New Delhi: India rejected the concerns of United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) on Wednesday over reports that coronavirus patients are bieng categorized on the basis of their religious identity in a Ahmedabad hospital.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said in a statement, ” As if its peremptory commentary on religious freedom in India is not enough, the USCIRF is now spreading misguided reports on the professional medical protocols followed to deal with the spread of COVID-19 in India.”
“It must stop adding religious colour to our national goal of fighting the pandemic and distract from larger efforts. No segregation is being done in civil hospitals on the basis of religion, as clarified by the Gujarat Government,” it added.
The USCIRF is a US Federal government commission established by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.
The USCIRF had expressed its concern with media reports of Hindu and Muslim patients being admitted in separate wards in Gujarat hospital.