May 3, Washington (PTI): An Indian diaspora think-tank has encouraged the US State Department to reject the USCIRF’s recent annual report, which criticized India for alleged violations of religious freedom. The think-tank notes that the study is based on omissions and commissions of facts using limited data.
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) proposed on Wednesday in its annual report that India be classified as a “Country of Particular Concern (CPC)” because of the country’s deteriorating religious freedom situation.
India denounced the report on Thursday, accusing the Congressionally constituted organization of trying to “interfere” in its election process and of carrying out ongoing “propaganda” against the nation under the guise of an annual study. It is well recognized that the US Commission on International Religious Freedom is a politically biased organization. The lies they perpetuate about India under the guise of an annual report is still being published, according to Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal in New Delhi.
The USCIRF report was criticized by the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS) on Thursday for being prejudiced and for providing only a portion of the data and conclusions.