India describes USCIRF as ‘Organisation of Particular Concern'

New Delhi: India on Tuesday refused to given credence to USCIRF 2020 Annual Report which places the country in list of Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) and claimed that credibility of the organisation within the US system itself is low. Delhi has described it as an ‘organization of particular concern’.

USCIRF is under scanner by the USA establishment and its credibility is under question mark, highly placed sources told ET. Interestingly CPC list includes both Russia and China, two Permanent members of UN Security Council.

In an statement the government said, “We reject the observations on India in the USCIRF Annual Report. Their biased and tendentious comments against India are not new. But on this occasion, it’s misrepresentation has reached new levels. It has not been able to carry half (three out of six) of its own Commissioners in its endeavour. We regard it as an organization of particular concern and will treat it accordingly.”


"In 2019, religious freedom conditions in India experienced a drastic turn downward, with religious minorities under increasing assault. Following the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) re-election in May, the national government used its strengthened parliamentary majority to institute national level policies violating religious freedom across India, especially for Muslims. The national government allowed violence against minorities and their houses of worship to continue with impunity, and also engaged in and tolerated hate speech and incitement to violence," USCIRF claimed in its section on India.

The body advised the US government to impose targeted sanctions on Indian government agencies and officials responsible for severe violations of religious freedom by freezing those individuals’ assets and/ or barring their entry into the United States under human rights-related financial and visa authorities, citing specific religious freedom violations

ET has further learnt that the members of organisation are divided among themselves and the current administration in Washington once even thought of wrapping up the organisation dominated by a certain political view.