New Delhi rejects US report that says religious freedom in India is getting worse

Agency decries alleged crackdown on minority communities, civil rights activists and journalists

Demonstrators in New Delhi in 2021 during a protest against hate speech against Muslims by Hindu leaders. Reuters

India has rejected a report by a US organisation that claims religious freedom in the South Asian nation is continually worsening and demanded the White House designate it as a Country of Particular Concern.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, an American federal government agency that monitors the universal right to freedom of religion or belief, said for the fourth consecutive year that India engages in “egregious violation” of religious freedom.

In the report released on Monday, the USCIRF said that the Hindu nationalist government run by Prime Minister Narendra Modi suppresses critical voices, particularly of religious minorities and those advocating on their behalf through “surveillance, harassment, demolition of property and detention” under strict laws, as well as targeting non-government organisations in the country.

The USCIRF demanded that the US administration impose targeted sanctions on Indian government agencies and officials responsible for severe breaches of religious freedom by freezing those individuals’ assets and/or barring their entry into the US.

India’s Ministry of Extarnal Affairs has strongly rejected the claims saying the report is a misrepresentation of facts.

“The US Commission on International Religious Freedom continues to regurgitate biased and motivated comments about India, this time in its 2023 annual report,” the MEA said in a statement.

“We reject such misrepresentation of facts, which only serves to discredit USCIRF itself. We would urge USCIRF to desist from such efforts and develop a better understanding of India, its plurality, its democratic ethos and its constitutional mechanisms.” it said.

The world's largest democracy gives constitutional rights to all religious communities. But since Mr Modi’s Hindu nationalist party came to power in 2014, the government has been accused of backsliding democracy.

Damage after communal violence during a Hindu religious procession last year in New Delhi's north-west Jahangirpuri neighbourhood. AP

There has been a widespread crackdown on minorities, as well as civil rights activists, environmentalists, academics and journalists.

Last year Indian authorities demolished the house of a Muslim politician and campaigner said to be responsible for street protests against insulting remarks made about Prophet Mohammed. Young Muslims have also been arrested for taking part in Hindu religious festivals.

In recent years, several Muslim men were beaten to death by vigilantes on suspicion of smuggling and killing cows — considered sacred by most Hindus.

More than a dozen lawyers, academics, activists and journalists were arrested on charges of sedition and anti-national activities under strict anti- terrorism laws.

Mr Modi’s government also blocked a BBC documentary that questioned the prime minister’s leadership during the 2002 Gujarat riots, in which more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed.

His government also removed chapters on Muslim rulers from school textbooks and has changed the names of more than a dozen cities since coming into power in 2014.