US report slams India

A US panel tracking international religious freedom has, in its latest report on India, noted that religious minorities in the country were exposed to "derogatory" comments by leaders of the ruling BJP as well as "violent attacks and forced conversions by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Vishwa Hindu Parishad" since the Narendra Modi government took over last year.

It has also slammed the "ghar wapsi" campaign and accused the "Hindu nationalist groups" of offering monetary inducements not only to Muslims and Christians to convert to Hinduism but also to Hindus who carry out such "forced" conversions.

The findings of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, largely based on the accounts of religious leaders of the minorities and non-government organisations in India, have led it to place India on its Tier 2 list of countries for the seventh year in a row.

However, even as it reported on the alleged violation of rights of Christians and Muslims in India in 2014, the panel squeezed in a reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's February 17 statement (made after the period covered by the report) condemning attacks on churches and assuring protection to the minorities, describing it as a "positive development".