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US religious freedom panel recommends sanction on RSS, R&AW, names 'India as Country of concern'

US religious freedom panel recommends sanction on RSS, R&AW, names 'India as Country of concern'

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Photograph: (Wikimediacommons)

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Designating India as a “country of particular concern” USCIRF urged Washington to link arms sales and trade policies to religious freedom.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), ideological front of ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the external intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), has been recomended by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) to be sanctioned for violations of religious freedom.

Designating India as a “country of particular concern” it has urged Washington to link arms sales and trade policies to religious freedom.

There has not been any response by the External Affairs Ministry (EAM) so far but last year the ministry had shunned USCIRF's findings by calling them “biased” and “politically motivated”.

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USCIRF was founded in 1998 by an act of Congress to “monitor the universal right to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) abroad” and makes recommendations to the US President, Secretary of State, and Congress, reported Hindustan Times.

The USCIRF claims it works independently, however, all nine commissioners of the agency are appointed by the he US President and senior political leaders in the House of Representatives.

The agency in its report said, “Several states undertook efforts to introduce or strengthen anti-conversion laws to include harsher prison sentences. Indian authorities also facilitated widespread detention and illegal expulsion of citizens and religious refugees and tolerated vigilante attacks against religious minority communities."

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Aditya Shukla

Aditya Shukla has a vast experience of over 20 years in the field of journalism. During the years, he has worked in TV and digital, covering Indian politics and world news extensiv...Read More