‘Severe violations of religious freedom’: USCIRF recommends designating India as ‘Country of Particular Concern’

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), a federal government entity established by the US Congress to monitor religious freedom abroad, has recommended the US State Department to designate India as a “Country of Particular Concern” over its religious freedom following a “deteriorating and concerning trajectory”. 

The entity said that the Indian government repressed and restricted religious communities through enforcement of discriminatory legislation like anti-conversion laws, cow slaughter laws, and anti-terrorism laws. The authorities have arbitrarily detained individuals including journalists, human rights activists, and religious leaders without any due process, highlighting the violation of religious freedom, said USCIRF. 

“Indian officials have repeatedly employed hateful and derogatory rhetoric and misinformation to perpetuate false narratives about religious minorities, inciting widespread violence, lynchings, and demolition of places of worship. In its 2024 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the US Department of State designate India as a Country of Particular Concern for engaging in particularly severe religious freedom violations,” it said in its report, authored by senior policy analyst Sema Hasan. 

It has also recommended policy measures to the US government to address religious freedom violations in India. 

"This 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," the USCIRF said. 

The report added that religious freedom in India worsened in 2024 particularly ahead of the Lok Sabha Elections 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. 

It added that implementation of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the National Register of Citizens (NRC), expropriation and demolition of places of worship and Muslim property, Places of Worship Act, Waqf Amendment Bill, Uniform Civil Code, while attacking religious minorities, spreading hate speech, misinformation and disinformation, cracking down on civil society and faith-based organisations, replacing India’s criminal code, were justified by government officials as necessary to protect India’s ‘cultural and linguistic heritage’.

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