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India has rejected the USCIRF’s 2026 report, terming it biased and misleading. The report designated India as a “Country of Particular Concern” regarding religious freedom and recommended imposing sanctions on the RSS and RAW.
India Rejects the Report (Image Source: Internet)
New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has categorically rejected the 2026 report in which the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) leveled serious allegations regarding religious freedom in India. The report designated India as a "Country of Particular Concern" and recommended taking action against certain organizations.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated that this report is biased and "motivated." According to him, for several years, the Commission has been misrepresenting the situation in India by relying on selective and dubious sources rather than on facts. He added that such reports serve only to undermine the credibility of the Commission itself.
The USCIRF report recommended imposing targeted sanctions on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), alleging that they are involved in violations of religious freedom. The report also claimed that discrimination against religious minorities is on the rise in India and that anti-conversion laws are being further tightened in certain states.
Terming these allegations as completely baseless, the Government of India asserted that the USCIRF should instead focus its attention on the attacks on Hindu temples within the United States and the growing intolerance directed against the Indian community there. The MEA emphasized that India is a pluralistic and democratic nation where people of diverse religious faiths have long coexisted in peace and harmony.
The USCIRF was established in 1998 under an act of the U.S. Congress. Its mandate is to monitor the status of religious freedom across the globe and to provide recommendations to the U.S. government. However, India maintains that this institution frequently issues reports critical of India, driven by a political agenda.
India has clearly stated that such reports represent an attempt to undermine the country's democratic image and its tradition of religious tolerance. According to the MEA, it is inappropriate to disregard India's diversity and pluralistic ethos.
