India outright rejected the 2022 report on international religious freedom furnished by the US State Department, labeling it “flawed”, “biased” and “motivated”. The scathing report by the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, called out countries like Russia and China, along with India, who allegedly continue to freely target members of faith communities, expressing concern over attacks on religious minorities in these countries.
What is the International Freedom Report?
In accordance with Section 102(b) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-292), as amended, the Department of State submits an annual report to Congress on International Religious Freedom.
This report, also known as the International Religious Freedom Report, examines the state of religious freedom, government actions that violate the rights of individuals, groups, and denominations to practice their religion, and American initiatives that support religious freedom in almost all nations and territories around the world. The report is based on data from January 1 through December 31 of the previous calendar year, providing a fact-based, comprehensive view of the state of religious freedom in nearly 200 countries and territories around the world.
Additionally, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom submits an annual report that evaluates the state of religious freedom in 27 different nations and offers its own independent policy recommendations to the president, the secretary of state, and Congress. The mission and yearly reports of the USCIRF are distinct from and complementary to those of the Office of International Religious Freedom of the State Department.
The controversial 2022 iteration of the IRF report
“Far too many governments continue to freely target faith community members within their borders,” read an excerpt from Rashad Hussain, Ambassador at Large, Office of International Religious Freedom.
Blinken made no mention of India in his remarks, and the annual report’s section on the country is almost identical to that of the previous years in that it primarily documents claims of religious freedom violations made by media outlets and non-governmental organizations both inside and outside of India.
Hussain cited incidents of extreme hate speech against Muslims by legal advocates and faith leaders in Haridwar, as well as Rohingya suppression by the Burmese military, in the context of the report’s key findings regarding governments continuing to freely target faith communities. He also listed a few other countries, beginning with Russia and moving on to China, Afghanistan, and Saudi Arabia.
The India section of the report noted that there were numerous reports of law enforcement officials using violence against members of religious minorities in several states throughout the year. Examples included Gujarat’s plainclothes police publicly flogging four Muslim men in October after they were accused of injuring Hindu pilgrims, and the Madhya Pradesh government bulldozing Muslim-owned homes and businesses in April after communal unrest in Khargone.
US Commission for International Religious Freedom Chair Nury Turkel said in a statement that the International Religious Freedom Report is a crucial weapon in the struggle to hold violators accountable and enhance conditions for religious freedom around the world.
Response of Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson
Such reports, according to the spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, Arindam Bagchi, “remain based on misinformation and flawed understanding.”
While admonishing the declining credibility of the report thanks to “motivated and biased commentary by some US officials”, he also expressed a desire to continue open communication about pressing issues with their cherished allies in the US.
The report has been released prior to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first state visit to the US next month.