Centre rejects US body's remarks urging sanctions on RSS

The Centre has rubbished the remarks made by senior officials of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) who urged the Trump administration not to extend diplomatic courtesies to RSS leaders and to impose sanctions on the organisation.

Centre rejects USCIRF remarks

Speaking to reporters, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal refuted the remarks while describing the USCIRF as a "biased" organisation.

"We are all aware that the organisation that you are referring to has been making disparaging and inflammatory remarks about India," he said at his bi-weekly media briefing on Friday (August 21).

Also Read: US body demands denial of diplomatic courtesies to RSS leaders during Bhagwat's visit

"It is a biased organisation. I would say that we should keep away from such organisations as they have their own agenda and lack any credibility," added Jaiswal.

Jaiswal was responding to a question on the remarks by the USCIRF officials.

USCIRF calls for sanctions on RSS

USCIRF Commissioner Gene Mills said RSS leaders, even when affiliated with the Indian government, should not be honoured with high-level meetings or diplomatic courtesies. "Instead, the USG (US Government) should focus on imposing sanctions on RSS members found responsible for FoRB (freedom of religious belief) violations," Mills said.

Also Read: USCIRF recommends ban on RSS: 275 former judges, officials slam report

USCIRF chair Asif Mahmood described RSS as an umbrella organisation whose sub-groups have perpetrated attacks on religious minorities.

USCIRF posted the remarks by Mahmood and Mills on its X account.

USCIRF report on India

In March, the USCIRF annual report criticised India for alleged violations of religious freedom and backed "targeted sanctions" on individuals and entities such as the RSS and Research and Analysis Wing, holding them responsible for the matter.

In its recommendation, the USCIRF also called for designating India as a "country of particular concern" or CPC, for engaging in and "tolerating systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations, as defined by the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA)".

HinduPACT condemns USCIRF

Meanwhile, a US-based advocacy group, HinduPACT, on Friday condemned the public opposition by members of the USCIRF to RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat's visit to New York.

USCIRF chair Asif Mahmood and Commissioner Gene Mills opposed Bhagwat’s visit to the US and called upon the government to impose sanctions on the RSS.

Also Read: How RSS emerged as a response to decline of Brahminical dominance 100 years ago

“USCIRF has disgraced its mandate. When its chair speaks about India and the RSS, he sounds less like the head of a pluralistic American commission and more like an advocate for a hardened anti-Hindu narrative,” said Ajay Shah, Founder and Chair of HinduPACT.

Groups oppose Bhagwat visit

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Hindus for Human Rights (HfHR) and Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) have also opposed Bhagwat’s visit to the US.

“Mohan Bhagwat leads one of the world’s most consequential Hindu organisations. He should not be met with slander scripted by CAIR, IAMC, and HfHR, groups that have made a habit of treating Hindu self-assertion as extremism,” Shah said.

(With agency inputs)