India denies visa to US religious freedom watchdogs

The Indian government has scuppered a proposed visit to India this week by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), a US Congress-mandated organization that monitors religious rights worldwide and gives independent policy recommendations to the US President and his administration, reports The Times of India.
A USCIRF team that was to leave for New Delhi on June 12 was not given visas in time, according to an associate at the commission, who said it was done with the obvious intent of blocking the trip. They knew we had tickets for June 12 and the visas are yet to be given, so the inference is obvious...they dont want us to visit, the associate told TOI.
The Indian Embassy in Washington, the issuing authority for the visa, referred all questions to New Delhi, while acknowledging that the USCIRF team had applied for visas and the applications had been forwarded to New Delhi as is the standard practice for all such visits.
Sources in the government, without acknowledging that the visas were deliberately withheld, said it was not a proper time for such a visit. We really dont care about what they report, an official who spoke on background said. But a high profile visit seen as having government sanctions would have raised hackles in India.
The USCIRF has in its reports criticised violence against religious minorities in India.
The official said the visa denial was not linked to the criticism of the proposed visit by the Hindu pontiff, Shankaracharya Jayendra Sarawati, who earlier this week described the USCIRF as an intrusive mechanism of a foreign govt which is interfering with the internal affairs of India, and said the team must not be allowed to enter the country.
Although the United States acknowledges Indias rich religious and ethnic diversity and plurality, the USCIRF has in its annual reports criticised specific episodes involving violence against religious minority, like the ones in Gujarat and in Orissa.
We understand Indias sensitivities about being criticised for religious discrimination given its democratic and secular credentials, a commission associate said Wednesday. But we are concerned that some of the judicial processes with regards to the incidents in Gujarat and Orissa are not functioning properly and we only wanted to get them going.