US lawmakers urge Rubio to question India over handling of CJP protests

• Six US Democrats urge Marco Rubio to raise alleged police excesses during student protests with Indian officials.

• Lawmakers allege Indian diplomatic missions surveilled CJP supporters in the US; India’s ambassador rejects Pramila Jayapal’s remarks as interference.

• Letter seeks independent probes into alleged rights violations and scrutiny of India’s eligibility for US arms sales.

Six US Democratic lawmakers, including Pramila Jayapal and Ilhan Omar, have urged secretary of state Marco Rubio to raise allegations of excessive force during student protests in Delhi and other parts of India with his Indian counterparts.

The lawmakers — Jayapal, Omar, Jim McGovern, Rashida Tlaib, Eleanor Holmes Norton and Jesus Garcia — also accused the Indian embassy in Washington and Indian consulates in other US cities of deploying photographers to surveil protesters demonstrating in support of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP).

Rubio is scheduled to visit India next week and meet external affairs minister S. Jaishankar in Mumbai.

'We write with concern regarding a pattern of repression, wrongful detention, and excessive use of force by security forces during student protests in Delhi and other localities across India,' the lawmakers said in a letter to Rubio on Friday, 16 October.

They cited protests against then education minister Dharmendra Pradhan and ongoing demonstrations demanding the resignation of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar as examples of the alleged excessive use of force against demonstrators.

Referring to the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Jayapal expressed concern over what she described as the 'purge' of 130 million voters from India's draft electoral rolls and voiced support for the CJP.

India's ambassador to the US, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, had criticised Jayapal's remarks, calling them "unacceptable interference in India's internal affairs".

'The free exercise of fundamental freedoms and the right to vote is core to the democratic identities of both the United States and India,' the lawmakers said in their letter. 'We ask that you use the occasion of your visit to raise these issues of great mutual concern to our two peoples.'

Democratic leader and former White House adviser Ajay Jain Bhutoria criticised Jayapal for writing to Rubio. 'India is the world's largest democracy with its own courts, free press and 900M+ voters. Congress has no business lecturing New Delhi on its internal affairs and undermines a vital US-India partnership. Focus on US problems,' Bhutoria, who served as an adviser to former US president Joe Biden, said in a post on X.

The lawmakers urged Rubio to press the Indian government to order thorough, transparent and independent investigations into alleged human rights violations linked to the law enforcement response to protests.

They also called on him to seek the release of people allegedly detained in violation of Indian and international law for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression and assembly.

The lawmakers also called on the US government to assess whether India had engaged in a sustained pattern of intimidation or harassment targeting individuals in the United States and whether this could affect its eligibility for arms sales under the Arms Export Control Act.

With PTI inputs