India on Thursday slammed the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) and said it continues to publish its propaganda on the country “masquerading” as part of an annual report.

In a sharp reaction to the USCIRF’s latest report that has criticised India for alleged violations of religious freedom, Ministry of External Affairs(MEA)spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the organisation is known to be a “biased” entity with a political agenda.

“The US Commission on International Religious Freedom is known as a biased organisation with a political agenda. They continue to publish their propaganda on India masquerading as part of an annual report,” Jaiswal said.

“We really have no expectation that the USCIRF will even seek to understand India’s diverse, pluralistic and democratic ethos,” he added.

“Their efforts to interfere in the largest electoral exercise of the world will never succeed,” Jaiswal said at his weekly media briefing.In its latest annual report, the USCIRF has criticised India for alleged violations of religious freedom as well as on certain other issues.

New Delhi’s response came after the USCIRF released its 2024 annual report and recommended designating 17 countries, including India, as Countries of Particular Concern (CPCs), for “engaging in or tolerating particularly severe violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief”.

The USCIRF report alleged that the government imposed “discriminatory nationalist policies”, “perpetuated hateful rhetoric” and “failed to address communal violence” among minority communities.

The report also cited various instances, including Manipur violence, Haryana violence, and several Kashmiri leaders and separatists being detained when the Supreme Court, last year, upheld the government’s 2019 decision to scrap Article 370 that granted special status to the then state of Jammu and Kashmir.