Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: The ministry of external affairs on Monday rejected the annual report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom for 2026, which recommended targeted sanctions on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Research and Analysis Wing for violations of religious freedom.MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, in a statement, said that the commission has persisted in presenting a distorted, selective picture of India by relying on questionable sources and ideological narratives rather than objective facts.
“We have taken note of the latest report of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). We categorically reject its motivated and biased characterization of India. For several years now, USCIRF has persisted in presenting a distorted and selective picture of India, relying on questionable sources and ideological narratives rather than objective facts. Such repeated misrepresentations only undermine the credibility of the Commission itself,” Jaiswal said.“Instead of persisting with selective criticism of India, USCIRF would do well to reflect on the disturbing incidents of vandalism and attacks on Hindu temples in the United States, selective targeting of India, and growing intolerance and intimidation of members of the Indian diaspora in the United States, which merit serious attention,” he added.This comes after USCIRF designated India as a “country of particular concern” and asked United States to link arms sales and trade policies to religious freedom.USCIRF said its report, Systematic Religious Persecution in India, provides an overview of India’s social, political, and criminal justice systems as they relate to issues regarding freedom of religion or belief (FoRB).“It also examines the relationship between Hindu nationalist groups like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the implications of this dynamic for FoRB. Despite offering some constitutional protections for FoRB, India’s political system facilitates a climate of discrimination toward religious minority communities,” the report alleged.USCIRF also argued that conditions for religious freedom in India have “continued to deteriorate” and accused the Indian government of “targeting” religious minorities and houses of worship.“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,” the report said.Created in 1998 by an act of the United States Congress, the USCIRF “monitors the universal right to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) abroad” and makes recommendations to the President of the United States, the United States Department of State, and Congress.The agency says it acts independently, but the US President and senior political leaders in the House of Representatives and the Senate appoint its nine commissioners.In its 2025 Annual Report, USCIRF had recommended that the US Department of State designate India as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) “for engaging in systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations”.Jaiswal noted in March this year that India is home to 1.4 billion people who are adherents of all religions known to mankind.He had said that USCIRF should be designated as an entity of concern.“We have no expectation that the USCIRF will engage with the reality of India’s pluralistic framework or acknowledge the harmonious coexistence of its diverse communities. Such efforts to undermine India’s standing as a beacon of democracy and tolerance will not succeed. In fact, it is the USCIRF that should be designated as an entity of concern,” he said.MEA had earlier termed USCIRF “a biased organisation with a political agenda” and said it continues to misrepresent facts and peddle a motivated narrative about India.
