"Controversy Alert: Diaspora Body Slams USCIRF for 'Biased' Reports on India – Shocking Details Unveiled!"

The diaspora body criticized the USCIRF for its 'biased' reports on India, stating that it lacks Hindu members.

FIIDS chief Khanderao Kand highlighted, "One in every six people on the earth belongs to the Hindu religion. However, this demographic is not represented on the commission."

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has been criticized by FIIDS, an Indian diaspora body in the United States, for producing "biased" reports on India and Hindus. FIIDS asserts that since Hindus are not represented in the commission, the reports lack impartiality.

"On Friday, Khanderao Kand, chief of Policy and Strategy at Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies, told PTI, "One in every six people on the earth are from the Hindu religion. That is not represented on the commission, and this is going to be a big miss in terms of bringing the diversity and having a proper balance in the International Religious Freedom report."

Kand reacted to the appointment of three new USCIRF commissioners following the conclusion of the previous commissioners' terms on May 14. The outgoing commissioners were Abraham Cooper, David Curry, Frederick Davie, Mohamed Magid, Nury Turkel, and Frank Wolf. The newly appointed commissioners are Maureen Ferguson, Vicky Hartzler, and Asif Mahmood.

He remarked that these fresh appointments indicate that the US federal government commission has missed a "historic" opportunity to include a representative for "diversity" and "balance" within the USCIRF.

Speaking about the body's recent annual report on India, Khan asserted that such reports consistently exhibit "omission and commission."

"The study fails to provide context or present historical facts and trends. Instead, it conforms to a certain narrative, resulting in factual incompleteness and a biased tone. Regrettably, it consistently portrays an anti-India stance and recommends India as a country of particular concern," he stated.

Kand added, "The study lacks transparency in the selection of experts and gathering of evidence. This lack of diversity contributes to the report's biased and polemic nature."

In the annual report released earlier this month, the USCIRF called on the State Department to designate 17 nations as Countries of Particular Concern (CPCs). This designation is based on these governments' involvement in or tolerance of particularly severe violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief.

Among these nations, 12 were already designated as CPCs by the State Department in December last year: Burma, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. The remaining five were mentioned as additional recommendations: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, India, Nigeria, and Vietnam.