Efforts to interfere in the largest democratic exercise in the world will never succeed, says MEA
India has dismissed a report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) that expressed concern over religious freedom in the country, saying the panel was a biased organisation with a political agenda.
 
Responding to queries at the weekly media briefing on Thursday (May 2, 2024), Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal also described the report as an effort to interfere in the ongoing General Elections to the Lok Sabha.
 
The USCIRF report, released on May 1, 2024, said that religious freedom conditions in India continued to deteriorate in 2023 and went on to list some specific instances to back its claims. In its recommendations to the US government, the report reiterated that India be designated as a 'country of particular concern', or CPC.
 
The MEA has, however, slammed the report and described it as propaganda. “The USCIRF is known as a biased organisation with a political agenda. They continue to publish their propaganda on India masquerading as part of an annual report," MEA Spokesperson Jaiswal said when asked about the report.
 
"We really have no expectations that USCIRF will even seek to understand India's diverse, pluralistic, and democratic ethos," Jaiswal stated, adding, "Their efforts to interfere in the largest democratic exercise in the world will never succeed".
 
The USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan, US federal government commission that monitors the universal right to freedom of religion or belief abroad. 
 
In its latest report, the USCIRF alleged that the BJP-led government imposed "discriminatory nationalist policies", "perpetuated hateful rhetoric" and "failed to address communal violence" disproportionately affecting Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, Jews, and Adivasis (indigenous peoples).