Rush Hour: US panel seeks sanctions against RAW, Karni Sena attacks Samajwadi Party MP’s home & more

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A United States panel on religious freedom recommended sanctions against India’s foreign intelligence agency for its alleged involvement in plots to assassinate pro-Khalistan separatists. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom reiterated its suggestion that India be designated a “country of particular concern” for alleged “egregious religious freedom violations”.

This is the sixth time that the panel has made this recommendation, which Washington has so far not accepted.

The panel urged the US government to impose targeted sanctions on individuals such as Vikash Yadav, a former Research and Analysis Wing officer accused in the US of murder-for-hire.

India’s foreign ministry on Wednesday alleged that the commission was continuing with its “pattern of issuing biased and politically motivated assessments”. It added that efforts to undermine India’s standing “as a beacon of democracy and tolerance” will not succeed. Read on.

Members of Rajput group Karni Sena attacked the home of a Samajwadi Party MP, objecting to his comments about 16th-century Rajput ruler Rana Sanga. The MP, Ramji Lal Suman, on March 21 described Sanga as a “traitor” who invited Mughal emperor Babur to India.

Suman’s comments in the Rajya Sabha were in reference to the Battle of Khanwa of...

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