After the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) publicly criticised the RSS, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued a statement, on Friday, calling the body biased and accusing it of having a history of making inflammatory remarks about India.
In a statement released on X, the USCIRF had said that the US government should focus on imposing sanctions on RSS members found guilty of violating religious freedoms.
It also called for the US government to link security assistance and bilateral trade policies towards India to religious freedom in the country, while recommending that India be designated a “country of particular concern”. Jaiswal refused to comment on Islamabad summoning a US diplomat over US Ambassador Sergio Gor’s recent remarks that Jammu and Kashmir is an “important part of India”. He said there was no reason to comment on Pakistan’s “frustration”.
Earlier this year, the agency had created a stir when it recommended targeted sanctions against India’s external intelligence agency and the RSS.
“We are all aware that the organisation—or entity—you are referring to is biased; for years, it has been making disparaging and inflammatory remarks about India. I would say we should steer clear of such organisations, as they operate with their own agendas and lack any credibility or trustworthiness. “India’s PM Modi is a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), an Indian umbrella organisation whose sub-groups have perpetrated attacks on religious minorities, including Christians and Muslims.
That is my response to that point,” Jaiswal said. Created in 1998 by an act of Congress, the USCIRF “monitors the universal right to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) abroad” and makes recommendations to the US President, Secretary of State, and Congress. The agency says it acts independently, but the US President and senior political leaders in the House of Representatives and the Senate appoint its nine commissioners. Now the RSS leader, Mohan Bhagwat, plans to visit the US,” said Asif Mahmood, the chairman of the USCIRF.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, responding to a question from a journalist during a press conference on Friday, said that the ministry was aware of the statement made by the body and added that such organisations lack credibility.
