Thursday, February 13th, 2025

MEA strongly rejects USCIRF report on religious freedom in India


India on Thursday rejected a report by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom that accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of “promoting discriminatory nationalist policies” and said the organization was entirely ‘partisan’. ‘ And he has no expectations from the organization. To understand the diverse, pluralistic and democratic ethos of the country.

“The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is known as a partisan organization with a political agenda. They continue to publish their propaganda on India as part of the annual report, Randhir Jaiswal, the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, said at a press conference on Thursday.

“We really have no expectation that USCIRF will even try to understand the diverse, pluralistic and democratic ethos of India. “Their attempts to interfere in the world’s largest electoral process will never succeed.”

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom is a US federal government commission created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the President and the leadership of both political parties in the Senate and House of Representatives.

Earlier on Wednesday, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) had alleged that last year, the Indian government failed to address sectarian violence affecting Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, Jews and Adivasis (indigenous peoples). Was staying.

“In 2023, religious freedom conditions continued to deteriorate in India. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government reinforced discriminatory nationalist policies, continued hateful rhetoric, and failed to address communal violence affecting Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, Jews, and Adivasis (indigenous peoples). doing. The continued enforcement of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), and anti-conversion and anti-cow slaughter laws resulted in arbitrary detention, surveillance, and targeting of religious minorities and those who did not belong to the country. Advocating on their behalf,” the report said.

“Both news media and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) reporting on religious minorities were subjected to strict monitoring under FCRA rules. In February 2023, India’s Ministry of Home Affairs suspended the FCRA license of the Center for Policy Research, an NGO dedicated to reporting on social issues and state capacity, including discrimination against religious and ethnic minorities. Similarly, authorities raided the offices and homes of NewsClick journalists, including Teesta Setalvad, for reporting on anti-Muslim violence during the 2002 Gujarat riots.



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