India rejects USCIRF record as ‘prejudiced’, asks for its classification as an “entity of worry’–

A day after United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) record asserted that strikes versus India’s minorities increased in 2024, the MEA on Wednesday disregarded the record calling it “biased and politically motivated” and claimed that USCIRF needs to actually be marked as an “entity of concern” as a result of its “efforts to undermine India’s standing as a beacon of democracy”.

Responding to media inquiries on the record, MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal claimed in a declaration, “We have seen the recently released 2025 Annual Report of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), which once again continues its pattern of issuing biased and politically motivated assessments.”

“The USCIRF’s persistent attempts 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,” he included.

Jaiswal claimed India is home to 1.4 billion individuals that are followers to all religious beliefs understood to the human race.

“However, we have no expectation that the USCIRF will engage with the reality of India’s pluralistic framework or acknowledge the harmonious coexistence of its diverse communities,” claimed the MEA representative.

Jaiswal claimed that initiatives to weaken India’s online reputation as a sign of freedom and resistance will certainly not be successful.

“In fact, it is the USCIRF that should be designated as an entity of concern,” he included.

According to the USCIRF record, the state of spiritual liberty in India intensified in 2024, with a significant boost in strikes and discrimination versus spiritual minorities.

The record insists that authorities have actually been making use of anti-terrorism and funding legislations, such as the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), to reduce civil culture organisations and restrain participants of spiritual minorities, civils rights protectors, and reporters covering spiritual liberty problems.

It likewise notes India’s continuous initiatives to prolong its repressive techniques to target spiritual minorities abroad, especially people within the Sikh area and their supporters.

“Journalists, academics, and civil society organisations documenting India’s religious freedom violations reported denial of consular services, including the revocation of Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cards as well as threats of violence and surveillance,” it claimed.

Furthermore, the record asserted that global coverage and knowledge from the Canadian federal government have actually sustained accusations connecting an authorities from India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and 6 mediators to the 2023 murder effort on an American Sikh protestor in New York.

With inputs from companies