The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, expressed concern on Wednesday over the recent surge in anti-conversion laws and hate speech in India and the demolition of houses and places of worship belonging to minority communities.

“In India, we see a concerning increase in anti-conversion laws, hate speech, demolitions of homes and places of worship for members of minority faith communities,” Blinken said during the launch of the 2024 annual report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

The commission has once again recommended that India be designated as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) “for engaging in systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom”.

India is among several nations where the USCIRF — a bipartisan federal government commission — has observed a regression in religious freedom. The report records the commission’s disappointment over the US state department ignoring its recommendation to designate India as a CPC every year from 2020 onwards.

The USCIRF has further urged the US government to impose targeted sanctions on individuals and entities responsible for severe violations of religious freedom, including freezing assets and possibly barring entry into the US.

Additionally, the commission recommends integrating religious freedom priorities into bilateral and multilateral engagements such as the Quadrilateral ministerial and calls for a review by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to prevent misuse of international recommendations against terrorist financing by Indian authorities targeting religious minorities and their advocates.

The USCIRF also recommends that the US Congress condition financial aid and arms sales to India on improvements in religious freedom conditions, with measures for enhanced review and reporting, including hearings and briefings on the issue.

The India chapter in the report said religious freedom conditions in the country continued deteriorating in 2023. “The government, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), reinforced discriminatory nationalist policies, perpetuated hateful rhetoric, and failed to address communal violence disproportionately affecting Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, Jews, and Adivasis (indigenous peoples),” it said.

Apart from listing some of the known incidents of violence against minorities during the year, including the violence in Manipur and the murder of three Muslims in a train by a railway guard, the report also flags allegations of India indulging in “acts of transnational repression”, something that is increasingly being spoken about in the international circuit.

“Indian authorities also increasingly engaged in acts of transnational repression targeting religious minorities abroad. In September, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged Indian authorities’ involvement in the killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, which was followed by a plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in the United States in November,’’ the commission noted.