'Motivated and biased': India slams US report on religious freedom

India on Tuesday slammed the US State Department's2022 Report on International Religious Freedom, calling the commentary 'motivated and biased' that criticised the country for not upholding the rights of minorities.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi in a press briefing noted that the government was aware of the report before calling it'misinformed' attempt at understanding the situation in India.

"We are aware of the release of the US State Department 2022 Report on International Religious Freedom. Regrettably, such reports continue to be based on misinformation and flawed understanding," said Bagchi.

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"Motivated and biased commentary by some US officials only serves to undermine further the credibility of these reports. We value our partnership with the US and will continue to have frank exchanges on issues of concern to us."

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What does the report say?

The report released by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Monday provided a comprehensive view of religious freedom in nearly 200 countries across the world.

However, akin to the previous iterations of the report, the 2022 version took a special inkling towards India and its treatment of minorities. India's ruling party Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) was mentioned 28 times in the report while Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal were mentioned 24 and seven times respectively.

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Rashad Hussain, ambassador at large, Office of International Religious Freedom stated that"far too many governments, including Russia, India, China and Saudi Arabia, continue to freely target faith community members within their borders".

The report claimed that various state governments in India took evasive actions against minorities, especially Muslims.

"In June, several parts of the country reported violent protests and acts of arson after spokespersons Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal from the country's ruling BJP made televised remarks about the Prophet Muhammad which were widely seen as offensive by Muslims,"highlighted the US report.

It also pointed out the 2020 Delhi riots, alleging that there were“multiple instances of apparent police complicity” in violent actions against protestors, who were mostly Muslim.

The report also targetted India's Union Home Minister Amit Shah, claiming that the BJP leader in a public meeting in Hyderabad,promised to end employment and educational quotas for religious minorities in Telangana if his party was voted to power.

The Congressional-mandatory annual report becomes the subject of intense scrutiny every year when released. New Delhi, however, has never taken its findings too seriously.

(With inputs from agencies)

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