Hindu nationalism has been a rising political force in India in recent decades, “eroding” its secular nature, a U.S. Congressional report has claimed, as it warned that social media platforms provide “both tacit and overt sanction” for rising incidents of “majoritarian violence” in the country.

In its report, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) — an independent and bipartisan research wing of U.S. Congress — mentioned specific areas of alleged religiously-motivated repression and violence. including cow protection vigilantism and perceived assaults on freedom of expression.

The report, titled ‘India: Religious Freedom issues’, said: “Religious freedom is explicitly protected under its Constitution. Hindus account for a vast majority (nearly four-fifths) of the country’s populace. Hindu nationalism has been a rising political force in recent decades, by many accounts eroding India’s secular nature and leading to new assaults on the country’s religious freedom.”