New Delhi, March 21 (IANS) A group of 275 intellectuals and academics, including retired Supreme Court judges, former bureaucrats and military veterans, on Saturday criticised the United States Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for its "off-the-mark" report on India.

“We the undersigned bring to your notice a very disturbing and completely off-the-mark report cobbled up by the United States Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF),” said an open letter issued by the concerned intellectuals.

“Particularly the way to assess the credibility and balance of reports issued by bodies such as the USCIRF need to examine the long-term demographic trends across the Indian subcontinent with an approach that provides a more objective and longitudinal measure of religious freedom than selective or episodic narratives,” it said.

The letter comes close to USCIRF recommending sanctions on India’s foreign intelligence agency, Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), again flagging India as a “Country of Particular Concern.”

The intellectuals who joined the initiatives included former Supreme Court judge and NGT Chairman Chairman Adarsh Kumar Goel; former Kerala DGP P Chandrasekharan and former ambassadors Bhaswati Mukherjee and Shyamala B. Cowsik.

Condemning the report’s suggestions to freeze assets and restrict the movement of Bharatiya citizens, the signatories provided Census data on demographic trends in the country.

Quoting official data, the letter said the share of the Muslim population in India was 9.8 per cent in 1951, and it increased to 14.2 per cent in 2011; the Christian population was 2.3 per cent in 1951 and remained the 2.3 per cent (2011) and the Sikh population that was 1.79 per cent in 1951, declined marginally to 1.72 per cent in 2011.

“This data is taken from official census data, which reflects a broad pattern of demographic expansion or stability among major minority communities over more than six decades of independent constitutional governance in India,” said the letter.

The letter said, “Bharat is the largest democracy of the world. Given the robust, time-tested judicial system, vibrant democratic institutions and Parliamentary oversight, there’s very less scope for individuals or organisations to go scot-free after violating someone’s religious rights.”

“Religious freedom is both necessary and appreciated in a globalised world, but it must be exercised with intellectual rigor, fairness, and respect for all. The reports based on selective in their use of evidence are subject to reducing their own credibility and, more importantly, there is need to advance the genuine cause of religious harmony and human right,” said the letter.

The group said that USCIRF’s recommendation to freeze assets, restricted movement of Bharatiya citizens and placing restrictions on those associated with RSS is highly motivated and displays intellectual bankruptcy and deranged conclusions.

“All six commissioners of USCIRF are appointed by US Government and funded by American Taxpayers through the US Congress. We call upon the US Government to carry out a strict background check of all the contributors to this report in USCIRF. It will be an eye-opener to the taxpayers of the US, whose funds are being used by USCIRF to produce highly prejudiced and untenable reports to promote hidden agenda of some anti-Bharat vested interests to vitiate their goodwill with the people of Bharat,” said the letter, signed by former IAS officers M. Madan Gopal, O.P. Pathak and C.S. Talwar, among others.

--IANS

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