Religious freedom in India continued to deteriorate in 2024, with increasing attacks and discrimination against minorities, according to a report by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
The report stated that ahead of the national elections in June, members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, promoted hateful rhetoric and misinformation targeting Muslims and other religious minorities to garner political support.
“This rhetoric fueled attacks on religious minorities that persisted beyond the elections, leading to vigilante violence, arbitrary killings, and the destruction of properties and places of worship,” the USCIRF report noted.
Additionally, the report revealed that the Indian government extended its oppressive measures beyond its borders, particularly targeting Sikh activists and their supporters abroad.
It further disclosed that intelligence reports from Canada corroborated allegations linking an official from India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and six diplomats to the 2023 assassination attempt of an American Sikh activist in New York.
The USCIRF highlighted that Indian authorities continued to enforce discriminatory state laws, such as anti-conversion and cow slaughter regulations, to suppress religious minorities. In June and July, police in Uttar Pradesh arrested 20 Christians, including four pastors, accusing them of violating the state’s anti-conversion law.
The report also listed India among the countries it considers severe violators of religious freedom. It urged the newly elected Trump administration to appoint an ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom.
“The administration of President Donald Trump faces a complex global landscape in which to build on its past efforts to position religious freedom as a key pillar of foreign policy and global leadership,” the report stated.
Furthermore, it included accounts of individuals who remained steadfast in their religious beliefs despite facing Islamophobia and other forms of religious persecution.
