The Indian diaspora think tank has urged the US to reject the religious freedom report on India.
Washington:
An Indian diaspora think tank has urged the US State Department that the recent USCIRF annual report, which criticized India for alleged violations of religious freedom, is based on omission and commission of acts using of partial data.
In its annual report on Wednesday, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recommended designating India as a “Country of Particular Concern (CPC)”, claiming that the status of religious freedom in the country has deteriorated.
India on Thursday condemned the Congress-appointed body's report for trying to “interfere” in the election exercise and continuing to indulge in “propaganda” against the country “disguised” as part of an annual report. “The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom is known as a biased organization with a political agenda. They continue to publish their propaganda about India disguised as part of an annual report,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said in New Delhi.
In a statement on Thursday, the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS) characterized the USCIRF report as biased, with partial data and flawed conclusions.
Khanderao Kand, Head of Policy and Strategy at FIIDS, stated that the USCIRF report is based on “omitting and perpetrating facts, using partial data, concealing the full context, generalizing isolated incidents and casting doubt pull from the implementation of the country's laws.” “This report used partial and isolated incidents to wrongly label the world's largest democracy with a population of 1.4 billion, missing the opportunity to highlight positive recent trends. against the backdrop of a complex and violent past,” he said.
Khanderao added that the USCIRF is wrong to recommend the largest democracy and largely peaceful civilization as a country of special interest.
“Furthermore, assessing India under the FATF (Financial Action Task Force) is a highly questionable recommendation, especially when India itself has been a target of terrorism,” he said.
In a detailed analysis of the report, FIIDS said USCIRF's position on India contrasts with its 2023 analysis, indicating significant year-on-year improvement.
The FIIDS analysis concluded that the Manipur riots were intertribal, the result of historic rivalries exploited by drug mafias and infiltrators in Myanmar, impacting all religions.
“However, the USCIRF only selected Christians. Moreover, we compared this with the position of the Archbishop of Bombay,” said FIIDS analyst Mohan Sonti.
“The report wrongly blames India for implementing the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), which prevents illegal and improper use of foreign funding. Why can't NGOs follow reporting and use laws?” he asked.
The USCIRF report made no mention of India's constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion, with bans on coercive, fraudulent and forcible conversion, he said.
“Instead, it complained about the enforcement of laws that sought to protect gullible, disadvantaged people,” he added.
“Since there were no major Hindu-Muslim riots in India in 2023, the report, instead of citing it as a year without such riots, presented isolated incidents to generalize and brand without recognizing India's large Muslim population,” said FIIDS.
'FIIDS' raises doubts and questions regarding any influence or agenda against the third largest economy and a strong ally of the US. “Given the consequential nature of US-India relations in 2021, FIIDS recommends that the US Department of State carefully evaluate and reject the USCIRF recommendations,” the organization said in a statement.
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