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Pakistani-American Asif Mahmood, who is currently serving as a USCIRF commissioner, has been peddling anti-India narratives, including unverified claims.
Asif Mahmood (Photo: Asif Mahmood/Website)
India on Wednesday trashed a report by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) and said its “persistent” attempts to cast aspersions on the country’s vibrant multicultural society reflect a “deliberate” agenda rather than a genuine concern for religious freedom.
In its response, New Delhi described the report as “biased and politically motivated” and said the efforts to “undermine” India’s standing as a beacon of democracy and tolerance will not succeed, adding the USCIRF should be designated as an “entity of concern”.
The USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan US federal government agency. It makes policy recommendations to the US President, Secretary of State, and Congress and tracks the implementation of these recommendations.
The agency, according to many reports, has been spreading falsehood about India, especially after the appointment of Asif Mahmood as one of its Commissioners.
WHO IS ASIF MAHMOOD?
Asif Mahmood is a Pakistani-American ‘activist’, and according to the USCIRF website, Asif is a practising physician, human rights activist, interracial and inter-faith community organiser, and philanthropist.
He has been at the forefront of peddling anti-India propaganda under the guise of ‘human rights’ activism, several reports have claimed.
In May 2024, Asif was behind peddling a conspiracy theory about India’s supposed involvement in the killing of Khalistani extremists in the United States, Canada and Pakistan.
However, he did not provide evidence to support his claims.
The USCIRF website claims that Asif led the advocacy for many human rights campaigns focused on South Asia.
It also claims Mahmood was a Delegate for the Democratic National Convention from 2008 to 2016 and held many roles in presidential campaigns.
He is also currently the Chair of the Organisation for Social Media Safety (OFSSMS) and Board Member of Hope the Mission, one of the largest homeless shelters in California, the website states.
WHAT DID THE USCIRF REPORT SUGGEST?
In its 2025 annual report, the USCIRF alleged that religious freedom conditions in India continued to deteriorate as attacks and discrimination against religious minorities continued to rise.
The USCIRF recommended the US government to impose “targeted sanctions on individuals and entities, such as Vikash Yadav and RAW, for their culpability in severe violations of religious freedom by freezing their assets and/or barring their entry into the United States”.
The US has charged Yadav, a former Indian government official, in the alleged foiled plot to kill Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil in 2023.
In its recommendation, the USCIRF also called for designating India as a “country of particular concern” or CPC, for engaging in and “tolerating systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations, as defined by the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA)”.