‘Based on misinformation, flawed’: India rejects US report on religious freedom

New Delhi: India has rejected the US State Department’s report on international religious freedom, saying it is based on “misinformation and flawed understanding”. According to a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs, spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, ‘We are aware of the release of the US State Department’s 2022 Report on International Religious Freedom. Sadly, such reports continue to be based on misinformation and flawed understanding. He further said that the reports are motivated and biased remarks by some US officials that only serve to undermine the credibility of these reports. But we will continue to exchange openly.”

The statement came in response to the US State Department’s 2022 report on International Religious Freedom, where it alleged high-handedness against minorities, especially Muslims, by various state governments in India.

“During the year there were numerous reports of violence by law enforcement officers against members of religious minorities in several states, including plainclothes police in Gujarat arresting four Muslim men accused of injuring Hindu worshipers during a festival in October, and Madhya Pradesh publicly flogged the state government. Muslim homes and shops were bulldozed following communal violence in Khargone in April,” the US report read.

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In June, the UN special envoys on adequate housing, minority issues, and freedom of religion and belief wrote to the government to express their “serious concern” about the “punitive” demolition in Khargone, which they said The order was given arbitrarily by the local governments. Punish Muslim minorities and low-income communities.”

In October, a report prepared by a citizens’ committee said there were “numerous instances of apparent police complicity” in violent actions against protesters, who were mostly Muslim, in the 2020 Delhi riots.

Following the release of the report, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that in India, legal advocates and faith leaders from various religious communities across the country condemned a case of extreme hate speech against Muslims in the city of Haridwar, calling on the country to support its called upon. Historical traditions of pluralism and tolerance.

Meanwhile, responding to a media query on the International Religious Freedom Report on India, a senior US State Department official said the official was pained to see the name of New Delhi and what has been highlighted in today’s report. Has happened.