Delhi reacts to US’ concern for religious freedom in India
India’s official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, “We have seen biased and inaccurate comments on India.”
India has reacted to reports by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) on religious freedom in the country. Indian-American diplomat Rashad Hussain earlier said that the United States was concerned about religious communities in India. In order to address the issues, he said that Washington was "directly dealing" with Indian officials.
India’s official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, “We have seen the biased and inaccurate comments on India by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). These comments reflect a severe lack of understanding of India and its constitutional framework, its plurality and its democratic ethos."
“Regrettably, USCIRF continues to misrepresent facts time and again in its statements and reports in pursuance of its motivated agenda. Such actions only serve to strengthen concerns about the credibility and objectivity of the organisation," he said.
“India now has a citizenship law that’s on the books. We have had open calls for genocide in India. We have had attacks on churches. We have had a ban on the hijab. We have had demolitions of homes," said Rashad Hussain while addressing the International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit in Washington.
“It is important that we work together and fight for the rights of all people. If there is anyone who is attacked - there was an attack yesterday, it was despicable — we have to condemn that too," Hussain said, referring to the Udaipur killing.
"We have got rhetoric that’s openly being used that’s dehumanising towards people, to the extent that one minister referred to Muslims as termites," he added.
Hussain said, "You have these ingredients. So, it's important that we take note and work towards the challenges we face."
Furthermore, he asserted that the United States had a duty to defend religious and human rights everywhere, not only in India. Hussain also mentioned meeting with Dalits, Sikhs, Indian Christians, and indigenous people in his speech.
He recalled that the Early Warning Project of the US Holocaust Museum had “designated India as the number two country in the world at risk of mass killings."
"For any society to live up to its potential, we have to secure the rights of all people. Our job is to protect the religious freedom of all people everywhere in the world" he said.
(With agency inputs)
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