'USCIRF should be designated entity of concern': India slams US agency's 'biased' religious freedom report

A day after United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) report claimed that attacks against India’s minorities rose in 2024, the MEA on Wednesday dismissed the report calling it “biased and politically motivated” and said that USCIRF should in fact be designated as an “entity of concern” because of its “efforts to undermine India’s standing as a beacon of democracy”.

Responding to media queries on the report, MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement, “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 added.

Jaiswal said India is home to 1.4 billion people who are adherents to all religions known to mankind.

“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,” said the MEA spokesperson.

Jaiswal said that efforts to undermine India’s reputation as a beacon of democracy and tolerance will not succeed.

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

According to the USCIRF report, the state of religious freedom in India worsened in 2024, with a marked increase in attacks and discrimination against religious minorities.

The report asserts that authorities have been exploiting anti-terrorism and financing laws, such as the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), to suppress civil society organisations and detain members of religious minorities, human rights defenders, and journalists covering religious freedom issues.

It also notes India’s ongoing efforts to extend its repressive tactics to target religious minorities abroad, particularly individuals within the Sikh community and their advocates.

“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 said.

Furthermore, the report claimed that international reporting and intelligence from the Canadian government have supported allegations linking an official from India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and six diplomats to the 2023 assassination attempt on an American Sikh activist in New York.

With inputs from agencies