Washington, D.C. (March 26, 2025) - Hindus for Human Rights (HfHR) welcomes the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom’s recommendation, for the sixth consecutive year, for the State Department to designate India as a Country of Particular Concern. HfHR echoes USCIRF’s concerns about the worsening conditions of religious freedom in India in its 2025 annual report. HfHR also supports USCIRF’s additional recommendations, including Congressional review of arms sales to India and sanctions against India’s intelligence agency, RAW, and Vikash Yadav after both the agency and Yadav were named in the attempted murder of an American on US soil.
USCIRF’s 2025 Annual Report cites examples of the various violations of religious freedom that took place in the past year and that continue to take place. As the report outlines, “Authorities continued to exploit antiterror and financing laws, including the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) to crack down on civil society organizations and detain members of religious minorities, human rights defenders, and journalists reporting on religious freedom.” The Indian government has become more brazen in its attacks on religious minorities. Parliament passed a new criminal code in 2024 while suspending most opposition parliamentarians. This new code leaves religious minorities more vulnerable to legal attacks. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah led the BJP to use Islamophobic hate speech routinely in election campaigns. And in Manipur, the state government continued to support majoritarian violence against the mostly Christian Kuki community.
Over the last year, this violence has now spread beyond India’s borders. In 2023, the Department of Justice revealed that agents of the Indian government attempted to kill an American citizen in a plot linked to a successful assassination in Canada. In 2024, the Department of Justice unsealed an indictment alleging that Vikash Yadav, then employed by India’s intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), had orchestrated multiple murder-for-hire plots, and suggested that high-level Indian officials may have been involved. Canadian intelligence officers reported that Amit Shah helped plan this scheme to attack Sikhs living in North America, and that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval, were aware of the plot. USCIRF, rightfully, expresses alarm at this dramatic transnational repression campaign, and we are grateful that USCIRF recommends sanctions against RAW and Yadav.
“We are glad to see USCIRF, yet again, acknowledge the systematic persecution of religious minorities in India and how this is now spilling over into the diaspora,” said HfHR Policy Director Ria Chakrabarty. “Religious freedom in India is undeniably under attack, and those attacks have now metastasized into attacks on Americans. Secretary Rubio must prioritize USCIRF’s recommendations, including designating India as a Country of Particular Concern, as a matter of national security.”
USCIRF recommends that the US government:
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Designate 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);
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Impose targeted sanctions on individuals and entities, such as Vikash Yadav and RAW, for their culpability in severe violations of religious freedom by freezing their assets and/or barring their entry into the United States; and
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Encourage the U.S. Embassy and consulates to incorporate religious freedom into public statements and speeches, as outlined in the U.S. Department of State’s Guidelines to Support Civil Society and Human Rights Defenders.
USCIRF also recommends that the US Congress:
- Reintroduce, pass, and enforce the Transnational Repression Reporting Act of 2024 to ensure the annual reporting of acts of transnational repression by the Indian government targeting religious minorities in the United States;
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Conduct a review assessing whether arms sales to India, such as MQ-9B Drones under Section 36 of the Arms Export Control Act, may contribute to or exacerbate religious freedom violations; and
- Request and prioritize meetings with religious minority communities and faith based civil society organizations during congressional delegations to India.
HfHR calls on the State Department to comply with the International Religious Freedom Act and accept USCIRF’s recommendation to designate India as a Country of Particular Concern. The Indian government must be held accountable for violating the rights of religious minorities.
