Now Reading: India slams USCIRF as biased and silent on US hate crimes
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India slams USCIRF as biased and silent on US hate crimes
The Story in Brief
India on Tuesday (10 November) strongly criticized the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), calling it a 'biased and ill-informed organisation' with a 'blatantly political agenda'. Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal accused the commission of consistently staying silent on attacks on religious places and hate crimes targeting the Indian community in the US. 'Prejudiced entities like the USCIRF can hardly be taken seriously,' Jaiswal said during a media briefing.
The MEA's remarks follow a foiled plot in October 2026 to attack a Hindu temple in Illinois, where a self-identified neo-Nazi allegedly tried to shoot a man outside the Sri Venkateswara Swami Temple. Over 100 US lawmakers have urged the FBI to investigate the incident as a federal hate crime. A study cited by the lawmakers found more than 542,000 anti-South Asian hateful posts on X between January 2025 and June 2026.
Indian Opinion Analysis
Both the Hans India and Times of India reports uniformly carry the MEA spokesperson's strong criticism of the USCIRF, attributing identical quotes to Randhir Jaiswal. The Hans India report provides additional context by detailing the foiled attack on a Hindu temple in Illinois and the US lawmakers' letter to the FBI, while the Times of India report focuses more narrowly on the MEA's accusation of silence on hate crimes. Neither source includes the USCIRF's own response or any countervailing perspective, leaving the coverage as a straight relay of the official Indian government position. The combined effect is one-sided reporting, with the extra detail in the Hans India report serving to substantiate the MEA's charge of silence.
Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral
Sources (2): thehansindia.com (neutral report), timesofindia.indiatimes.com (neutral report)
This brief was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Methodology and corrections.
