New Delhi has rejected the US State Department’s 2023 religious freedom report as “deeply biased” and accused it of lacking an understanding of India’s social fabric. On Friday, MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal addressed the media, condemning the report for being driven by vote bank considerations and having a prescriptive outlook.
“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 vote bank considerations and a prescriptive outlook. We therefore reject it,” Jaiswal stated.
He criticized the report for being a mix of “imputations, misrepresentations, selective usage of facts, reliance on biased sources, and a one-sided projection of issues.” Jaiswal added that the report unfairly questions the validity of Indian laws and regulations, and even challenges the integrity of legal judgments by Indian courts.
Highlighting human rights as a legitimate subject of discussion between India and the US, Jaiswal mentioned that India has raised numerous cases of hate crimes, racial attacks, and vandalization in the US. However, he emphasized that such dialogue should not become a license for foreign interference.
The US report expressed concerns over anti-conversion laws, hate speech, and demolitions of homes and places of worship in India. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken noted an increase in anti-conversion laws and hate speech in India, alongside a rise in hate crimes against Muslims and Jews in the US.
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