WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has released its 2026 Annual Report, delivering a highly critical assessment of India’s religious freedom record during the 2025 calendar year. Citing a continued deterioration of rights, the bipartisan federal commission has recommended that the U.S. State Department designate India as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) for “engaging in and tolerating systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations.”

The comprehensive report outlines significant concerns regarding new legislation (Waqf Act), state-sponsored detentions, the targeting of religious minority communities, and the management of places of worship. In a major shift from previous years, the 2026 report explicitly calls for targeted sanctions against high-profile Indian entities.

Escalating Concerns Over Legislation and Vigilante Violence

The core premise of the USCIRF 2026 report highlights a systemic decline in religious freedoms. “In 2025, religious freedom conditions in India continued to deteriorate as the government introduced and enforced new legislation targeting religious minority communities and their houses of worship,” the report states.

The commission noted that “several states undertook efforts to introduce or strengthen anti-conversion laws to include harsher prison sentences.” Notably, the report highlighted Rajasthan’s adoption of legislation that includes life imprisonment as a possible punishment for conducting religious conversions, which also requires individuals to provide the government with a two-month notice before voluntarily changing their religion.

Furthermore, the report accuses Indian authorities of tolerating violence by non-state actors, explicitly stating: “Throughout the year, Hindu nationalist mobs across several states harassed, incited, and instigated violence against Muslims and Christians with impunity.” The report cites incidents such as violence in Odisha fueled by rumors from officials regarding the desecration of Qurans during Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)-led protests, which resulted in injuries and curfews.

Expulsions, Detentions, and Extremist Attacks

USCIRF documented severe actions taken against religious refugees and minority citizens. The panel notes that “Indian authorities also facilitated widespread detention and illegal expulsion of citizens and religious refugees.”

Key incidents documented in the report include:

The Expulsion of Rohingya Refugees: In May 2025, Indian authorities reportedly detained 40 Rohingya refugees—including 15 Christians—transported them to international waters near the coast of Burma, and “forced them to swim to the Burmese shore with nothing more than life vests.”

Assam Deportations: In July 2025, authorities expelled hundreds of Bengali-speaking Muslims from Assam to Bangladesh. The report notes that officials accused those expelled of being Muslim “infiltrators” who threatened India’s national identity, despite their claims to Indian citizenship.

Pahalgam Attack: The report also addressed cross-community violence, noting the tragic April 22 attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir. Gunmen attacked predominantly Hindu tourists, killing 26 people after reportedly demanding victims recite the Kalma. The USCIRF notes that this brutal attack sparked a five-day conflict between India and Pakistan and “intensified anti-Muslim sentiment in India, including targeted attacks.”

State Control over Houses of Worship and Minority Education

The 2026 report draws specific attention to government attempts to bring religious institutions under state control. It highlights the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 passed by Parliament in May 2025, which mandated the inclusion of non-Muslims on boards managing Islamic endowments such as mosques, seminaries, and graveyards. The Act’s passage led to deadly protests in West Bengal.

Additionally, the report flags the Uttarakhand State Authority for Minority Education (USAME) Act passed in September 2025, which dissolved the Madrasa Board and placed educational institutions for Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians under strict state oversight.

Key Policy Recommendations to the U.S. Government

Based on these findings, USCIRF has issued robust and unsparing policy recommendations to the Trump administration and the U.S. Congress. The panel urges the U.S. government to:

Designate India as a CPC: Formally recognize India as a “Country of Particular Concern” under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA).

Impose Targeted Sanctions: The report takes the extraordinary step of recommending that the U.S. government “impose targeted sanctions on individuals and entities, such as India’s Research and Analysis Wing and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), for their responsibility and tolerance of severe violations of religious freedom by freezing those individuals’ or entities’ assets and/or barring their entry into the United States.”

Halt Arms Sales: USCIRF advises the U.S. to “enforce Section 6 of the Arms Export Control Act to halt arms sales to India based on continued acts of intimidation and harassment against U.S. citizens and religious minorities.”

Demand In-Country Assessments: Press the Indian government to allow U.S. entities, including USCIRF and the State Department, to conduct on-the-ground assessments of religious freedom conditions.

Address Transnational Repression: The report urges the U.S. Congress to reintroduce and pass the Transnational Repression Reporting Act of 2024, requiring annual reporting on acts of transnational repression by the Indian government targeting religious minorities on American soil.

Notably, following the release of the USCIRF 2026 Annual Report, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) categorically rejected the findings, with the official spokesperson dismissing the assessment as a “motivated and biased characterisation of India” that relies on “ideological narratives rather than objective facts.”