Critiquing the exclusion of Hindu representation within the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), a leading figure from a prominent Indian diaspora think-tank expressed concerns about the commission's lack of diversity, suggesting it has led to the production of "polemic and biased" assessments of India and Hinduism.
The USCIRF, an autonomous and bipartisan federal body mandated by the US Congress to monitor, evaluate, and present reports on religious freedom worldwide, recently announced the addition of three new members—Maureen Ferguson, Vicky Hartzler, and Asif Mahmood—along with the re-appointment of Stephen Schneck and Eric Ueland to its ranks.
Khanderao Kand, Chief of Policy and Strategy at the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS), extended congratulations to the newly appointed USCIRF members while lamenting the missed opportunity to introduce diverse representation for balanced perspectives within the commission.
Kand emphasized the significance of including Hindu representation, noting that approximately "One in every six people on this earth comes from the Hindu religion. That is not represented on the commission, which is going to be a big miss from bringing the diversity and having a proper balance in the International Religious Freedom report."
Highlighting perceived biases in the USCIRF's annual reports on international religious freedom, Kand remarked, “What we observe in general as well as in this year is that this report is predictably biased against India. It is full of omission and commission. It presents some of the facts, but it does not provide all the facts. It hides many facts."
He criticized the report for lacking contextualization, historical perspective, and transparency in expert selection and evidence gathering, attributing its shortcomings to a lack of diversity among its contributors and potential vested interests.
“It (USCIRF report) actually does not contextualise. It does not give the historical facts or the trends. The report then fits into a certain narrative and that's why it is not factually complete, and it becomes a polemic."
Kand contested the USCIRF's classification of India as a "country of particular concern," labeling it as an inappropriate designation for a nation renowned as the world's largest democracy. He reiterated India's rejection of the USCIRF report, accusing the commission of interference and propagandizing against the country under the guise of an annual assessment.
Asserting the importance of inclusivity and balanced perspectives in the USCIRF's reports, Kand urged for representation of Hinduism and other religions such as Buddhism and emphasized the need for data-driven analysis and transparency in the commission's proceedings.
"India is a country with a historically large number of riots. But the report is not talking about the positivity of that. There are a lot of elements which are wrongly presented. So, I think as a result of that the report is actually a biased one,” he said.
Urging the authorities to make the USCIRF a truly representative body in terms of religion, he said Hinduism or other religions like Buddhism need to have some representation in the report.
"Secondly, the report needs to be based on much more diversity from the viewpoints. The reports should be data-driven and there should be transparency," he said.
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