Washington, Nov 14: Indian ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra has asked an American advisory body to introspect on its own prejudices and stop lecturing others, after the bipartisan agency flagged arrests in India allegedly on religious grounds.
Kwatra’s sharp retort on Friday came after the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) shared Sharjeel Imam’s profile on X, describing him as “a Muslim man detained in India for his religious freedom advocacy”.
Former Jawaharlal Nehru University scholar Imam has been booked under UAPA (Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act) on allegations of being among the masterminds of the February 2020 riots that left 53 people dead and more than 700 injured.
The violence erupted during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019, and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
“USCIRF has no locus standi to sit in judgment over the constitutional rights of Indian citizens,” Kwatra said
“Its habitual partisan, ill-informed, and jaundiced assessments cannot diminish India’s constitutional commitment to religious freedom and equal rights for all faiths,” he said.
He said India flourishes, defying the agenda-driven partisan narratives of the USCIRF.
“Taking the same liberty that USCIRF so readily assumes, a word of advice: introspect on your own prejudices and stop lecturing others,” Kwatra said.
India describes USCIRF as a biased organisation that lacks credibility.
Established by the US government in 1998 after the inaction of the International Religious Freedom Act, the recommendations of USCIRF are non-binding on the US State Department. (PTI)
