MEA rejects USCIRF report on religious freedom in India, says ‘Utilise time on addressing human rights issues in US’
The MEA also urged USCIRF to desist from such "agenda driven efforts" and utilise time more productively on addressing human rights issues in the US.
The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday rejected the US Commission on International Spiritual Freedom’s (USCIRF) report on religious freedom in India, dubbing it “malicious,” which discredits the organisation moreover.
It moreover often is named USCIRF a “biased organisation” with a political agenda, which continues to misrepresent facts and peddles a “motivated narrative” about India.
“Our views on the US Commission on International Spiritual Freedom (USCIRF) are well-known. That's a biased organization with a political agenda. It continues to misrepresent facts and peddles a motivated narrative about India. We reject this malicious report, which handiest serves to discredit USCIRF moreover,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement on Thursday .
The MEA also urged USCIRF to desist from such “agenda driven efforts” and utilise time more productively on addressing human rights issues contained within the US.
“We'd urge USCIRF to desist from such agenda driven efforts. The USCIRF would even be well advised to utilise its time more productively on addressing human rights issues contained within the US,” the statement added.
The USCIRF, in its report, alleged violations of religious freedom in India.
“This report highlights how all through 2024, individuals have been killed, beaten, and lynched by vigilante groups, religious leaders have been arbitrarily arrested, and houses and places of worship have been demolished. These events constitute in particular severe violations of religious freedom,” the report stated.
“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 moreover 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 numerous state-level anti-conversion and cow slaughter laws,” the USCIRF report said.
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