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India downplays US report on religious freedom

-The Times of India

NEW DELHI: India on Thursday made light of a US Congressional report on International Religious Freedom 2014 which said India witnessed "religiously motivated killings, arrests, riots and coerced religious conversions".

"The report is internal to the US administration. It is widely acknowledged that the Constitution of India guarantees equal religious, social, political rights to all its citizens including minorities,'' said MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup.

"Any abuses are handled by our internal process which includes judiciary, vibrant press, civil society, National Human Rights Commission," he added.

Meanwhile, US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom David Saperstein, after the release of the report, said the US will encourage the Modi government to turn the ideals of "tolerance and civility" into reality across the country.

"Just after this controversy over beef incidents, the Prime Minister called for civility and tolerance between the different communities. We are going to encourage the Prime Minister and the government to take those ideals and turn them into reality all across the country," Saperstein told PTI.

He was responding to a question on the status of religious freedom in India after the State Department released its annual Congressional mandated report on International Religious Freedom for the year 2014.