US religious freedom panel calls for action against India’s RAW: report

A United States government panel on religious freedom has recommended targeted sanctions against India’s external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), over its alleged involvement in assassination plots against Sikh separatists abroad.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), in its annual report released Tuesday, also advised that India be designated a “country of particular concern” due to the deteriorating conditions for religious minorities, particularly Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs.

“In 2024, religious freedom conditions in India continued to deteriorate as attacks and discrimination against religious minorities continued to rise,” the commission said.

USCIRF accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of spreading “hateful rhetoric and disinformation” against minorities during the 2024 general elections. It cited Modi’s remarks describing Muslims as “infiltrators” who “have more children” as an example of inflammatory language.

The panel’s recommendations are not legally binding, and it remains unlikely that the Biden or Trump administration would take action against RAW, given New Delhi’s strategic importance to Washington as a counterweight to China.

Nevertheless, the panel’s call adds to growing international scrutiny of India’s record on religious freedom and civil liberties. The recommendation comes after US authorities charged former Indian intelligence officer Vikash Yadav in 2023 in connection with an alleged plot to assassinate US-based Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

India has denied involvement in such activities and considers Sikh separatist movements, such as the Khalistan movement, a national security threat.

USCIRF’s report listed several concerns, including the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which the United Nations has called “fundamentally discriminatory,” as well as ongoing anti-conversion laws in multiple Indian states.

The commission also pointed to India’s revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special constitutional status, the demolition of properties owned by Muslims, and the use of bulldozers to target minority-owned homes and businesses as further evidence of systemic discrimination.

Rights advocates have long urged Washington to address these concerns more directly, but strategic ties between the US and India, particularly over defence, trade, and Indo-Pacific cooperation, have muted official criticism.

Vietnam was also named in the report as a country that should be designated “of particular concern,” with the commission citing new government decrees that increase state control over religious practices. The report said more than 80 Vietnamese were jailed as of December 2024 for religious activities or advocacy.

Despite the findings, the Indian and Vietnamese embassies have yet to respond to the commission’s recommendations.

USCIRF is a bipartisan federal panel that monitors religious freedom globally and advises the White House, State Department, and Congress. While it has called for India to be added to the “countries of particular concern” list for several years now, no US administration has followed through on that recommendation.