RAJA JAVED ALI BHATTI
“It’s wrong for any foreign government to tell Congress what members are allowed in meetings on Capitol Hill,” said Senator Kamala Harris when India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar refused to attend a meeting with American lawmakers because Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal was also on the guestlist.
The US Congress is also considering a bill that would press India to end all communications restrictions in occupied Kashmir and release hundreds taken into detention after Modi in August stripped Kashmiris of the special autonomy they had for seven decades by repealing Article 370 of the constitution.
Congresswoman Jayapal and Senator Harris, who dropped out of the Democratic presidential race early this month, both have an Indian background. Senator Harris’s mother was from Chennai while Ms Jayapal was born there.
Yet, Mr Jaishankar refused to meet Ms Jayapal when the Indian Embassy arranged a meeting for him with the House Foreign Affairs Committee in Washington earlier this week to share India’s views on Kashmir with the members.
Ms Jayapal, who is a member of the panel’s subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, rejects the Indian position on Kashmir and accuses New Delhi of committing gross human rights violations in the occupied valley. She also criticises India’s new citizenship law because she believes it discriminates against Muslims.
Recently, Ms Jayapal moved a resolution in Congress urging India to end restrictions on communications and mass detentions in the occupied Kashmir as swiftly as possible and preserve religious freedom for all residents. “I’m deeply concerned. Detaining people without out charge, severely limiting communications, & blocking neutral third-parties from visiting the region is harmful to our close, critical bilateral relationship” with India, she wrote in a recent tweet.
According to US media reports, when informed that Ms Jayapal would also attend the meeting, Mr. Jaishankar asked his aides to ensure that she is kept out. He was particularly upset with Ms Jayapal for sponsoring the resolution that condemned India’s crackdown in Kashmir.
But when Mr Jaishankar’s emissaries contacted Congressman Eliot Engel, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, to remove Ms Jayapal from the list. Mr Engel refused, and the meeting was cancelled.
Mr Jaishankar, who was in Washington for US-India strategic dialogue, however, defended his stance. “I am aware of that resolution. I don’t think it’s a fair understanding of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir or a fair characterization of what the government of India is doing. And I have no interest in meeting (Jayapal),” said the Indian leader while talking to the media. Ms Jayapal, the first Indian-American woman elected to the House of Representatives, however, described the cancellation as “deeply disturbing” and said in a tweet that “it only furthers the idea that the Indian government isn’t willing to listen to any dissent at all.”
Ms Harris, the first US Senator of Indian origin, said she stands with Ms Jayapal. “I’m glad her colleagues in the House did too,” she added.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, a leading Democratic presidential candidate, also supported Ms. Jayapal, saying that “efforts to silence” a US lawmaker “are deeply troubling”. She retweeted a report by The Washington Post which said Mr Jaishankar refused to attend a meeting of House Foreign Affairs Committee members that included Ms Jayapal.
“Shutting out US lawmakers who are standing up for human rights is what we expect from authoritarian regimes-not the government of India,” said another leading candidate, Senator Bernie Sanders.
“Representative Jayapal is right. She must not be excluded for being outspoken about the unacceptable crackdown on Kashmiris and Muslims,” he added in his tweet.
Congressman Jim McGovern, also a Democrat, said “no foreign government should dictate who is or isn’t allowed into meetings on Capitol Hill.” He also “applauded” Congressman Engel for not succumbing to the Indian pressure.
A display of strong and firm reaction came after Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on 20th Dec 2019, cancelled a meeting with the very high profile and important Congress House Committee on Foreign Affairs. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Eliot Engel had refused a request from Jaishankar to exclude Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal from the meeting. Congresswoman Jayapal had moved Resolution 745 in Congress on Dec 6, 2019 against Indian atrocities in occupied Kashmir. Twenty-nine members of the Congress co-sponsored that resolution, which is most likely to be adopted soon. India has nevertheless come under the microscope in Washington in recent months.
At least six people have died in major protests in the country over a citizenship law promoted by Modi that fast-tracks citizenship only to non-Muslims from neighbouring countries.
Modi says the measure is meant to protect persecuted minorities, but critics see it as part of a masterplan to define India as a Hindu nation and move away from its secular foundations.
India will likely watch closely whether and how vocally the United States raises the issue at a joint news conference.
The State Department has urged New Delhi to “protect the rights of its religious minorities in keeping with India’s constitution and democratic values”.
In the resolution, Congresswoman Jayapal had asked India to lift the communication blockade imposed since Aug 5 in occupied Kashmir, restore all political rights of Kashmiris, release political prisoners and detainees, and allow human rights organizations and journalists access to the territory. On October 22, 2019, when the subcommittee of the Foreign Affairs Committee on Asia had held a scathing hearing on occupied Kashmir, Congresswoman Jayapal had strongly highlighted the abuse of human rights in Indian-held Kashmir after Aug 5, 2019.
US Congress members have refused India’s moves to dictate or silence American legislators on the issue of atrocities in occupied Kashmir. A host of American lawmakers, 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 American legislators to the restrictions and human rights abuse in Indian-held Kashmir.
Before canceling 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.”
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.”
Rep 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 Rep. Jayapal and applaud Rep 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 Congress what members are allowed in meetings on Capitol Hill. I stand with Rep. 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!”
Rep. 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, 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 US 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 law.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib had also filed Resolution 724 in the US Congress on Nov 21, 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, Jaishankar had again tried to convince US legislators about New Delhi’s occupied Kashmir and citizenship policies.
The Home Minister Amit Shah ended up in an unexpected spat with the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, which has oversight on US State Department and its policies. This is likely to further weaken India’s case on occupied Kashmir 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 this is the perfect time to expose the current situation of Indian internal affairs, human riots violations, anti-Muslim and minorities sentiments.
