ANI
New Delhi, Updated At : 09:57 AM Mar 23, 2026 IST
Former diplomat Bhaswati Mukherjee on Sunday strongly criticised the latest report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), saying India did not need external advice on handling its institutions.
A total of 275 signatories, including former judges, diplomats and senior officials, issued a sharp rebuttal to the report’s recommendations targeting the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW).
In an interview with ANI, Mukherjee said the response reflected the experience and range of the signatories. “We didn’t slam them, we demolished them. And they deserve to be demolished for a simple reason, which is not written in the letter because it had to be courteously worded,” she said.
Mukherjee highlighted the contributions of the Indian diaspora in the United States and defended the RSS and R&AW. She said the R&AW is India’s equivalent of the CIA and described the RSS as an organisation founded 100 years ago to serve a nation under colonial rule, committed to “Seva”, or service to the community.
Questioning USCIRF’s recommendation of sanctions — including freezing assets and travel bans — Mukherjee asked rhetorically what the commission assumed it was dealing with. “To drag them in, to say that their assets should be frozen, they shouldn’t be allowed to travel. What do they think, that they are dealing with some banana republic? Or do they think that they are dealing with Venezuela, whose president was kidnapped and taken away to New York City against his wishes? Or do they think that they can fix us like they are trying to fix, very unsuccessfully in my perspective, the Islamic Republic of Iran? It doesn’t work.”
She stressed that India’s democratic institutions can address any wrongdoing internally. “In today’s world, we are members of the UN Charter, and we are a major emerging country. If any organisation does anything which does not align with India’s constitution, they will be dealt with by India’s judiciary, by India’s democratic mechanisms, etc,” Mukherjee said.
Concluding, she reiterated India’s sovereignty in handling domestic matters: “We have long gone beyond the stage where we need ‘goras’ to tell us what to do. We don’t need ‘goras’ to tell us what to do. On the contrary, the ‘goras’ should ask us for some tips on how to behave. We never give them unsolicited advice; they should not give us unsolicited advice.”
