US panel on religious freedom calls for sanctions on RSS, RAW; India cries 'bias'

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has flagged the alleged deterioration in religious freedom in India and called for linking Washington's future security assistance and bilateral trade to improvements in New Delhi's record on the issue.

In its annual report, the USCIRF also asked that "targeted sanctions" be imposed on individuals and entities, such as the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), for their "responsibility and tolerance of severe violations of religious freedom by freezing those individuals' or entities' assets and/or barring their entry into the United States."

The report said that future US security assistance and bilateral trade policies with India should be linked to improvements in religious freedom.

Meanwhile, India yesterday (16 March) categorically rejected the "motivated and biased characterisation" of the country in the 2026 Annual Report of USCIRF, reports The Telegraph.

Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson of India's External Affairs Ministry, said, "We have taken note of the latest report of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). We categorically reject its motivated and biased characterisation of India."

The USCIRF report recommended to the US government that India be designated as a "country of particular concern," or CPC, for "engaging in and tolerating systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations".

The report said that in 2025, religious freedom conditions in India continued to deteriorate as the government introduced and enforced new legislation targeting religious minority communities and their houses of worship.

"Several states undertook efforts to introduce or strengthen anti-conversion laws to include 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.

USCIRF said the US Congress should reintroduce and pass the Transnational Repression Reporting Act of 2024 to "require the annual reporting of acts of transnational repression by the Indian government targeting religious minorities in the United States."

In a statement, USCIRF Chair Vicky Hartzler said, "China arrests underground church members, mob violence is on the rise in India and Pakistan, leading to attacks on religious minorities and the destruction of their homes, Burma's military bombs houses of worship, and Tajikistan denies parents the right to teach their children about faith."

"As USCIRF's Annual Report shows, far too many people in key nations are denied religious freedom through unjust laws, discrimination, harassment, violence, and even crimes against humanity. The US government must continue to advance religious freedom abroad to make a difference for those facing religious persecution."

The USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan agency within the US federal government. It makes policy recommendations to the US president, secretary of state, and Congress and tracks the implementation of these recommendations.