- US Congress wants to know about Kashmir and the CAA riots
India has been continuing its oppression of the Muslims of Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) and is expecting that major powers like the USA will support it. India was in for a rude shock, when on 20 December 2019, Indian Minister for External Affairs (MEA) Subrahmanyam Jaishankar cancelled a meeting with a very high-profile and important Congress House Committee on Foreign Affairs, but received a sharp rebuke at the hands of US lawmakers. This harsh reaction by the Indian MEA came in response to House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Republican Eliot Engel refusing a request from Jaishankar to exclude Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal from the meeting. As a member of the Democratic Party, she represented the 37th legislative district in the Washington State Senate from 2015 to 2017. She is the first Indian-American woman to serve in the House of Representatives. The district’s first female member of Congress, she is also the first Asian-American to represent Washington in Congress.
Congresswoman Jayapal had moved Resolution 745 in Congress on 6 December 2019 against Indian atrocities in IOK. Twenty-nine members of Congress co-sponsored that resolution, which is most likely to be adopted soon.
In the resolution, Congresswoman Jayapal had asked India to lift the communication blockade imposed since 5 August 2019 in IOK, restore all political rights of Kashmiris, release political prisoners and detainees, and allow human rights organizations and journalists access to the territory. On 22 October 2019, when the subcommittee of the Foreign Affairs Committee on Asia had held a scathing hearing on IOK, Congresswoman Jayapal had strongly highlighted the abuse of human rights in IOK after August 5.
US Congress members have refused India’s moves to dictate or silence US legislators on the issue of atrocities in IOK. A host of US lawmakers, including Senator Bernie Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren, two leading Democratic Party candidates for the 2020 US presidential elections; the Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, Congressman Jim McGovern, and a number of other members of the US Congress, have expressed concern at India’s attempts to silence or dictate reactions of US legislators to the restrictions and human rights abuse in Indian-held Kashmir.
Before cancelling his important meeting with the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Jaishankar had commented that Congresswoman Jayapal “did not understand” the occupied Kashmir issue and he was not interested in meeting her. Reacting to the Indian minister’s decision, Senator Bernie Sanders remarked: “Shutting out US lawmakers who are standing up for human rights is what we expect from authoritarian regimes, not the government of India. Congresswoman Jayapal must not be excluded for being outspoken about the unacceptable crackdown on Kashmiris and Muslims.”
Indian Home Minister Amit Shah ended up in an unexpected spat with the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs, which has oversight over the US State Department and its policies. This is likely to further weaken India’s case on IOK and citizenship legislation among US lawmakers and put pressure on the US State Department to take a stronger position to address these issues which concern South Asian and global peace and development. It is believed that India-US relations are headed for a low because of the current situation of Indian internal affairs, human riots violations, anti-Muslim and anti-minorities sentiments
Another Democratic Party candidate for the US presidency, Senator Elizabeth Warren, wrote: “Efforts to silence Pramila Jayapal are deeply troubling. The US and India have an important partnership, but our partnership can only succeed if it is rooted in honest dialogue and shared respect for religious pluralism, democracy, and human rights.”
Republican Jim McGovern, the co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, commented: “No foreign government should dictate who is or is not allowed into meetings on Capitol Hill. I stand with Representative Jayapal and applaud Representative Engel (chairman US House Foreign Relations Committee) and others for doing the same.” Senator Kamala Harris, who till recently was a presidential candidate, remarked: “It’s wrong for any foreign government to tell US Congress what members are allowed in meetings on Capitol Hill. I stand with Representative Jayapal and I’m glad her colleagues in the House did too”.
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib reacted: “That’s because they [Indian officials] know they are violating international human rights laws that is leading to innocent lives being lost and causing irreparable harm to children in Kashmir.” The reaction from Congresswoman Ilhan Omar was: “True democracies tolerate dissent.” She commended Jayapal for being “a moral voice on this and so many issues before us. Just like students across India are holding the Indian government accountable, we need to continue to do so in Congress!”
Representative Jayapal remarked, “The cancellation of this meeting was deeply disturbing. It only furthers the idea that the Indian government isn’t willing to listen to any dissent at all”. The Indian government is also under pressure from US lawmakers on the recently passed Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which has sparked widespread protests and resulted in 17 deaths.
The US Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, Ambassador Sam Brownback, recently stated that the USA is concerned about the implications of the Indian Citizenship Amendment Act and hoped that Indian government would abide by its constitutional commitments, including religious freedom. The US Congress House Foreign Affairs Committee has separately stated that any religious test for citizenship undermines the most basic democratic tenet of religious pluralism.
US Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy and Human Rights Robert Destro has also expressed severe reservations about the law in a recent congressional hearing. Likewise, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom has asked for sanctions against Indian Home Minister Amit Shah (widely perceived to be the architect of the bill) and others who moved the controversial law.
Republican Rashida Tlaib had also filed Resolution 724 in the US Congress on 21 November 2019 which, in addition to seeking an end to human rights violations, reaffirms Kashmiris’ right to self-determination. Indian External Affairs Minister Mr Jaishankar had spent a week in October trying to win over US legislators and think tanks on the BJP government’s policy on occupied Kashmir. During his recent US visit for 2+2 ministerial meetings, Mr Jaishankar had again tried to convince US legislators about New Delhi’s occupied Kashmir and citizenship policies.
Indian Home Minister Amit Shah ended up in an unexpected spat with the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs, which has oversight over the US State Department and its policies. This is likely to further weaken India’s case on IOK and citizenship legislation among US lawmakers and put pressure on the US State Department to take a stronger position to address these issues which concern South Asian and global peace and development.
It is believed that India-US relations are headed for a low because of the current situation of Indian internal affairs, human riots violations, anti-Muslim and anti-minorities sentiments.
Meanwhile, Pakistan has decided to host a ministerial meeting of the 57-member Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Jammu and Kashmir in April. This has been received with chagrin by India as disclosed by the Indian media. The development, according to diplomats, is linked to a broader Saudi-Pakistan deal. Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, has stated he informed his Saudi counterpart that the OIC must make a strong statement on India’s Citizenship Amendment Act as well as on the situation in [Jammu and Kashmir]. His request was acceded to by Saudi Arabia, which has directed the OIC to plan for the summit to take place. Pakistan welcomes this chance to expose Indian atrocities against Muslims of Kashmir and elsewhere in India.
