'Deeply biased': India trashes US report on religious freedom

In an unusually hard-hitting response to criticism against it in a US government report on religious freedom, India on Friday described the findings as "deeply biased", visibly driven by "votebank" considerations and a mix of imputations and selective usage of facts.

Dismissing the report, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said it selectively picked incidents to advance a "preconceived narrative" and even appeared to challenge the integrity of certain legal judgments pronounced by Indian courts.

The US State Department's 2023 report on religious freedom referred to violent attacks on minority communities in India including killings and assaults besides citing violence in the northeastern state of Manipur.

"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," Jaiswal said.

"The exercise itself is a mix of imputations, misrepresentations, selective usage of facts, reliance on biased sources and a one-sided projection of issues," he said.

"This extends even to the depiction of our Constitutional provisions and duly enacted laws of India. It has selectively picked incidents to advance a preconceived narrative as well," Jaiswal added.

The spokesperson argued that the report appeared to "challenge" the integrity of certain legal judgements given by Indian courts.

"In some cases, the very validity of laws and regulations are questioned by the report, as are the right of legislatures to enact them," he said.

"The report has also targeted regulations that monitor misuse of financial flows into India. Suggesting that the burden of compliance is unreasonable, it seeks to question the need for such measures," Jaiswal said.

He said the United States has even more stringent laws and regulations and would surely not prescribe such solutions for itself.

Human rights and respect for diversity have been and remain a legitimate subject of discussion between India and the US, he added.

"In 2023, India has officially taken up numerous cases in the US of hate crimes, racial attacks on Indian nationals and other minorities, vandalization and targeting of places of worship, violence and mistreatment by law enforcement authorities, as well as the according of political space to advocates of extremism and terrorism abroad," he said.

"However, such dialogues should not become a licence for foreign interference in other polities," Jaiswal said.

In his remarks at the release of the report on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there has been a "concerning increase" in anti-conversion laws, hate speech, and demolitions of homes and places of worship of members of minority faith communities in India.

"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," Blinken said.