In March this year the USCIRF (US Commission on International Religious Freedom) released its annual report. On India it recommended, “Designate India as a ‘country of particular concern,’ for engaging in and tolerating systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations.” It added, “Impose targeted sanctions on individuals and entities, such as Vikash Yadav and RAW, for their culpability in severe violations of religious freedom by freezing their assets and/or barring their entry into the United States.”

For the past few years, near similar recommendations on India have been made by the commission. The Indian government rejected the report. The MEA spokesperson mentioned that the USCIRF “should (itself) be designated as an entity of concern”, adding that the institution has “persistently attempted to misrepresent isolated incidents and cast aspersions on India’s vibrant multicultural society reflect a deliberate agenda rather than a genuine concern for religious freedom.” The fact that the USCIRF is biased is well known. There is no mention of killings of thousands of Palestinians by Israel, backed by the US, solely because it does not suit Washington.

Advertisement

Similar is the silence on death of hundreds of innocent Muslims due to the US’s relentless airstrikes in largely Muslim majority nations. The US is worse on religious freedom than most nations on which USCIRF comments adversely. President Donald Trump is imposing visa restrictions mainly on those from predominantly Muslim nations. A similar ban by him in 2017 was labeled as ‘Muslim ban’ by his aides. On all this, the commission is silent, while about India it bases its assessment on a few random incidents. The USCIRF is not the only organization which displays an anti-India bias.

Advertisement

The........

© The Statesman