The American government agency has accused New Delhi of \u201ctargeting religious minorities\u201d<\/p>\n
A US government watchdog has called for sanctions on India\u2019s external intelligence agency and a social service organization for allegedly violating religious freedom.
\nThe US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has recommended sanctions targeting the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), the country\u2019s external intelligence agency; and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological \u2018parent\u2019 of Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s Bharatiya Janata Party.
\nThe USCIRF recommended that these entities be sanctioned for what it called \u201ctheir responsibility and tolerance of severe violations of religious freedom.\u201d It has also demanded \u201cfreezing those individuals\u2019 or entities\u2019 assets and\/or barring their entry into the United States.\u201d
\nThe panel said India should be designated as a \u201ccountry of particular concern\u201d for engaging in and \u201ctolerating systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sanction RSS and RAW – US Commission on International Religious FreedomThe \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 commission said assets of individuals and entites associated with the social service organisation and the intelligence agency should be frozen, adding that such people should be barred from entering\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/H28nkWBEWI\u2014 RT_India (@RT_India_news) March 16, 2026 <\/p>\n
India has yet to respond to the development. This is not the first time that the USCIRF has levelled such charges against New Delhi and various entities in the South Asian nation.
\nIn March 2025, the agency chided India over the alleged \u201cworsening treatment of minorities in the country.\u201d
\nIt demanded India\u2019s designation as a \u201ccountry of particular concern\u201d and recommended imposing targeted sanctions on RAW over alleged links to plots targeting Sikh separatists in North America last year.
\nThe Indian Foreign Ministry flatly rejected the accusations, saying the USCIRF has a \u201cpattern of issuing biased and politically motivated assessments.\u201d\u00a0 It also cited the US organization\u2019s \u201cpersistent attempts\u201d to misrepresent isolated incidents that \u201creflect a deliberate agenda rather than a genuine concern for religious freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n
The USCIRF claims it acts independently. The agency\u2019s nine commissioners are appointed by the US president and senior political leaders in the House of Representatives and the Senate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The American government agency has accused New Delhi of \u201ctargeting religious minorities\u201d A US government watchdog has called for sanctions on India\u2019s external intelligence agency and a social service organization…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31327,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t