India slams US body for accusing it of violating religious freedom

The Indian government on Tuesday criticised the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for placing India among the list of countries which violate religious freedom.

The USCIRF is an independent federal government entity set up by the US Congress to monitor and report on religious freedom in the world. It had designated India as a 'Country of Particular Concern' on religious freedom -- whose governments engage in or tolerate systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom. India was placed along side Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran, North Korea, China, and Russia among others.

"We are seeing impunity for violence by non-state actors committed against religious minorities," USCIRF chair Tony Perkins said about India.

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To this end, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said: "We reject the observations on India in the USCIRF annual report."

Describing the USCIRF's comments against India, "biased and tendentious" and "not new", the spokesperson said, "But on this occasion, its misrepresentation has reached new levels. It has not been able to carry its own Commissioners in its endeavour."

The government said that it regards it as "an organisation of particular concern and will treat it accordingly."