India slams US panel over RSS sanctions call, calls it 'biased'

NEW DELHI: The ministry of external affairs on Friday hit back at the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom after it urged Washington to impose sanctions on members of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, calling the body "biased" and lacking credibility.

In a bi-weekly press briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said such organisations have no credibility and operate to peddle their own agenda. "The organisation you are talking about is known to everyone as a biased organisation, and for many years, it has been making misleading and provocative statements about India," Jaiswal said. "I would say that we should stay away from such organisations because they peddle their own agenda and, at the same time, have no credibility," he added.

This comes days after USCIRF urged the US government to impose sanctions on RSS members, rather than honouring them with "high-level meetings." In a post on X, the commission shared remarks from Asif Mahmood, a Pakistani-American physician who serves as its chair, and Commissioner Gene Mills.

Mahmood described the RSS, the ideological parent of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), as an umbrella organisation, alleging that its affiliated groups had carried out attacks on religious minorities. Mills, meanwhile, said RSS leaders, even when affiliated with the Indian government, should not be given high-level meetings or diplomatic courtesies. Instead, he urged Washington to focus on imposing sanctions on RSS members found responsible for violations of freedom of religion or belief.

The statement came ahead of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's scheduled visit to the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, beginning August 25.