Old Video of India Denying Visas to US Delegation Falsely Linked With Manipur

This interview dates back to 2016 and is unrelated to Manipur conflict.

A video of an interview showing a member of an United States delegation speaking about how their group was denied visas by the Indian government is going viral on social media.

What's the video?: The video also shows him speaking about finding out the state of religious freedom in India and mentioning about communal tensions in the country.

What's the claim?: Social media users are linking the interview with the conflict in Manipur happening between different tribal communities.

• "Visas rejected for US delegation to visit Manipur, why?," the claim reads.

• Supreme Court advocate Prashant Bhushan also shared this claim.

(Archives of similar claims can be seen here and here.)

What's the truth?: This is an old video interview from March 2016 shared by CBN News.

• The claim stating that the US body wanted to visit Manipur but was denied visa is not true.

How did we find out the truth?: We noticed CBN News' logo on the top right corner of the video and performed a relevant keyword search, leading us to an old YouTube video shared by CBN News.

• The interview was shared on 10 March 2016, and the title read, "India Government Turning a Blind Eye to Religious Attacks."

• The interview showed Thomas J Reese, Father and a member of US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) who were denied Indian visas.

• In the interview, he mentions that this is the second time that India denied visa for his team, which wanted to visit India to explore the state of religious freedom in India.

What is USCIRF?: According to its website, USCIRP is an independent, bipartisan US federal government commission.

• The body 'reviews the facts and circumstances of religious freedom violations and makes policy recommendations'.

Reports about the denied visas in 2016: On conducting a relevant keyword search, we came across reports by The Guardian and Reuters from 2016.

• The reports stated that India denied visas for a delegation belonging to the US government agency in March 2016.

Old statement from USCIRF: USCIRF released a statement on 3 March 2016 about this issue.

• It also carried USCIRF chairman Robert George's statement which stated that they are disappointed by the Indian government’s denial for the visa.

• "USCIRF had been able to travel to many countries, including those among the worst offenders of religious freedom... One would expect that the Indian government would allow for more transparency than these nations, and would welcome the opportunity to convey its views directly to USCIRF,“ George added.

USCIRF's statement about Manipur conflicts: On 22 June, USCIRF issued a statement about the violent clashes happening in Manipur between two communities.

• It stated that religious freedom in India has seen a decline in the past years along with the 'promotion and enforcement of discriminatory laws and practices that negatively impact the country’s minority Muslim, Christian, Sikh, and Adivasis populations.'

• In its 2023 Annual Report, USCIRF also recommended that the State Department designated India as a 'Country of Particular Concern for systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.'

• Further, there was no discussion of the members visiting India or Manipur in particular.

Indian Embassy's response to USCIRF: The Indian Embassy in the US responded to this and released a statement on 4 March 2016.

• It stated that there is no change in the Indian government's policy with respect to such visits.

• It also said, “We do not see the locus standi of a foreign entity like USCIRF to pass its judgment and comment on the state of Indian citizens’ constitutionally protected rights.” 

Conclusion: An old video is being shared with false claim about the US body being denied Indian visas to visit Manipur.

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