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ISLAMABAD: A new report by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has warned that India&rsquo;s political environment is fostering intolerance and discrimination against religious minorities, citing what it describes as &ldquo;systematic, ongoing, egregious&rdquo; violations of religious freedom.&nbsp;The report, Issue Update: Systematic Religious Persecution in India, outlines the rise in attacks, hate speech and legal actions targeting minority communities. &nbsp;USCIRF, a bipartisan US government body that monitors religious freedom worldwide, said the year saw renewed concerns over the safety and rights of Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and other groups.&nbsp;According to the findings, the period ahead of India&rsquo;s June 2024 national elections witnessed senior BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, making remarks that USCIRF says contributed to heightened hostility against Muslims and other minorities. The rhetoric was followed by a series of violent incidents, including attacks in at least six states after the consecration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya in January.&nbsp;The report notes that several authorities, including the Delhi Development Authority, oversaw the demolition of Muslim-owned homes and places of worship, sometimes replacing razed mosques with newly constructed Hindu temples. USCIRF highlighted repeated instances where local administrations bulldozed Muslim-owned structures, including religious sites, despite legal protections under Section 295 of the Indian Penal Code.&nbsp;It also documents multiple cases in which state-level laws were used to target minority communities. In Uttar Pradesh, police detained 20 Christians, including four pastors, under accusations of unlawful religious conversions. The same state&rsquo;s High Court sentenced Muslim cleric Kalim Siddiqui and 11 others to life imprisonment under its expanded anti-conversion legislation.&nbsp;USCIRF further pointed to concerns surrounding citizenship laws. It said the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in March, combined with the National Register of Citizens (NRC), contributed to fear among Muslim communities.&nbsp;The report cited incidents in Assam, where 28 Muslims were declared &ldquo;non-citizens&rdquo; by Foreigners&rsquo; Tribunals and sent to detention or deportation centers. It also noted that several activists from the earlier anti-CAA protests, including Umar Khalid, Meeran Haider and Sharjeel Imam, remain in detention under antiterror provisions.&nbsp;The report additionally refers to cases involving Sikh activists abroad, including allegations that Indian officials sought to pressure or intimidate members of the diaspora. It cites international intelligence reports linking Indian intelligence personnel to a 2023 assassination attempt on an American Sikh activist in New York.&nbsp;In its 2025 Annual Report, USCIRF again recommended that the US State Department designate India as a &ldquo;Country of Particular Concern&rdquo; for what it described as ongoing violations of religious freedom.

India

USCIRF says India’s governing and social structures have increasingly created space for hostility toward non-Hindu groups, including Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, and Dalits.

US report says India’s political system fostering intolerance toward religious minorities

ISLAMABAD: A pattern seems to be emerging in which Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi continues to use security incidents in the country to create a false image of strong leadership at home. The recent explosion on Tuesday in India&rsquo;s capital, New Delhi, killed at least eight people and injured more than a dozen others. While early reports and eyewitness accounts suggested a cylinder blast, the Modi-led &nbsp;Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)&nbsp;government quickly shifted its stance, calling it a &ldquo;terrorist attack.&rdquo;&nbsp;Within hours, police had registered a case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, India&rsquo;s principal anti-terrorism law.&nbsp; According to Indian media, investigators are exploring a possible link to the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), a group which India accuses Pakistan of supporting. Pakistan has consistently denied this; it proscribed the group in 2022. The mode of investigation to explore links to the banned group raises concerns that India is seeking ways to draw Pakistan into the blame narrative once again.&nbsp;&nbsp;Incidentally, the shift in tone has coincided with the second and final phase of the crucial Bihar elections, which began today (Wednesday), and which Modi&#39;s party, the BJP, must win. The PM wasted no time: the morning after the Delhi explosion, he was already back on the campaign trail, asking for votes.<img src="https://paktv-assets-7d41fab8.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/2111f322-6506-43e0-bca5-d9808718d8e6.png" style="width: 1000px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">This approach only reinforces the trend seen over the past decade under Modi&rsquo;s government, where major attacks have not only shaped India&rsquo;s security posture but also carried significant political undertones. Let&rsquo;s take a look. Pathankot (Jan. 2016)Modi undertook a private and unscheduled visit to Pakistan in Dec. 2015. The move drew widespread criticism in India. To deflect domestic pressure, Modi needed to shift the narrative. In Jan. 2016, the Pathankot Air Force Base in Indian Punjab was attacked by militants.&nbsp;Indian officials accused JeM and Pakistan of responsibility. Modi condemned the incident, saluted the armed forces, and called upon Pakistan to take immediate action against those responsible.&nbsp;The incident helped his government justify a tougher stance toward Islamabad and laid the groundwork for a more aggressive national-security doctrine. Uri and the &#39;surgical strikes&#39; (Sep. 2016)On Sept. 18, 2016, 19 soldiers were killed in an attack on an Indian Army camp in Uri, Occupied Kashmir. India responded by announcing &ldquo;surgical strikes&rdquo; across the border, - a claim vehemently denied by Pakistan. The move was celebrated domestically as a show of strength and became a defining moment for Modi&rsquo;s image as a decisive leader. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi accused the government of &ldquo;hiding behind the blood of soldiers,&rdquo; while others, including former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, demanded &ldquo;proof&rdquo; of the strikes.&nbsp;Pulwama and Balakot (February-April 2019)In Feb. 2019, a suicide bombing in Pulwama killed 40 paramilitary personnel. India immediately blamed Pakistan and launched airstrikes on Balakot, claiming to have targeted JeM training camps. Curiously, the strikes came just weeks before the general elections and dominated the campaign narrative. Commentators noted that the intense media coverage and surge in nationalist sentiment overwhelmingly favored the ruling BJP, helping reinforce Modi&rsquo;s image as a strong, security-focused leader.&nbsp;Fast forward to 2025Earlier this year, an attack on tourists in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir&rsquo;s Pahalgam area, a clear intelligence and security failure, was blamed on Pakistan within an hour. The police report, registered within 30 minutes, directly accused Islamabad. Within hours, India announced it was suspending the Indus Waters Treaty, a move it had reportedly been considering for years.&nbsp;Pakistan&rsquo;s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif offered an independent, transparent international inquiry into the attack. But Modi, facing domestic pressure to deliver a forceful response in line with his &ldquo;strongman&rdquo; image, chose to exploit the situation politically and ordered strikes against Pakistan.&nbsp;The result proved disastrous: India reportedly lost at least six fighter jets, including Rafales, in a single night, a humiliating outcome that undercut Modi&rsquo;s message of military superiority on the international stage.&nbsp;Weeks later, in a public address, Modi said he was &ldquo;burning with the fire of revenge.&rdquo;&nbsp;&ldquo;From the land of Kutch, I send this message to the people of Pakistan. I carry on my chest a debt to your general that I will repay at any cost. On May 6, Indian forces struck militant positions, but in response your general attacked our soldiers. That action has ignited a fire of revenge inside me. I will not rest until this is avenged, and the next response will be a full-scale war if necessary,&rdquo; he said. <div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; line-height: 2;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1975167491987927209&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F&sessionId=1acf7290bdccafc7d8e1b2c1a580dfe32b7cf3ad&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 600px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div> Recurrent narrative patternsAcross these episodes, a clear pattern emerges:<ul><li style="line-height: 2;">Immediate attribution of blame to cross-border groups before investigations conclude.</li><li style="line-height: 2;">Media amplification of official narratives accusing Pakistan.</li><li style="line-height: 2;">Political framing that highlights strong, decisive leadership and unwavering national resolve.</li></ul>These dynamics have allowed the ruling party to consolidate a powerful and enduring national security narrative, one it continues to exploit with its voter base.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has leveraged past security incidents in India to portray himself as a strong leader domestically.

How major attacks in India have shaped the national-security narrative under PM Modi

NAGPUR: Brandishing bamboo sticks and chanting patriotic hymns, thousands of uniformed men paraded in central India, a striking show of strength by the country&#39;s million-strong Hindu ultranationalist group. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh -- the National Volunteer Organisation, or RSS -- marked its 100th anniversary this month with a grand ceremony at its headquarters in Nagpur. AFP was one of a handful of foreign media outlets granted rare access to the group, which forms the ideological and organizational backbone of Prime Minister Narendra Modi&#39;s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in power since 2014. Undermining constitution &nbsp;Critics accuse&nbsp;the 75-year-old prime minister and the RSS of eroding the rights of India&#39;s Muslim minority and undermining the secular constitution.At the parade, RSS volunteers in white shirts, brown trousers, and black hats marched, boxed, and stretched in time to shrill whistles and barked orders. &quot;Forever I bow to thee, loving Motherland! Motherland of us Hindus!&quot; they sang, in a scene that evoked paramilitary drills of the past. &quot;May my life ... be laid down in thy cause!&quot; Hindus make up around 80% of India&#39;s 1.4 billion people. Founded in 1925, the RSS calls itself &quot;the world&#39;s largest organization,&quot; though it does not give membership figures. &lsquo;Hindutva&rsquo;At the heart of its vision is &quot;Hindutva&quot; -- the belief that Hindus represent not only a religious group but are India&#39;s true national identity.<img src="https://paktv-assets-7d41fab8.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/f8aaa21f-d7f1-4eda-8d69-1798ac80febc.png" style="width: 1000px; height: 563px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><figcaption id="isPasted">NAGPUR: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat attends the centenary celebrations of the Hindu nationalist organization at Reshimbagh Ground in Nagpur on October 2, 2025. -- Photo by AFP/File</figcaption> &quot;They are willing to fight against those who will come in their way ... that means minorities, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, and other Hindus who do not subscribe to the idea,&quot; historian Mridula Mukherjee said. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat uses softer language, claiming that minorities were accepted but that they &quot;should not cause division.&quot; &lsquo;Fascist by nature&rsquo;The RSS was formed during the imperial rule of the British. But it diverged sharply from that of independence efforts by Mahatma Gandhi and the Congress Party, whose leader Jawaharlal Nehru considered them &quot;fascist by nature.&quot; Mukherjee said archives showed &quot;a link between the RSS and fascist movements in Europe.&quot; Idealizing Nazis&nbsp;&quot;They have said, very clearly, that the way the Nazis were treating the Jews should be the way our own minorities should be treated,&quot; she told AFP. The RSS does not comment directly on such parallels, but Bhagwat claimed that &quot;today we are more acceptable.&quot; The RSS was an armed Hindu militia during the 1947 partition of India and the creation of Muslim-majority Pakistan. Gandhi&rsquo;s assassination&nbsp;Hindu extremists blamed Gandhi for &ldquo;breaking India apart.&rdquo; A former RSS member assassinated him in 1948, and the group was banned for nearly two years. But the RSS rebuilt quietly, focusing on local units known as &quot;shakhas&quot; to recruit. Today, it claims 83,000 of them nationwide, as well as over 50,000 schools and 120,000 social welfare projects. Saffron flag not India&rsquo;s tricolor&nbsp;At a shakha in Nagpur, Alhad Sadachar, 49, said the unit was &quot;meant to develop togetherness.&quot;<figure class="fr-media"><img src="https://paktv-assets-7d41fab8.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/uploads/f95229d8-8f64-44db-9209-ffe076b97192-RSS Safron flag.jpg" alt="RSS Safron flag.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><figcaption class="caption-cover-image text-sm text-gray-600 italic">NAGPUR: RSS volunteers salute the organisation&#39;s flag before morning drills during a shakha, or training session, of the Hindu nationalist organisation at a park in Nagpur on October 3, 2025. -- Photo by AFP/File</figcaption></figure>&quot;You can get a lot of good energy, a lot of good values, like helping those in need,&quot; he said. At a shaka that AFP was allowed to attend, dozens of members &ndash;- many middle-aged, elderly, and not in uniform &ndash;- gathered for an hour of calisthenics and song. But in a show of symbolism, they congregated beneath a saffron flag -- the color of Hinduism -- rather than India&#39;s tricolor. Demolition of Mughal-era Babri mosque &nbsp;The RSS remains deeply political. The group re-emerged in the late 1980s, spearheading a movement that ended with a violent mob demolishing the centuries-old Mughal-era Babri Mosque in Ayodhya -&ndash; now replaced by a gleaming temple to the Hindu god Rama. Role in BJP&rsquo;s victory&quot;That was the turning point,&quot; said Mukherjee, the historian, adding that the RSS was &quot;able to create a mass mobilization on religious issues, that became at its heart clearly anti-Muslim.&quot; The group helped deliver Modi&#39;s BJP party an electoral landslide in 2014. Since then, Modi -&ndash; a former RSS &quot;pracharak&quot;, or organizer -- &nbsp;has pursued policies that critics say marginalize India&#39;s estimated 220 million Muslims, 15% of the population. Lynching and hate speech&nbsp;&quot;There has been a clear increase in terms of violence, lynching, and hate speech since Modi has taken over,&quot; said Raqib Hameed Naik, director of the US-based Center for the Study of Organized Hate. RSS leaders deny that it has participated in atrocities. &quot;Those allegations are baseless,&quot; Bhagwat&nbsp;claimed. &quot;Atrocities were never done by the RSS. And if it happens anyway, I condemn that.&quot; RSS under Modi&nbsp;Under Modi, it has expanded its reach. &quot;The RSS has been able to stir Indian society in a direction that is more nationalistic, less liberal in a Western sense,&quot; said Swapan Dasgupta, a former nationalist parliamentarian.

Asia

India's RSS is a legion of Hindu ultranationalists; it has idealized Nazis, and it re-emerged in the 1980s. It helped deliver PM Modi's BJP an electoral landslide in 2014. Under him, it has expanded its reach. 

Articles tagged with "RSS"

US report says India’s political system fostering intolerance toward religious minorities

How major attacks in India have shaped the national-security narrative under PM Modi

India under Modi and RSS: eroding minority rights, undermining secularism