India rebuffs USCIRF’s 2026 report urging US sanctions on RAW and RSS, calling it biased and politically motivated.
Newsroom (17/03/2026 Gaudium Press) In a forceful rebuttal of a United States agency’s annual report, the Indian government has dismissed as “motivated and biased” recommendations seeking targeted sanctions on its premier intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, addressing reporters in New Delhi on March 16, said the government “categorically rejects” the report issued by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). The Commission had called for the freezing of assets and travel bans against individuals associated with the two organizations, claiming worsening religious freedom conditions in India.
USCIRF’s Allegations and Recommendations
In its 2026 annual report, the USCIRF alleged that religious freedom in India continued to deteriorate through 2025. It urged the US government to consider designating India as a “country of particular concern,” a designation that would potentially impact defense cooperation and trade ties.
According to the report, official policies and vigilante actions increasingly targeted minorities—particularly Christians and Muslims. It accused local administrations of facilitating detentions, expulsions, and anti-conversion laws that carry harsher penalties. The Commission cited examples from Odisha, where 20 Christian families allegedly suffered mob attacks for refusing to convert to Hinduism, and from Assam, where hundreds of Bengali-speaking Muslims were expelled despite being Indian citizens.
The report also detailed the May 2025 detention of 40 Rohingya refugees, including Christians, who were allegedly forced into international waters and compelled to swim ashore into Myanmar. The authors of the report claimed these incidents illustrated “a systemic erosion of religious pluralism” in India.
India’s Sharp Rebuttal
Jaiswal countered that the USCIRF’s findings were based on “questionable sources and ideological biases rather than objective facts.” He argued that the Commission has, for years, sought to portray India in an unfairly negative light, ignoring its complex social and democratic plurality.
“Such repeated misrepresentations only undermine the credibility of the Commission itself,” Jaiswal asserted. He also drew attention to what he called “growing intolerance and intimidation” faced by Indian diaspora communities in the United States and recent incidents of vandalism against Hindu temples. According to him, USCIRF should address such issues at home rather than selectively criticize other nations.
Domestic Responses and Diverging Voices
Reactions within India to the USCIRF report were mixed. While government officials and ruling party supporters dismissed the report outright, some leaders from minority communities acknowledged certain concerns but criticized the report’s conflation of state institutions with non-governmental organizations.
A. C. Michael, a former member of the Delhi state minority commission, noted, “RAW is a government agency, while the RSS has a suspicious history and was banned in the past by the Indian government.” He added that splinter groups linked to the RSS often fuel mistrust and division among religious communities.
Mohammed Arif Khan, coordinator of the All India Secular Forum in Uttar Pradesh, agreed that the report underscored genuine issues faced by minorities but urged internal reform. “This kind of adverse reporting against India globally could be avoided if government agencies act against those targeting minorities without impunity,” he said.
Broader Diplomatic Undertones
The USCIRF’s recommendation to impose sanctions—such as freezing assets and barring entry to individuals linked with RAW or the RSS—marks one of the strongest stances by the Commission in recent years toward India. However, it is ultimately up to the White House and the US State Department to act on these recommendations, which in past administrations, including that of Donald Trump, were not pursued.
The dispute underscores the growing friction between Washington’s human rights advocacy mechanisms and New Delhi’s insistence on national sovereignty and non-interference. While India remains a strategic partner for the US in the Indo-Pacific, such reports continue to inject diplomatic tension into an otherwise strengthening relationship.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from UCA News
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