Indian American Muslim Council chapters in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Georgia, Texas and California join Hindu, Dalit and South Asian partners to condemn brutal crackdown on Indian citizens
WASHINGTON, D C — Indian Americans took to the streets across several cities in the United States at the weekend to express solidarity with millions of Indian students and youth fighting against mass disenfranchisement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.
In Massachusetts, New Jersey, Georgia, Texas and California, Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) chapters joined Hindu, Dalit and South Asian partners to condemn the Modi regime’s illegal deletion of voters and its brutal crackdown on the students and citizens protesting it, an IAMC press release said on Wednesday.
The rallies came as the Modi regime detained thousands of peaceful protesters in New Delhi, in blatant violation of the Supreme Court order. Police dragged students off trains and buses, detained and assaulted journalists covering the protests and pulled protest leaders off a commercial flight.
The UN Human Rights Office has demanded the release of everyone arbitrarily detained. The protesters are demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, under whose watch the Election Commission has erased 133 million citizens via the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) from India’s voter rolls, with Muslims and other minorities targeted in disproportionate numbers.
In Boston, Massachusetts, protesters filled Harvard Square at a rally organised by the IAMC Boston Chapter, the Boston South Asian Coalition and the Boston Study Group. They demanded an end to state violence and the criminalisation of dissent, the suspension of police officers accused of sexually assaulting women protesters, and accountability for electoral irregularities in the Bihar and West Bengal elections.
In Iselin, New Jersey, Indian Americans rallied against SIR, demanding an end to the deletions and the restoration of every vote.
In Atlanta, Georgia: IAMC led a nearly two-hour protest on Sunday outside the National Centre for Civil and Human Rights, joined by Hindus for Human Rights, Ambedkarite activists, SAGRO and other community members.
IAMC members rallied in West Plano in Dallas, demanding an end to state violence, the suspension of police officers accused of beating protesters, and the scrapping of the SIR.
In Fremont, California, IAMC and coalition partners, including Hindus for Human Rights and AKSC, held a two-and-a-half-hour protest demanding the Chief Election Commissioner’s resignation.
“We will not allow India’s authoritarian regime to mass disenfranchise the voters. The days when people feared this regime are over,” said Mohammed Jawad, President of IAMC. “Hindus, Muslims and Dalits stood together because this is a fight for the soul of Indian democracy. Students in Delhi are being beaten and detained for demanding their right to vote. We stand with them, and we will not stop until every detainee is free, Gyanesh Kumar resigns and every stolen vote is restored.”
IAMC has put forward key demands, including immediate release of every detained protester and journalist, and the withdrawal of all criminal cases against them.
The demand also includes an end to state violence and the criminalisation of dissent, and the suspension and prosecution of police officers accused of beating protesters and sexually assaulting women.
The IAMC has also demanded the immediate resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, and an independent constitutional inquiry into the SIR under the President of India.
Calling for an immediate halt to the SIR and the restoration of every eligible voter wrongly deleted, the IAMC called for accountability for electoral irregularities in the Bihar and West Bengal elections.
The largest advocacy organisation of Indian Muslims in the United States called on the US government and Congress to publicly condemn the crackdown and raise the issue directly with the Indian government.
