US report on global religious freedom shows bias against Modi: BJP

The US state department's 2018 International Religious Freedom Report shows clear bias against the Narendra Modi government and the BJP, the saffron party said Saturday, asserting that its leaders had strongly deplored violence against minorities and weaker sections of society.

The report, released on June 21, alleged that some senior leaders of the BJP "made inflammatory speeches against minority communities".

"Mob attacks by violent extremist Hindu groups against minority communities, especially Muslims, continued throughout the year amid rumors that victims had traded or killed cows for beef," it added.

In a statement, BJP media head and Rajya Sabha MP Anil Baluni said, "The basic presumption in this report that there is some grand design behind anti-minority violence is simply false. On the contrary, in most of such cases, these instances are carried out as a result of local disputes and by (people with) criminal mindsets."