June 23: Minnesota’s Congresswoman from the 5th Congressional district, Ilhan Omar, after her controversial visit to Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir (PoK) and Pakistan in April – where she also met the then Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan, has now showed further animosity towards India by co-sponsoring a resolution on Capitol Hill to condemn alleged human rights violations. Omar has not revealed the entities or individuals who sponsored her April visit, which was condemned by India.
The H.Res 1196, introduced on June 22nd, was co-sponsored by Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Rep. Juan Vargas (D-CA). Omar and Tlaib are the only two Muslim women in the US House of Representatives.
A press release from Omar’s office, said the resolution is “to condemn human rights violations and violations of international religious freedom in India, including those targeting Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, Adivasis, and other religious and cultural minorities. The resolution calls on the Secretary of State to designate India as a Country of Particular Concern under the International Religious Freedom Act, which has been recommended by the independent, bipartisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom for the past three years.”
Read the full press release.
Omar, who serves as whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, has often been critical of India. The four Indian Americans in Congress, sometimes referred to as the ‘Samosa Caucus’ – Reps. Ami Bera, Ro Khanna, Raja Krishnamoorthi and Pramila Jayapal – have yet to comment on Omar’s resolution. The resolution has been sent to the House Foreign Affairs Committee for review, and action.
India had made its stance against Omar very clear, in the past.
India’s External Affairs spokesperson, Arindam Bagchi, had this to say after Omar’s April visit: “If such a politician wishes to practice a narrow-minded politics at home, that’s her business, but violating our territorial integrity and sovereignty in its pursuit makes this ours and we think the visit is condemnable.”
