New Delhi: Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday slammed the United States Congress report on religious freedom in India, stating that no country can lecture India on communal harmony.
Speaking to news agency ANI, Rajnath Singh criticised a report presented by a panel of US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) which claimed that minorities in the country have been subjected to "violent attacks" after Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP came to power.
“We are completely committed to maintaining communal harmony in our nation, we don't need 'dictation' from any of the other nations on this. We won't tolerate any nation's interference between India's internal matters,” Singh said.
He further said, "We believe people from all religions have been born out of 'Mother India', and the strengthening of this brotherhood is the 'dharma' of the government."
"We will follow this dharma; no country in the world can lecture India over this. India is the only country in the world where you can find all 72 'firqas' of Islam. India is also home to the world's oldest church, which is in Kerala," Singh added.
Further commenting over Hindu groups, named by a US Congress-established panel for subjecting religious minorities in India to “violent attacks, forced conversions” and the “Ghar Wapsi” campaigns, Rajnath said, “Want to ask those who believe RSS and other organisations indulge in 'Dharma Parivartan', are they ready for anti-conversion bill?”
“If they are ready, we are completely ready to introduce anti-conversion bill in Parliament, so that all these activities of 'Dharmantaran and Ghar Wapsi' can be put to an end,” the Home Minister said.
He also slammed Pakistan for its recent objections to the resettlement of Kashmiri Pandits in Jammu and Kashmir, saying that Islamabad should not interfere in India's internal matters.
"Pakistan needs to be concerned about itself. They must not intervene in India's internal matters. We won't tolerate any nation's interference between India's internal matters," he said.
Notably, the report comes at a time when India-US relations are on an upswing following the quick session of visits by PM Narendra Modi to the US in September and US President Barack Obama’s to India in January.
(With Agency inputs)
