New Delhi: Rejecting the US State Department’s 2023 religious freedom report, which cites anti-conversion laws, hate speech, and demolitions of homes and places of worship belonging to minorities in India, India labeled the report as “deeply biased” and stated that the US does not have the right to interfere in other countries’ internal matters.
US released its report on International Religious Freedom on Wednesday with the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stating: “Today, governments around the world continue to target individuals, shutter places of worship, forcibly displace communities, and imprison people because of their religious beliefs.”
However, India on Friday said it “lacks an understanding of India’s social fabric, and is visibly driven by votebank considerations and a prescriptive outlook.”
Addressing the media, MEA Spokesperson Randhir 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 also mentioned that the report itself is a mix of false claims, misleading information, selective facts, and biased sources, presenting a one-sided view of the issues. This even includes the way it describes our constitutional provisions and laws in India, the official added.
“In 2023, India has officially addressed numerous cases in the US, including hate crimes, racial attacks on Indian nationals and other minorities, the vandalism and targeting of places of worship, violence, and mistreatment by law enforcement authorities, as well as giving political space to those who support extremism and terrorism abroad. However, such discussions should not give the right for foreign interference in other countries,” he said.