India's religious freedom under lens again as US report cites 'concerning rise' in minority bashing

UNITED STATES secretary of state Antony Blinken on Wednesday (26) unveiled the state department's 2023 religious freedom report for more than 200 nations and remarked that there was a "concerning rise" in hate speech, anti-conversion laws, destruction of homes and places of worship for people who belong the minority groups in India.

The diplomat while releasing the report said religious freedom was something that was still not respected for millions of people across the globe. Blinken also added that people were also making serious efforts to protect religious freedom at the same time.

Religion became a major issue over which two major political parties of India, including prime minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and opposition Indian National Congress, clashed verbally during the recent general elections in the south Asian country.

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The opposition party had also accused the PM of making hate speech against a minority community by alleging that the former was planning to give away people's hard-earned money to "infiltrators" and "those who have more children". The BJP denied the accusations.

As per the US state department's report, senior officials in Washington raised concerns over issues of religious freedom with their Indian counterparts in 2023.

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Blinken remarked, "In India, we see a concerning increase in anti-conversion laws, hate speech, demolitions of homes and places of worship for members of minority faith communities. At the same time, people around the world are also working hard to protect religious freedom."

The report mentioned attacks on minority communities, including murders and assaults, and vandalism of their places of worship.

It added that some members of minority groups even challenged the government's ability and intent to protect them from violence and probe crimes committed against them and uphold their freedom of religion or belief.

India has rejected such claims. Last year, New Delhi refused to agree with findings of the state department's report on religious freedom in India and countered that they were based on "misinformation and flawed understanding".

"Motivated and biased commentary by some US officials only serves to undermine further the credibility of these reports," the ministry of external affairs said.

"We value our partnership with the US and will continue to have frank exchanges on issues of concern to us," it added.

Analysts believe that the US's criticism of India on such issues is generally restricted by the two nations' close economic ties and India's strategic importance for Washington in dealing with China.