Officials of a US advisory body on religious freedom have called for sanctions against the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and asked the American government not to extend diplomatic courtesies to its leaders or have high-level meetings with them.
USCIRF Commissioner Gene Mills said RSS leaders, even when affiliated with the Indian government, should not be honoured with high-level meetings or diplomatic courtesies.
The USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan US federal government agency. It makes policy recommendations to the US President, Secretary of State, and Congress and tracks the implementation of these recommendations.
USCIRF Commissioner Gene Mills said RSS leaders, even when affiliated with the Indian government, should not be honoured with high-level meetings or diplomatic courtesies. “Instead, the USG (US Government) should focus on imposing sanctions on RSS members found responsible for FoRB (freedom of religious belief) violations,” Mills said. Advocacy group Hindus for Human Rights said Bhagwat’s visit cannot be separated from the RSS network’s violence against Muslims and Christians. In its recommendation, the USCIRF also called for designating 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)”. External Affairs Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement in March that the USCIRF should be designated as an “entity of concern”, adding that its “persistent” attempts to cast aspersions on the country’s vibrant multicultural society reflect a “deliberate” agenda rather than a genuine concern for religious freedom.
