Modi's India runs 'directly counter' to democratic values, says US congresswoman
Ilhan Omar renews call for India to be labelled 'country of particular concern'
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar said she
reintroduced legislation calling on Biden administration to label India
as a "country of particular concern" (AFP/File photo)
Published date: 23 June 2023 17:25 BST
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Last update: 20 hours 37 min ago
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has hit out against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US
and meeting with President Joe Biden, calling on the Biden
administration to label India as a "country of particular concern" over
ongoing attacks on Muslims and other religious minorities.
Omar, who along with a handful of other lawmakers boycotted Modi's
address to a joint session of Congress on late Thursday afternoon,
instead opted to host her own policy briefing on Capitol Hill, where she
brought together a number of Indian American rights activists and human
rights experts.
"What's happening in India runs directly counter to our democratic
values," she said during the policy briefing she held in the US Capitol
visitor centre in Washington.
"We are told we must now turn a blind eye to the repression because
of foreign policy concerns even though human rights are supposed to be
at the centre of our foreign policy."
Prime Minister Modi, and by extension India, has come under heavy
criticism from rights groups for his country's treatment of religious
minorities.
In March 2022, the US Holocaust Memorial Museum warned about the
rising risks of mass atrocities in India against people who are not from
the Hindu majority.
In 2019, New Delhi revoked Article 370 of India's constitution, the
clause that granted Kashmir's Muslim-majority region semi-autonomous
status within the Indian Union, and then introduced the Citizenship
Amendment Act, which rights groups have argued violates India's secular
constitution by making religion a basis for citizenship.
In the State Department's latest report on religious freedom released
this year, India was spotlighted for explicitly targeting religious
minorities, joining a list of countries that includes Russia, China, and
Iran for its treatment of religious minorities.
Stephen Schneck, commissioner of the US Commission on International
Religious Freedom (USCIRF), said during Thursday's briefing that the
task force has routinely recommended that New Delhi be listed by the
State Department as a "country of particular concern" (CPC), a label
given to countries where severe violations of religious freedom are
taking place.
"Our reports detail over the last several years that the Indian
government, at the national state and local levels, has promoted and
enforced laws and policies that undermine the religious freedom of its
citizens," Schneck said.
Omar said that she has reintroduced legislation calling on the Biden
administration to follow through on the USCIRF's recommendation to label
India as a "country of particular concern".
"We often hear India is an ally, but we've placed our allies on that
list. And it doesn't and should not diminish whatever economic
relationship or bilateral relationship that we have, in order for us to
uplift the concerns that we have in regards to human rights," she said.
Biden jeopardising peace, stability
Speaking to a room of several dozen people at the US Capitol
building, Omar noted that speaking out against India's human rights
violations is something only a few members of Congress do.
Modi's address to Congress was attended by nearly every lawmaker,
except for Omar and a small group of lawmakers including Rashida Tlaib,
Jamie Raskin, and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez.
Omar added that the lack of movement on addressing the human rights
situation comes even as there is a growing awareness of human rights
violations in other parts of the world, such as Israel's treatment of Palestinians.
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Human rights concerns overshadow Modi's upcoming White House visit
"Palestinian rights is something that has a way to mobilise around.
There are a lot of members of Congress who will talk about it, we will
issue statements. There are a lot of people who deeply care, but we
can't get a single hearing on Palestinian rights," Omar said.
"The opposite is actually true when it comes to Kashmir, we've had
multiple hearings on Kashmir, but you are going to be hard-pressed to
find anyone lobbying around it and you're going to be hard-pressed to
find anyone talking about it."
During a joint press conference earlier on Thursday, Biden was asked
whether his administration was overlooking the targeting of religious
minorities and the crackdown on dissent in India.
Biden responded by saying he and Modi "had a good discussion about democratic values", but did not elaborate further.
"If the President of the United States must be the statesman he has
been elected to be, and not, unfortunately, a salesman for the defence
contractors, then you have to take a stand," Ajit Sahi, advocacy
director for the Indian American Muslim Council, said in Thursday's
briefing.
"And you have to understand that you are jeopardising peace, you are
jeopardising stability by supporting the prime minister of India
Narendra Modi."