Skip to main content

As Modi meets Biden, Indian diaspora protest 'assault on democracy' in Washington DC

By A Representative 
Hundreds of Indian Americans and their allies gathered at Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, DC, to stage a demonstration against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's alleged assault on democratic values and ongoing human rights violations.
The protest, attended by individuals from diverse religious backgrounds such as Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, and tribal communities, coincided with Modi's address to a joint session of Congress and a state dinner at the White House.
Organized by the Coalition for Reclaiming Indian Democracy, calling itself collective of civil rights and interfaith organizations, the protest aimed to raise awareness about the deteriorating state of democracy in India, persecution of religious minorities, particularly Muslims and Christians, crackdown on press and civil society. Prominent activists and victims of human rights abuses under the Modi regime addressed the gathering.
“Democracy as we know it has ceased to exist in India,” said Dr Aakashi Bhatt, daughter of imprisoned whistleblower Sanjiv Bhatt, a former Gujarat cadre IPS officer, who is said to have been given a lifetime prison sentence as a retribution for providing eyewitness testimony on “Modi’s role in the 2002 Gujarat pogrom.”
“My father sacrificed twenty-one years of his life to relentlessly fight for the thousands who are incarcerated and victimized by [the Modi] regime,” Bhatt claimed. “As a society, we cannot let the sacrifices of our heroes go to waste. We need to raise a unified voice against Modi.”
“Journalists are getting attacked and jailed in India… [but] I also firmly believe that hatred has an expiry date,” said Niranjan Takle, a senior Indian journalist who has faced extensive harassment for his work. “I will continue to stand up for democracy and secularism in India, and I call on leaders in the United States to join me.”
Lien Gangte, senior leader of the North American Manipur Tribal Association (NAMTA), speaking about current ethnic violence in Manipur state, said, “Modi has been silent… This is ethnic cleansing, pure and simple... We call on every concerned individual to exercise their democratic rights by urging their elected representatives in the US [to] provide humanitarian aid and security.”
“India is not the world’s largest democracy. India is the world’s largest authoritarian regime,” said Arjun Sethi, a human rights lawyer and adjunct professor at the Georgetown University Law Center. “A democracy doesn’t terrorize minority communities [or] wage war on the press… Modi was banned from this country for more than ten years. He should be banned again. He has no business being on U.S. soil.”
“It is unacceptable that the Biden administration gives Modi this platform to act like a democratic leader, because in doing so, Biden is complicit in whitewashing the blood on Modi’s hands,” Husnaa Vhora, advocacy associate with the Indian American Muslim Council. “Even worse, he’s actively celebrating a man who has stayed silent while his supporters… called for minorities to be eradicated from India.”
“As a progressive Hindu American… it is my ethical, political, and religious duty to stand up against the age-old atrocity of caste and the hatred and violence of Hindu nationalism, the evil twin ideologies that fuel Modi and the BJP as they steer India on a very dark path towards becoming a Hindu supremacist theocracy,” said Sunita Vishwanath, executive director of the US-based advocacy group Hindus for Human Rights.
She added, “Shame on the Biden administration for claiming to care about democracy and human rights, but shamelessly rolling out the red carpet for the Hindu supremacist leader who is dividing India along fault lines of hate.”
“President Biden, do not underestimate the vicious power of Prime Minister Modi… who is hand in glove with violence,” said Reverend Sarah Anderson, pastor at Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Philadelphia. “Stop killing of pastors and their congregations. Stop burning churches in Manipur. Stop the ethnic cleansing of minorities in India.”
“A Holocaust is happening right now in the world’s largest democracy, and the United States has chosen to honor its leader,” said Roja Singh, President of Dalit Solidarity Forum.
“We ask that President Biden declare that the United States does not support the violence-based policies enacted by the Modi government,” she added.

Comments

Post a Comment

TRENDING

Why Indo-Pak relations have been on 'knife’s edge' , hostilities may remain for long

By Utkarsh Bajpai*  The past few decades have seen strides being made in all aspects of life – from sticks and stones to weaponry. The extreme case of this phenomenon has been nuclear weapons. The menace caused by nuclear weapons in the past is unforgettable. Images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from 1945 come to mind, after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the cities.
Post a Comment
»

Manufacturing, services: India's low-skill, middle-skill labour remains underemployed

By Francis Kuriakose* The Indian economy was in a state of deceleration well before Covid-19 made its impact in early 2020. This can be inferred from the declining trends of four important macroeconomic variables that indicate the health of the economy in the last quarter of 2019.
Post a Comment
»

Civil society flags widespread violations of land acquisition Act before Parliamentary panel

By Jag Jivan   Civil society organisations and stakeholders from across India have presented stark evidence before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj , alleging systemic violations of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (RFCTLARR) Act, 2013 , particularly in Scheduled Areas and tribal regions.
Post a Comment
»

Food security? Gujarat govt puts more than 5 lakh ration cards in the 'silent' category

By Pankti Jog* A new statistical report uploaded by the Gujarat government on the national food security portal shows that ensuring food security for the marginalized community is still not a priority of the state. The statistical report, uploaded on December 24, highlights many weaknesses in implementing the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in state.
Post a Comment
»

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”
Post a Comment
»

Modi’s Israel visit strengthened Pakistan’s hand in US–Iran truce: Ex-Indian diplomat

By Jag Jivan   M. K. Bhadrakumar , a career diplomat with three decades of service in postings across the former Soviet Union, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Germany, and Turkey, has warned that the current truce in the US–Iran war is “fragile and ridden with contradictions.” Writing in his blog India Punchline , Bhadrakumar argues that while Pakistan has emerged as a surprising broker of dialogue, the durability of the ceasefire remains uncertain.
Post a Comment
»

The soundtrack of resistance: How 'Sada Sada Ya Nabi' is fueling the Iran war

​ By Syed Ali Mujtaba*  ​The Persian track “ Sada Sada Ya Nabi ye ” by Hossein Sotoodeh has taken the world by storm. This viral media has cut across linguistic barriers to achieve cult status, reaching over 10 million views. The electrifying music and passionate rendition by the Iranian singer have resonated across the globe, particularly as the high-intensity military conflict involving Iran entered its second month in March 2026.
Post a Comment
»

Beneath the stone: Revisiting the New Jersey mandir controversy

By Rajiv Shah  A recent report published in the British media outlet The Guardian , titled “Workers carved the largest modern Hindu temple in the west. Now, some have incurable lung disease,” took me back to my visits to the New Jersey mandir —first in 2022, when it was still under construction, though parts of it were open to visitors, and again in 2024, after its completion.
Post a Comment
»

Protesters in UK cities voice concerns over alleged developments in Bastar region

By A Representative   Demonstrations were held across several cities in the United Kingdom on March 28, as groups and activists gathered to protest what they described as state actions in India under the reported “Operation Kagar.”
Post a Comment
»