Pressmediaofindia
Related Articles
01-07-2024
Bureau Report + Agencies
NEW DELHI: New Delhi on Friday rejected the US State Department’s 2023 religious freedom report on India, calling it “deeply biased” and one that does not understand the South Asian nation’s social fabric.
The report, released on Wednesday, noted violent attacks on minority groups, especially Muslims and Christians, including killings, assaults and vandalism of houses of worship.
Criticism of India by the US is usually restrained due to close economic ties and New Delhi’s importance for Washington in countering China, political analysts say.
“As in the past, the report is deeply biased, lacks understanding of India’s social fabric and is visibly driven by vote bank considerations and a prescriptive outlook. We, therefore, reject it,” the Indian government said on Friday.
India said the report challenged the integrity of some decisions made by the country’s judiciary and incidents were handpicked to form a pre-conceived narrative.
Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment from media.
The US report listed dozens of incidents, including violence in the northeastern state of Manipur that started in May 2023 and a fatal shooting of a security official and three Muslims on a train near Mumbai. It also cited examples of attacks against Muslims based on allegations that Muslim men were participating in the slaughter of cows or beef trading. India also said that it had officially taken up cases of hate crimes and racial attacks against its citizens and other minorities in US.
“However, such dialogues should not become a licence for foreign interference in other polities,” the government statement said.
Earlier, The US State Department’s 2023 religious freedom report on India, opens new tab noted violent attacks on minority groups, especially Muslims and Christians, including killings, assaults and vandalism of houses of worship.
The report on international religious freedom released on Wednesday said that in 2023, senior US officials continued to “raise concerns about religious freedom issues” with their Indian counterparts. Human rights experts say India has seen a rise in attacks on minorities under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who recently won a third term, and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“In India, we see a concerning increase in anti-conversion laws, hate speech, demolitions of homes and places of worship for members of minority faith communities,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, opens new tab when the report was released, in a rare direct rebuke of India.
Criticism of India by the US is usually restrained due to close economic ties and New Delhi’s importance for Washington to counter China, political analysts say.
The US report listed dozens of incidents. Among them was a fatal shooting of a security official and three Muslims on a train near Mumbai by a suspect who was a railway security official. A probe by Indian authorities into that case is ongoing and the suspect was in jail, according to the Indian Express newspaper.
The report cited examples of attacks against Muslims based on allegations that Muslim men were participating in the slaughter of cows or beef trading.
The Indian embassy in Washington had no immediate comment. The Indian government denies discriminating against minorities, and says its welfare policies like food subsidy schemes and electrification drives aim to benefit all Indians.
Rights advocates contest that and point to anti-Muslim hate speeches, opens new tab, the revoking, opens new tab of Muslim-majority Kashmir’s special status, a citizenship law, opens new tab that the UN calls “fundamentally discriminatory” and the demolition of Muslim properties, opens new tab in the name of removing illegal construction.
