BHARATA BHARATI

The US may use the USCIRF for its nuisance value to keep opponents and allies on the defensive, the State Department regularly dismisses its recommendations. The commission’s malevolent intent and agenda-driven reports cause more harm than good, turning off democratic allies and bringing into focus the US’s own failures on religious and racial freedom at home. – Abhijit Majumder

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is that tiny terrier on leash, even whose owner does not take its bark seriously. And each year, it gets a little more hysterical.

In its annual report for 2026, it has suggested the US brings sanctions against the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), arguably the world’s largest non-governmental, cultural organisation. That is besides asking India’s spy agency RAW to be banned, as if it applies for permission to gather intel and has offices with ‘RAW’ written neatly on signboards.

USCIRF is too hare-brained and irrelevant to be dignified with a riposte, but it is still important to remind the world how and on whom about US$ 5 million of American taxpayers’ money is spent every year.

First, USCIRF’s reports, including the 2024 one, rely on selective anecdotes and unverified claims to label RSS as a “militant” organisation. No evidence, just narrative. It ignores RSS’s documented social work in education, disaster relief, and rural development.

Second is its naked anti-Hindu bias. USCIRF has a history of targeting Hindu-majority India while covering up for wanton religious violence against Hindus in neighbouring Pakistan and Bangladesh. Rampant Hinduphobia in Islamic or Christian-majority nations never find mention.

Third, proposing a ban on RSS and recommending that the US list India as a country of particular concern (CPC) is an attempt to interfere in India’s internal affairs in the guise of religious freedom. India has a democratic framework and judicial system more robust than most nations. Only right that India denies visas to USCIRF members alleging “interference”.

Fourth, USCIR’s double standards get exposed when it quietly downgrades Muslim nations like Saudi Arabia while aggressively pursues non-Muslim nations like India. The 2024 report tries to spin India’s path to introduce a Uniform Civil Code and ban on cow slaughter in spite of comparable restrictions in other countries.

Fifth, USCIRF’s leadership is a beehive of highly dark, questionable elements. Past chairs like Nadine Maenza and current members like Maureen Ferguson and Vicky Hartzler have direct ties with evangelical groups accused of anti-Hindu bias. They would obviously go after the RSS, which is India’s biggest bulwark against deceitful missionary conversions.

The Muslim victimhood narrative inside the USCIRF is pushed by Pakistani-American ‘activist’ Asif Mahmood, who is its current vice-chair and commissioner. Another USCIRF commissioner is Mohamed Elsanousi, who was the Islamic Society of North America’s director of government relations and interfaith relations. Elsanousi graduated from the International Islamic University in Islamabad, Pakistan, with a Bachelor’s degree in Sharia Law.

Unsurprising that this lot would come hard after India and its most influential Hindu organisation, the RSS.

While the US may use the USCIRF for its nuisance value to keep opponents and allies on the defensive, the State Department regularly dismisses its recommendations. The commission’s malevolent intent and agenda-driven reports cause more harm than good, turning off democratic allies and bringing into focus US’s own failures on religious and racial freedom at home, like waves of anti-Asian hate crimes.

It’s a lose-lose situation, but somehow, the rabid USCIRF is allowed to bark on. – News18, 17 March 2026

› Abhijit Majumder is the author of the book, ‘India’s New Right’.

Filed under: india, USA | Tagged: anti-hindu forces, biased research, RAW, RSS, USCIRF report |