USCIRF Recommends India as CPC, Sanctions on RAW and RSS

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended on March 4, 2026, that the U.S. government designate India as a Country of Particular Concern for systematic violations of religious freedom and impose targeted sanctions on India's external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing, and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a social service organization affiliated with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party.

In its annual report covering conditions in 2025, the independent, bipartisan USCIRF described a continued decline in religious freedom in India. The commission cited the government's enforcement of new laws targeting religious minorities, including anti-conversion statutes in multiple states that impose stricter penalties. It also pointed to the use of anti-terrorism measures to detain activists and minorities, as well as instances of widespread expulsions of citizens and refugees. Authorities tolerated vigilante violence against Muslim and Christian communities, according to the report, with Hindu nationalist groups allegedly harassing minorities without consequence.

A key incident highlighted was the April 22, 2025, attack in...