USCIRF recommends sanctions on India’s RAW, review of arms sales over religious freedom concerns

By Jag Jivan

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has called for a review of U.S. arms sales to India, sanctions on India’s intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), and legislation to counter transnational repression by governments like India against individuals in the United States.

These recommendations accompany USCIRF’s decision to designate India as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for the sixth consecutive year, citing severe violations of religious freedom and human rights. The CPC label is reserved for the world’s worst offenders in restricting religious liberties.

In its 2025 Annual Report, USCIRF noted a continued deterioration of religious freedoms in India, pointing to anti-minority hate speech by ruling party leaders during the 2024 elections, discriminatory laws, punitive demolitions of mosques and churches, and violent attacks by Hindu nationalist groups against Muslims, Christians, and other minorities.

The report stated, “Throughout its 10 years in power, [the Indian government] has increasingly enforced sectarian policies seeking to establish India as an overtly Hindu state, in contrast with the secular principles of the constitution… The Indian government also continued to expand its repressive tactics to target religious minorities abroad, specifically members of the Sikh community and their advocates.”

USCIRF highlighted that misinformation and hate speech by officials fueled attacks on minorities, while violent incidents—including cow vigilante assaults and mob lynchings—persisted with impunity.

To address these concerns, USCIRF recommended:

- Designating India as a CPC

- Sanctioning Indian officials and entities, including RAW

- Reviewing U.S. arms sales to India in light of anti-minority violence

- Passing the Transnational Repression Reporting Act of 2024 to monitor foreign government crackdowns on U.S.-based individuals

The report urges the U.S. State Department to act on these recommendations and hold the Indian government accountable for alleged repression, both domestically and abroad.

Beyond the 'silent relocation' narrative in Bangladesh's Chittagong Hill Tracts

By Dr. Mohammad Asaduzzaman* In recent years, a narrative has emerged from the rugged and forested terrain of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), portraying the region as the site of a “silent relocation” — a mass forced migration of Bangladesh’s non-Muslim ethnic communities into neighboring India and Myanmar.

Ram, Bam and Bengal: Memories of a Left turn toward the Right

By Rajiv Shah The BJP ’s massive electoral win in West Bengal is being interpreted across political persuasions — except, of course, by the BJP itself — as the result of the alleged deletion of around 90 lakh voters from the electoral rolls during the controversial intensive revision process. This may well be true, given my own experience in Gujarat regarding the shoddy manner in which electoral revisions have often been conducted. In West Bengal, there also appeared to be a political angle to the exercise. But I am not interested in discussing that here, as enough has already appeared in the media on the subject.

The farmer's burden: How oil, war, and climate are rewriting the price of food

By Vikas Meshram The scorching flames of the Middle East conflict are now slowly reaching the kitchens of ordinary people. The true price of this war is paid in daily markets, vegetable shops, and in the shattered minds of farmers. Expensive crude oil, skyrocketing fertilizer prices, and rising agricultural costs are together creating the conditions for global food inflation — and this crisis is directly tied to what people eat and drink every day.

Counterview

Search This Blog