US religious freedom panel recommends sanctions on RSS, RAW; India previously rejects findings

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has recommended targeted sanctions against entities including the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and India’s external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), alleging violations of religious freedom.

In its latest annual report, the USCIRF again designated India as a “country of particular concern” and urged the United States government to link arms sales and trade policies with New Delhi to improvements in religious freedom.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs has not yet responded to the latest report. However, it has rejected the commission’s findings in previous years, describing them as “biased” and “politically motivated.”

Created in 1998 by an act of the US Congress, the USCIRF monitors the global status of freedom of religion or belief and makes policy recommendations to the US president, the secretary of state and Congress. The body says it operates independently, although its nine commissioners are appointed by the US president and senior congressional leaders.

Claims of worsening religious freedom

In its report, the USCIRF said conditions for religious freedom in India have “continued to deteriorate” and accused the government of targeting religious minorities and places of worship. It said several Indian states had moved to introduce or strengthen anti-conversion laws, including provisions for harsher prison sentences.

“Indian authorities also facilitated widespread detention and illegal expulsion of citizens and religious refugees and tolerated vigilante attacks against religious minority communities,” the report said. The commission also criticised legislation such as the Waqf (Amendment) Act, which introduces changes to the regulation and management of Islamic charitable endowments, and the Uttarakhand State Authority for Minority Education Act.

It further cited communal clashes in states including Maharashtra, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh, blaming groups such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, an RSS affiliate, for incidents of violence.

Call for policy pressure on India

The USCIRF recommended that Washington exert pressure on New Delhi over religious freedom issues. Specifically, it urged the US government to enforce Section 6 of the Arms Export Control Act to halt arms sales to India, citing “continued acts of intimidation and harassment against US citizens and religious minorities.”

India has repeatedly rejected report

India has consistently dismissed the USCIRF’s assessments. In 2025, the external affairs ministry said the commission continued a pattern of issuing “biased and politically motivated” reports.

It said the USCIRF’s attempts to highlight isolated incidents and portray them as systemic problems reflected a deliberate agenda rather than genuine concern for religious freedom. The ministry stressed that India is home to 1.4 billion people of diverse faiths and that its society is rooted in a pluralistic and multicultural framework.

“Such efforts to undermine India’s standing as a beacon of democracy and tolerance will not succeed,” the ministry said last year, adding that “it is the USCIRF that should be designated as an entity of concern.” India has also denied visas to USCIRF delegations and pushed back strongly against the commission’s criticism of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act introduced in 2019.