‘Ill-Informed’: India Retorts to US State Dept Report on Religious Freedom

The report said that attacks on members of the minority communities occurred throughout the year in India in 2021.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken 

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/SecBlinken)

Retaliating to the United States State Department's annual report on international religious freedom, which alleged that attacks on members of the minority communities, including killings, assaults, and intimidation, occurred throughout the year in India in 2021, India said on Friday, 3 June, that it is "unfortunate that vote bank politics is being practiced in international relations."

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) further suggested, "We would urge that assessments based on motivated inputs and biased views be avoided."

India further said:

"We have noted release of US State Department 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom and ill-informed comments by senior US officials...As a naturally pluralistic society, India values religious freedom and human rights. In our discussions with the US, we have regularly highlighted issues of concern there, including racially and ethnically motivated attacks, hate crimes and gun violence."

Released at the State Department's Foggy Bottom headquarters, the report provided a perspective on the violations and status of the freedom of religion around the globe, with each country spread over individual chapters. It is compiled by the Office of International Religious Freedom, led by IRF Ambassador Rashad Hussain.

US Secretary of State Tony Blinken, asserting that the US will continue to defend religious freedom around the world, said that the number of attacks on religious figures and places of worship in India has increased.

"In India, the world’s largest democracy, and home to a great diversity of faiths, we’ve seen rising attacks on people and places of worship,” Blinken said, as he released the report.

What Does the Report Say?

While the India section of the report avoids giving any opinion on the status of religious minorities, it documents various aspects as covered in the Indian media and within official government reports. It also quotes allegations of various non-profit organisations, and minority institutions on attacks on them, but most of the time it is quite silent on the results of the investigations being undertaken by the officials, responses of the government.

In the past, India has rejected the religious freedom report by the US and has cited the absence of locus standi for any foreign government to comment on the condition of its citizens' constitutional rights.

"Attacks on members of religious minority communities, including killings, assaults, and intimidation, occurred throughout the year. These included incidents of ‘cow vigilantism' against non-Hindus based on allegations of cow slaughter or trade in beef," said the India section of the report.

It does takes note of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat's statement that Hindus and Muslims in India had the same DNA and should not be differentiated by religion.

"In July, Mohan Bhagwat, the chief of the RSS, which is commonly considered to be the ideological parent to India's ruling party BJP, publicly stated that Hindus and Muslims in India had the same DNA and should not be differentiated by religion," the report said.

"There can never be any dominance of either Hindus or Muslims (in the country); there can only be the dominance of Indians," Bhagwat said, adding that members of the Muslim community should not be afraid that Islam is in danger in India. He also said that killing non-Hindus for cow slaughter was an act against Hinduism, the report said.

"Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on 12 September publicly stated that earlier governments in Uttar Pradesh had favoured Muslim constituents in benefits distribution," the report said.

The report said that the police arrested non-Hindus for making comments in the media or on social media that were considered offensive to Hindus or Hinduism.

(With inputs from PTI.)