Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC — The Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) and a broad coalition of over 20 human rights and interfaith organisations on Friday called on the US government to sanction Indian Home Minister Amit Shah, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, and other individuals and entities complicit in illegal extortion and assassination operations in the US and Canada.
A letter in this regard was sent to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Commerce Janet Yellen. Signatories to the letter included the Council for American Islamic Relations, the Sikh Coalition, the New York State Council of Churches and Hindus for Human Rights.
Under the Global Magnitsky Act, the US may impose sanctions on any individual who violates “internationally recognised human rights and freedoms, such as the freedoms of religion, expression, association, and assembly, and the rights to a fair trial and democratic elections.”
“Amit Shah and Ajit Doval’s orchestration of violence against Indian religious minorities extends throughout India and now into North America. It constitutes clear grounds for sanction under the Global Magnitsky Act,” said IAMC Executive Director Rasheed Ahmed in a press release. “American legislators should take note of the transnational repression and risk he poses to religious freedoms and security everywhere and sanction them accordingly.”
Earlier this week, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said they had found evidence Amit Shah had authorised the assassination of Canadian Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was murdered in Vancouver in 2023. The RMCP investigations also tied India’s High Commissioner to Canada, Sanjay Verma, along with other Indian agents, to the assassination, other homicides, violent acts, interference in Canada’s democratic process, and the use of organised crime to target the South Asian community in Canada.
Verma has said the allegations are politically motivated.
“Nothing at all,” Verma said when asked if he had any role in the shooting of Nijjar who was killed outside a cultural centre in Surrey, British Columbia on June 18, 2023. “No evidence presented. Politically motivated.”
Four Indian nationals living in Canada were charged with Nijjar’s murder and are awaiting trial.
The Washington Post revealed that former Indian Research Analysis Wing (RAW) chief and current National Security Advisor Ajit Doval was linked to the assassination of New York-based Sikh leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
Sanctioning Shah and Doval would be consistent with the United States’ recently announced action putting 19 Indian private firms and 2 Indian nationals on a list of entities and individuals who will face sanctions for allegedly aiding Russia’s war efforts in Ukraine. Aimed at suppressing the use of third countries to circumvent restrictions on abetting Russia’s military campaign, the sanctions send a clear message that the US will not tolerate Indian cooperation with Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.
“We must continue to provide accountability for Indian political actors who endanger human rights internationally,” said IAMC President Mohamed Jawad. “If we sanction Indian actors for violating the rights of Ukrainians, we must do the same for those who violate American lives.”
Sunita Viswanath, Executive Director of Hindus for Human Rights, said that “measures must be taken to protect citizens in the US from government actors who endanger them simply for exercising their democratic rights. International agents must be held accountable for suppressing voices of freedom in both Canada and the US. No one should live in fear of extrajudicial violence from foreign agents simply for speaking out.”
Deepali Gill, Federal Policy Manager at the Sikh Coalition said, “The actions of the US and Canadian governments, as well as public investigative reporting, indicate more and more that recent transnational repression against Sikhs is not a series of one-off events, but instead a coordinated campaign being directed by more senior individuals in the Indian government. Sanctions on these leaders would be a strong step towards not just accountability for past misdeeds, but deterrence against further harmful behaviour that violates Sikhs’ civil rights and US sovereignty.”
The IAMC said it applauds the efforts of the US government to provide accountability to individuals providing material support for Russian human rights abuses in Ukraine and calls on the US to expand these targeted sanctions to other Indian officials who threaten the security and human rights of Indian nationals.