India Must Be Held Accountable for Religious Freedom Violations

India Must Be Held Accountable for Religious Freedom Violations

Washington, DC - The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is deeply concerned about the visit of Mohan Bhagwat, chief of India's Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), to the United States. As USCIRF has reported in recent years, members of RSS subgroups have perpetrated violent attacks against religious minorities, including Christians, Dalits, Muslims, and Sikhs.

Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has enforced policies that closely align with the RSS' Hindutva ideology, inherently discriminating against religious minority communities. The government has also engaged in acts of transnational repression to target religious minorities beyond its borders, including assassination and assassination attempts on members of Sikh communities in North America.

"Religious freedom conditions in India continue to deteriorate as violence and incitement are frequently used to target religious minority communities," said Chair Asif Mahmood. "We urge the U.S. government to consider targeted sanctions against RSS members and Indian officials complicit in religious freedom violations, including revoking the visa issued to Mohan Bhagwat and making him ineligible for future entry into the United States."

Under the BJP-led government, Indian authorities have failed to prevent, investigate, or punish egregious mob violence against Muslims and Christians. Such vigilante violence is often predicated on enforcing the Indian government's strict anti-conversion laws predominately targeting Christians and other religious minorities. Authorities have also forcefully expelled Muslim citizens in Assam under the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Space for civil society has additionally diminished under the ruling BJP government, with pending amendments to the Financial Contributions Regulation Act (FCRA) threatening the ability of faith-based organizations to continue their operations in the country.

"The U.S. government has an opportunity to hold India accountable and signal that the United States stands for religious freedom for the people of India," said Vice Chair Cece Heil. "Without this accountability, religious freedom will only deteriorate further, as vigilante mobs continue to attack religious minorities and their houses of worship under the guise of enforcing anti-conversion laws and other harmful policies."

In its 2026 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S. Department of State designate India as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for engaging in systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations. USCIRF highlighted India's religious freedom conditions during its hearing on Deteriorating Religious Freedom Conditions in India in May 2026.

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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze and report on religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion or belief. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected].