US body questions religious freedom in India, seeks imposition of targeted curbs

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has recommended to the US State Department to designate India as a “Country of Particular Concern” over what it said was the “deteriorating and concerning trajectory” of religious freedom in India.

The USCIRF is a federal entity established by the US Congress to monitor religious freedom abroad. The report was released on Wednesday.

It said, “In its 2024 annual report, the USCIRF recommended that the US Department of State designate India as a ‘Country of Particular Concern' (CPC), or engaging in systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom.”

The report highlights how throughout 2024, “individuals have been killed, beaten, and lynched by vigilante groups, religious leaders have been arbitrarily arrested, and homes and places of worship have been demolished”.

These events constitute particularly severe violations of religious freedom, it said.

The USCIRF statement said the report “describes the use of misinformation and disinformation, including hate speech, by government officials to incite violent attacks against religious minorities and their places of worship”.

It goes on to question the changes to India’s legal framework saying “(it is) to target and disenfranchise religious minorities, including the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and several state-level anti-conversion and cow slaughter laws”.  

The report added that religious freedom in India worsened in 2024, particularly ahead of the Lok Sabha elections of 2024. There was use of discriminatory state-level legislation, propagation of hateful rhetoric, with the BJP government attempting to implement election promises negatively impacting religious minorities and their ability to practice their faith, it added.

The report suggested imposition of "targeted sanctions" on individuals and entities responsible for severe violations of religious freedom by freezing their assets and barring their entry into the US under rights-related financial and visa authorities, citing specific religious freedom violations.

In the past, several India and several Indian-American groups have accused the USCIRF of biased, unscientific and agenda-driven reporting.