New Delhi

New Delhi on Thursday (Oct 3) rubbished a report by US government commission alleging decline in religious freedom in India. Earlier, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) had called India a "country of particular concern". In a strong reply, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said it was an attempt to "peddle a motivated narrative". Randhir Jaiswal, the ministry’s official spokesperson, said their views on the "biased organisation with a political agenda" are well known.

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"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," Jaiswal said.

India also told the US commission to look within and urged it to address human rights issues in their own nation.

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"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," he added.

USCIRF, in its report, had alleged that attacks on religious minorities and their places of worship in India had increased due to prevailing misinformation and disinformation. The commission then urged Washington DC to designate India as a "country of particular concern for engaging in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom".

“This report highlights how, throughout 2024, individuals have been killed, beaten, and lynched by vigilante groups, religious leaders have been arbitrarily arrested, and homes and places of worship have been demolished. These events constitute particularly severe violations of religious freedom," the commission said in its report.

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It’s not uncommon for the US agency to accuse India of infringing upon rights of religious minorities.

In May, while reacting to a similar report published by the USCIRF, Indian foreign ministry had said, “We really have no expectation that the USCIRF will even seek to understand India's diverse, pluralistic and democratic ethos. Their efforts to interfere in the largest electoral exercise in the world will never succeed."

(With inputs from agencies)