MEA slams US Religious Freedom Report as deeply biased

On Friday, June 28th, 2024, India rejected the US State Department’s 2023 report on international religious freedom deeming it as “deeply biased”, New Delhi on Friday said it “lacks an understanding of India’s social fabric, and is visibly driven by vote bank considerations and a prescriptive outlook.”

The study, according to Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, also fails to comprehend India’s societal structure and cherry-picked events to fit a predetermined thesis. The study has been categorically rejected by the Indian government, which claims it is biased and has political agendas.

Addressing the media, Jaiswal said, “We have noted the release by the US State Department of its report on international religious Freedom for 2023. As in the past, the report is deeply biased, lacks an understanding of India’s social fabric, and is visibly driven by votebank considerations and a prescriptive outlook. We therefore reject it.”

He further stated that “the excise itself is a mix of imputations, misrepresentations, selective usage of facts, reliance on biased sources, and a one-sided projection of issues.” “This extends even to the depiction of our constitutional provisions and duly enacted laws of India,” the official added.

“We therefore reject it. 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. The MEA spokesperson said, “It has selectively picked incidents to advance a preconceived narrative as well. In some cases, the very validity of laws and regulations are questioned by the report.” Jaiswal said the report also appears to challenge the integrity of certain judgments given by Indian courts.

It presents a distorted story by using information selectively and citing biased sources. The spokesman claims that the criticism goes beyond how the study presents India’s laws and constitutional provisions, implying a purposeful attempt at misrepresentation.US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated before the report’s release that there has been a “concerning increase” in anti-conversion laws, hate speech, and the demolition of places of worship and residences for members of minority faith communities in India.

Jaiswal stated that the report has selectively picked incidents to advance a preconceived narrative as well. “In some cases, the very validity of laws and regulations are questioned by the report, as are the right of legislatures to enact them. The report also appears to challenge the integrity of certain legal judgments given by Indian courts,” he said.

The report has also targeted regulations that monitor the misuse of financial flows into India, suggesting that the burden of compliance is unreasonable, the MEA official said and added that “it seeks to question the need for such measures.”

MEA Highlights Stringency of US Regulations

Noting that the United States has even more stringent laws and regulations, Jaiswal said America 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 United States,” he added.

The annual report on worldwide religious freedom from the United States has expressed worry over hate speech, anti-conversion legislation, and the demolition of houses and places of worship owned by minorities in India. Violence against minority groups in India is accused in a report on the country that was issued on Wednesday. It mentioned the May 2023 outbreak of violence in Manipur.

Releasing the 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, “Today, governments around the world continue to target individuals, shutter places of worship, forcibly displace communities, and imprison people because of their religious beliefs.”

MEA’s Perspective on Religious Violence in Manipur

According to the US State Department report, 253 churches in Manipur were burned down, according to the Kuki organization Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum, which is situated in the Churachandpur area. Additionally, the Meitei community asserts that hundreds of temples were demolished. Human rights and respect for diversity have been and will continue to be valid topics of conversation between India and the US, according to the MEA spokeswoman.

The report’s critique of the legitimacy of several Indian laws and regulations is one of the main topics of disagreement. He said that the research called into question the legitimacy of Indian court rulings as well as the power of Indian legislators. This is an unjustified challenge to India’s judicial system and an overreach.

The study also criticizes policies intended to track money flows into India, arguing that they are unduly onerous in terms of compliance. India responds that comparable criticism of its policies would never be accepted, citing the US’s considerably harsher banking rules. The irony that the US is criticizing India’s human rights record when there are many examples of hate crimes, racial assaults, and maltreatment of minorities in the US is also brought to light by India.

You might also be interested in – Union Health Ministry’s New Guidelines: Ethical use of ‘leftover’ biological samples for research and innovation