The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has called for sanctions against the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). India has criticized the commission as “biased” following the recommendation.
Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the U.S. commission has continuously made “denigrating and provocative remarks” about India.
Jaiswal further said: “It is an extremely biased organization. I would say we should stay away from such organizations, because they have their own specific agenda and carry no credibility whatsoever… We do not expect USCIRF to understand the reality of India’s multidimensional and pluralistic framework, or to acknowledge the peaceful coexistence of its various communities.”
According to an NDTV report, USCIRF Chairman Asif Mahmud, a Pakistan-born U.S. citizen, has opposed RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s upcoming visit to the United States. He has called on the U.S. government to impose sanctions on the RSS. Mohan Bhagwat is due to visit New York on August 29.
The U.S. commission has also called on Washington to extend no diplomatic courtesy to RSS leaders. It described the RSS as an “umbrella organization” whose affiliated groups, it said, have attacked religious minorities.
The commission further said: “Instead, the U.S. government should look toward imposing sanctions on RSS members identified as responsible for violations of freedom of religion or belief (FoRB).”
USCIRF’s annual report, published this past March, had sharply criticized India over “religious freedom violations.” In it, the commission also recommended “targeted sanctions” against individuals and institutions it held responsible, including the RSS and India’s intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). The recommendation also called for India to be listed as a “Country of Particular Concern.”
USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan agency of the U.S. federal government. It makes policy recommendations to the U.S. president, secretary of state and Congress, and monitors progress on their implementation.
Meanwhile, U.S.-based rights organization HinduPACT has condemned USCIRF members’ public opposition to the RSS chief’s New York visit. The organization said the U.S. commission has “tarnished its own responsibility and purpose.”
HinduPACT founder and chairman Ajay Shah said: “When its chairman speaks about India and the RSS, he sounds less like the head of a pluralistic American commission and more like a proponent of hardline anti-Hindu rhetoric… Mohan Bhagwat leads one of the world’s most significant Hindu organizations. He should not be treated with the kind of smears manufactured by CAIR, IAMC and HfHR. These organizations have made a habit of portraying Hindu self-assertion as extremism.”
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report