275 Former Indian Judges and Officers Slam US Religious Freedom Report
In a strong rebuke, 275 former judges, retired civil servants, and ex-armed forces officers have condemned a recent report by the United States Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). The report, which seeks to designate India as a "country of particular concern", has been labeled as "very disturbing and completely off-the-mark" by the group.
USCIRF Recommendations and Indian Response
The USCIRF has recommended to the US Government to impose targeted sanctions on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of the ruling BJP, and the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), India's external intelligence agency. The commission accuses these organizations of involvement in violations of religious freedom.
This recommendation has been met with firm rejection from the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, which has called the report "motivated and biased." The former officials echoed this sentiment, questioning the credibility of the USCIRF commissioners and the report's findings.
Demographic Evidence Presented
The group of former judges and bureaucrats, including notable figures such as Supreme Court ex-judges Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice Hemant Gupta, former Himachal Pradesh Governor Justice Vishnu Sadashiv Kokje, and former Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal, highlighted key demographic trends to counter the report's claims.
- The Muslim population in India increased from 9.8% in 1951 to 14.2% in 2011.
- The Christian and Sikh populations remained stable at 2.3% and 1.7%, respectively.
- In contrast, the Hindu population declined from 20-22% in undivided Pakistan to 1.5-2% in Pakistan and 7-8% in Bangladesh.
They argued that "such longitudinal evidence is critical and suggests that the overall ecosystem in India has not produced the kind of sustained demographic contraction among minorities that would ordinarily indicate systemic persecution or institutionalised exclusion."
Critique of USCIRF's Methodology
The former officials urged the USCIRF to examine long-term demographic trends across the Indian subcontinent with a more objective approach. They stated that the commission's recommendations to freeze assets, restrict movement of Indian citizens, and impose restrictions on those associated with the RSS are "highly motivated, and displays intellectual bankruptcy and deranged conclusions."
In their statement, they criticized the report for portraying Indian state institutions and socio-cultural organizations like the RSS in overwhelmingly negative aspects without proper macro-level evidence. They emphasized that "the RSS, with its extensive grassroots presence and contributions to social service and nation-building, may well be subject to critique, but such critique must be grounded in verifiable evidence and contextual understanding, not only on broad generalizations."
The group's condemnation underscores a significant diplomatic and ideological clash, with India's former top officials defending the nation's record on religious freedom against international scrutiny.
