AMN / WEB DESK
New Delhi today termed the comments on India by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom as biased and inaccurate. In reply to media queries, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said these comments reflect a severe lack of understanding of India and its constitutional framework, its plurality and its democratic ethos.
He said regrettably, USCIRF continues to misrepresent facts time and again in its statements and reports in pursuance of its motivated agenda. The spokesperson stressed that such actions only serve to strengthen concerns about the credibility and objectivity of the organization.
Early on Saturday, the USCIRF’s official Twitter handle had quoted its commissioner David Curry as saying the commission is ‘concerned about the Indian government’s continued repression of critical voices – especially religious minorities and those reporting on and advocating for them’.
The Twitter handle also quoted USCIRF commissioner Stephen Schneck as saying: “Human rights advocates, journalists, activists, and faith leaders in #India face harassment for speaking out and reporting religious freedom conditions. This is not reflective of a country with a history of democracy.”
Another tweet said: “USCIRF recommends #India be designated as a CPC [country of particular concern] for its systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom, including the repression of critical voices speaking out against these violations.”
One of the tweets linked to a report by Voice of America on the recent arrest of human rights activist Teesta Setalvad on charges of criminal conspiracy and fabrication of evidence. The report also referred to the naming of arrested former police officers RB Sreekumar and Sanjiv Bhatt in a first information report (FIR) related to the Gujarat riots.
In its reports for 2021 and 2022, the USCIRF had recommended to the US government that India should be designated a ‘country of particular concern’ for ‘systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom’. Such recommendations are not binding on the US government.
India had rejected these findings, as well as other criticism by the USCIRF, which is an independent, bipartisan US federal government agency. The commission monitors the universal right to freedom of religion abroad and makes policy recommendations to the US president, secretary of state and Congress.