India slams ‘deeply biased’ U.S. report on religious freedom
- India recently slammed the U.S. State Department’s report on International Religious Freedom for 2023 as “deeply biased” and said it reflected “one-sided projection of issues”.
Excerpts of the report
- 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.
- At the same time, people around the world are also working hard to protect religious freedom.”
- In nearly 69 pages dedicated to the state of religious freedom in India, the report elaborated on apparent complicity between the law enforcement agencies and the majoritarian groups and flagged a number of factors like the campaign for Uniform Civil Code (UCC) as well as the campaign for creating a “Hindu Rashtra” in India.
- Responding to the criticism, India raised the law and order situation in the U.S. and highlighted the crimes committed by racially motivated individuals against Indians and other coloured communities.
- “In 2023, India has officially taken up numerous cases in the U.S. of hate crimes, racial attacks on Indian nationals and other minorities, vandalisation and targeting of places of worship
- In India, for example, Christian communities reported that local police aided mobs that disrupted worship services over accusations of conversion activities or stood by while mobs attacked them and then arrested the victims on conversion charges.”
Prelims takeaway
- Uniform Civil Code