In its latest report, released on Tuesday (March 25), the panel claimed minorities in India are facing deteriorating treatment and recommended sanctions against India’s spy agency R&AW over alleged involvement in assassination bids of Khalistani separatists.
“In 2024, religious freedom conditions in India continued to deteriorate as attacks and discrimination against religious minorities continued to rise,” the U.S. Commission said in the report.
In its annual report published on March 25, the commission recommended that India be classified as a “country of particular concern” (CPC) due to religious freedom violations, a decision that could potentially impact diplomatic relations between the two countries.
It also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of promoting hateful rhetoric during the 2024 election campaign.
The report was strongly rejected by India, which accused the panel of undermining the country’s reputation as a stronghold of democracy and called for USCIRF to be designated as an “entity of concern.”
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated in the press release that they had reviewed the recently published 2025 Annual Report of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), which, once again, follows a pattern of presenting biased and politically driven evaluations.
OpIndia reviewed the USCIRF document to identify discrepancies in its report. As anticipated, the analysis revealed the inclusion of questionable individuals in the panel’s “victim list,” which contributed to the commission’s prejudicial assessment of religious freedom in India and exposed it for relying on discredited and partisan sources for its report on India.
The list, interestingly, allows reviewers to classify victims according to their faith. On selecting “Hindu”, four names come up—Gautam Navlakha, Shoma Sen, Devangana Kalita, and Natasha Narwal. The inclusion of these names should raise significant doubts about the authenticity of this report.
Gautam Navlakha
For instance, Gautam Navlakha, who is designated as a Hindu victim by USCIRF, has been charge-sheeted by the premier investigation agency NIA for his links with Pakistan’s notorious intelligence agency ISI, and he had sought mercy for ISI agent Ghulam Nabi Fai, who is convicted in the United States for terror funding.
The NIA charge-sheet also mentions that Navlakha was introduced to the Pakistani ISI General Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai on the instructions of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and was in touch with the ISI agent over phone and email.
Navlakha had reportedly visited the United States thrice in the period between 2010-2011 and written to a US district court judge seeking clemency for Fai, who was arrested by the FBI in 2011 on the charges of accepting funds to the tune of several million from the ISI and the Pakistan government.
Citing the US court order from 2012, the NIA charge-sheet read: “Ghulam Nabi Fai was arrested by the FBI in July 2011 for accepting funds from ISI and the Pakistan Government, but failed to report the origin of those funds, as required by US law. It is established that, accused Gautam Navlakha had written a letter to the Hon’ble Judge of the US court trying Ghulam Fai’s case for clemency. Accused Gautam Navlakha has also submitted letters to the Hon’ble US court on behalf of Fai.”
Shoma Sen
Another name that crops up in “Hindu victims” is urban naxal Shoma Sen, who was arrested in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence. The Bhima Koregaon case pertains to an event named ‘Elgar Parishad’ organised at Shaniwar Wada in Bhima Koregaon village of Maharashtra on December 31, 2017.
Violence broke out on the following day (1st January 2018) at the village where lakhs of Dalits had gathered to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon. The battle was won by the British Army against the Peshwas in 1818. On 8th 8 January 2018, Pune Police lodged an FIR, and the probe revealed that the event was organised by urban Naxals.
Shoma Sen was arrested by the Pune Police on 8th June 2018 for her involvement in the Bhima Koregaon violence. She was charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for her links to Maoist groups. Sen was eventually suspended from her position as the Head of the English Department at the Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University (RTMNU). She has also been a part of the controversial organisation, Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights (CPDR).
It may be recalled that a letter was unearthed by Pune Police in 2018 suggesting plans to assassinate Prime Minister Modi in a “Rajiv Gandhi type incident” by “targeting road shows.” Sen’s name also came up in connection with the assassination plot.
Several Naxal ideologues and urban Naxals were arrested including Stan Swamy, Hany Babu, Sudha Bharadwaj, Rona Wilson, Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Varavara Rao and Gautam Navlakha in connection to the Bhima Koregaon case.
Devangana Kalita
Yet another shady victim in the USCIRF list is Pinjra Tod activist Devangana Kalita, who was booked under stringent provisions of the UAPA law for anti-Hindu riots in Delhi in 2020. Kalita was arrested in May 2020 after being slapped with four cases related to fanning riots in Northeast Delhi and a violent outbreak in December 2023.
It is worth noting that in 2020, some citizens of Seelampur, Jafrabad, and Trans-Yamuna had accused Pinjra Tod and other elite civil society groups of inciting riots in the national capital.
Pinjra Tod claims to be an autonomous collective of women students fighting for a just, accessible, non-discriminatory University and affordable accommodation and has been involved in numerous protests and campaigns of a far-left nature.
Natasha Narwal
The USCIRF also characterises another Pinjra Tod activist, Natasha Narwal, as one of the “Hindu victims” included in its religious freedom report. Ironically, like Devangana Kalita, Narwal too was arrested for her alleged role in stoking anti-Hindu riots in Delhi in 2020, which led to 53 deaths and loss of crores to public property.
Intriguingly, Natasha Narwal had also contributed to the far-left propaganda portal The Wire, which had often platformed Hinduphobic individuals and advanced anti-Hindu tropes. Harbouring deep-seated hatred and Hinduphobia, Natasha Narwal had also written for NewsLaundry during the release of the movie ‘Padman’.
Teesta Setalvad
Another controversial individual that warrants mentioning is Teesta Setalvad, who is clubbed under “unspecified” faith in the USCIRF report. Far from being a “victim”, Setalvad has been accused of tutoring witnesses in the Gujarat Riots 2002, and an NIA court slammed her NGO for fuelling communal tensions.
Teesta Setalvad was arrested by the Gujarat ATS in June 2022 in a case of forgery, influencing witnesses, and the investigation of the Gujarat riots in 2002 that occurred in the aftermath of the Godhra Train burning incident, when 59 Hindus were burned to death after a Muslim mob set ablaze a Sabarmati Express bogey carrying passengers from Ayodhya. Teesta Setalvad is accused of coaching witnesses and making ridiculous accusations in several cases related to the Gujarat riots in 2002.
Earlier this year, a National Investigation Agency (NIA) court criticized the NGO run by Teesta Setalvad, along with six other organizations, for their alleged involvement in communal cases. The court had called for an investigation into their funding sources and underlying motives. This development was linked to the Chandan Gupta murder case, where the court highlighted concerns regarding the roles these NGOs may have played in exacerbating communal tensions.
