Bengaluru: India has slammed US government's body United States Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for its "biased and tendentious" comments against India in relation to religious freedom. 

As reported by Republic TV, in the 2020 edition of its annual report on International Religious Freedom, the US Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) alleged that religious freedom in India witnessed a drastic downward turn. It also alleged that the religious minorities were under increasing assault in India.

However, India has rejected the claims robustly. 

"We reject the observations on India in the USCIRF Annual Report. Its biased and tendentious comments against India are not new. But on this occasion, its misrepresentation has reached new levels. It has not been able to carry its own Commissioners in its endeavour. We regard it as an organization of particular concern and will treat it accordingly," said a statement by external affairs ministry. 

Nine other countries too have been noted for their treatment to minorities. 

They are: Myanmar, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan - as well as five others - India, Nigeria, Russia, Syria, and Vietnam, the USCIRF said.

In its report, the watchdog alleged that in 2019, the national government in India used its strengthened parliamentary majority to institute national-level policies violating religious freedom across the country, especially for Muslims. "Most notably, it enacted the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, which provides a fast track to Indian citizenship for non-Muslim migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan already residing in India," it alleged.

The Citizenship Amendment Act confers citizenship to those non-Muslims from the persecuted nations of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who have been staying in Indian hitherto December 31, 2014. 

As the Prime Minister and the home minister have consistently mentioned, the CAA is not something that will snatch away citizenship, but an act that will grant it.