USCIRF Report Seen as 'CIA-Plot' to Defame & Divide India

"It continues to misrepresent facts and peddles a motivated narrative about India. We reject this malicious report, which only serves to discredit USCIRF further," the MEA said.

A top Hindu group and a member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have described the USCIRF's 'Country Update: India' report released on Wednesday as part of a larger effort to "defame Hindus" and incite Indian minorities against the government.

"The report is utterly baseless, biased, devoid of facts and part of a deep-rooted conspiracy to defame India. Tell me one time when the USCIRF praised India for religious harmony and diversity. The report seems to have been prepared by enemies of India with a larger objective: to defame our country and Hindus in particular," International Joint General Secretary of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Surendra Kumar Jain told Sputnik India.

Jain said that the report should be "completely rejected and not taken seriously at all". He took a particularly strong exception to the US agency report casting the consecration of Ram Temple in a negative light. The USCIRF said that BJP's election promises, which include inauguration of the Ram Temple, have "negatively and disproportionately impacted religious minorities".

The consecration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya that was widely celebrated, was a matter of great pride for India and brought to end a longstanding dispute, he emphasised.

The US federal commission has accused the Modi government of "reinforced discriminatory nationalist policies" and failing to address violence which it claims has "disproportionately affected" the minorities, which comprise around 20% of the population.

"Continued enforcement of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), and anti-conversion and cow slaughter laws resulted in the arbitrary detention, monitoring, and targeting of religious minorities and those advocating on their behalf," the report claims.

In the context of Manipur, a northeastern state grappling with ethnic tensions between majority Meitei and Kuki communities since last May, the report asserts that targeting of churches illustrated "a clear religious dimension to an ethnic conflict". It regurgitates claims that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have failed to bring in check the restive situation in the state.

"The conflict in Manipur is not a religious conflict as the West is trying to portray it. You have the Meitei, who are not only Hindus, but also Christians and Muslims. You have the Kukis, who are predominantly Christians. The tensions were triggered by the High Court ordering the state government to consider providing Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the Meitei people. Another factor driving the conflict is the competition to control the land and narcotics trade by militants from both sides," BJP politician Savio Rodrigues explained in an interview with Sputnik India.

Although the report claimed that nearly 400 churches were targeted, it failed to mention that nearly the same number of temples had also been attacked in the state, the BJP functionary pointed out.

Rodrigues highlighted that even Meitei Christians have raised concerns over the violence perpetrated by Kuki separatists.

The US has "entered" the Manipur situation in a "subtle way" through US Baptist Church-linked missionaries who have been found to be inciting Kukis against Meiteis in several cases, Rodrigues said.

"The report is completely biased, driven by the CIA agenda. It is trying to create a fear psychosis among Christians which shows that the Indian government is a Hindu majoritarian one. It tries to show that Christians are being oppressed all across India, including in Manipur. It overlooks the fact that Manipur tensions are mainly because of ethnic differences," Rodrigues stated, noting the report's claims about Manipur and "violence against Christians".

The politician questioned the US commission for pointing fingers at India's political leadership and police over the situation in Manipur. He underscored that the US agency report appeared to be a part of a "larger game being played by the CIA to discredit the Indian government".

"In fact, the narrative around oppression of Christians, perpetrated by the CIA and brought into sections of Christians in India, is being played in churches across India to antagonise the community against the government," Rodrigues concluded.

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