The US Commission for International Religious Freedom or USCIRF report recommended to the Biden Administration to designate India, China, Pakistan, Afghanistan and 11 other nations as “countries of particular concern” in the context of religious freedom
Hindu body in Washington has called the USCIRF report on religious freedom a work of “Hinduphobic” commission members while Muslim and Christian groups hailed the observations made in it, demanding that the US declare India as a “country of particular concern”.
HinduPACT, an initiative of the World Hindu Council of America, in a statement said that the USCIRF has been taken over by “Indophobic and Hinduphobic members” of The American Muslim Institution (AMI) and its associate organisations.
The Federation of Indian-American Christian Organisations and the Indian-American Muslim Council in separate statements reportedly applauded the USCIRF recommendation.
During a special virtual congressional briefing, a day after the release of the report, USCIRF Commissioner Anurima Bhargava had alleged that Indian government officials were tolerating and engaging in religious persecution of Muslims and Christians with prolific mob violence.
India has dismissed such allegations. Senior US government officials have told lawmakers that India has a vibrant civil society, an independent judiciary and a mature functional democracy, which has enough mechanisms to address the internal human rights concerns if any.
“This year’s report follows a pattern of reports that have appeared in previous years. Based on publicly available information on topics like the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and Kashmir, the USCIRF report is a copy-and-paste of talking points peddled by an agglomeration of Islamist groups working with radical Islamist group Justice for All on whose platform USCIRF commissioners appear regularly,” alleged Utsav Chakrabarti, executive director of HinduPACT.
“It is now obvious that the USCIRF has been taken over by the Indophobic and Hinduphobic members. Many of these members have attended India and Hindu bashing events. It is no surprise that their selective observations are meant to promote a political agenda and further their electoral reach in select communities,” said Ajay Shah, president of the World Hindu Council of America (VHPA).
Source: NDTV India
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