslim property’, the report notes that “since the beginning of 2024, Indian authorities have facilitated the expropriation of places of worship, including the construction of Hindu temples on the sites of mosques.”

It details how the days following the Ayodhya temple’s January 2024 consecration “were marked by a series of attacks and other instances of intolerance against religious minorities across six states”, noting, “in each instance, violence erupted following Hindu nationalist processions through predominantly Muslim neighbourhoods.” It further states that “beyond demolitions, the government has expropriated several mosques for alternative purposes, directly violating India’s Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act.”

The report notes with concern the trend of authorities using state-level policies, especially anti-conversion laws, “to target religious minorities across India,” detailing that “since the beginning of the year, authorities have arrested dozens of Christians on allegations of conducting or participating in forced conversions.”

It also flags the phenomenon of anti-cow slaughter laws being “frequently exploited” by vigilante groups to “target religious minorities, including Muslims, Christians, and Dalits”, noting that the perpetrators operate with impunity, rarely face punishment and “are often released on bail within 24 hours.”

The India country update also details how in the lead-up to the June 2024 Lok Sabha elections, political officials “wielded hate speech and discriminatory rhetoric” against Muslims. “Prime Minister Modi repeatedly claimed that the opposition party would ‘wipe out Hindu faith from the country and… perpetuated hateful stereotypes about Muslims, referring to them as ‘infiltrators’”, the reported stated.

The release also highlights how misinformation, disinformation and “hate speech by Indian government officials frequently fuel and incite cow vigilantism and other attacks against religious minorities,” and cites the examples of speeches by two MLAs, Nitesh Rane and Geeta Jain.

In a section titled ‘Attacks against Religious Minorities’, the report notes that from January to March alone, “161 incidents of violence against Christians in India were reported”, with the incidents ranging from “violent attacks on churches and prayer meetings to physical assaults, harassment, and false allegations of forced conversion.” Religious educational institutions were also targeted, the report noted, citing the instance where “Hindu organisations entered a Catholic school in Assam and demanded instructors cease using Christian images and symbols.”

In another section detailing the “crackdown on civil society and faith-based organisations’, the report states that authorities have used India’s Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) to obstruct the work of civil society organisations” and noted the NGOs whose FCRA licenses were cancelled this year included “Church of North India, Synodical Board of Social Service,” and other Christian NGOs.

Published - October 03, 2024 08:24 pm IST