Admin | On 11, Mar 2020

Congressman warns about NRC’s potential for “extraordinary discrimination” against Muslims

Santa Clara, CA: March 11, 2020 — Speaking at a constituent town hall at Santa Clara University, Congressman Ro Khanna denounced India’s proposed National Register of Citizens as “absurd” and warned it could lead to “extraordinary discriminations against Muslims in India.”

“You expressed a commitment towards pluralism and for protecting the rights of religious minorities in the face of rising Hindutva,” a Muslim constituent said to Khanna at the February 21 event. “I’m wondering if you will show that commitment to your Muslim constituents by condemning the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Registry of Citizens, both of which are an extension of Hindu nationalism.” The congressman responded:

“I have spoken out against both the Citizenship Act and also the National Registry. The National Registry is absurd. No country should have a national registry where they’re asking for people to give documentation and prove that they’re part of the country. I fear any kind of national registry could lead to extraordinary discrimination against Muslims in India. I’ve spoken out against the Citizenship Act, just like I’ve spoken out against the ban in our country, and I said, ‘You can’t discriminate people coming into our country based on their religious faith.’ I don’t think India should be discriminating who they’re going to give expedited citizenship [to] based on faith. I think both of those policies are wrong.”

When India’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party passed the Citizenship Amendment Act in December 2019, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom warned that the law “enshrines a pathway to citizenship for immigrants that specifically excludes Muslims, setting a legal criterion for citizenship based on religion.”

On February 23, USCIRF further warned, “There are serious concerns that the CAA serves as a protective measure for non-Muslims in case of exclusion from a nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC) — a proposed list of all Indian citizens. This purpose is evident from BJP politicians’ rhetoric. With the CAA in place, Muslims would primarily bear the punitive consequences of exclusion from the NRC which could include ‘statelessness, deportation, or prolonged detention,’ according to three United Nations Special Rapporteurs.”

“America needs more people in Congress with the courage and honesty of Ro Khanna,” says Arvin Valmuci of Organization for Minorities of India. “As a Hindu-American politician, his outspokenness against the Hindu nationalist agenda that is bringing misery to so many Indians is truly historic. We urge Congressman Khanna to continue to champion the human rights of all, especially the oppressed people of India.”

Khanna’s remarks came shortly before an anti-Muslim pogrom broke out in Delhi on February 23. Over 50 people were killed by mobs acting in collaboration with the police. The violence began after a BJP leader threatened to “take to the streets” to clear away sit-in protests against the CAA and the NRC.

“This deadly surge of religious intolerance in India is horrifying,” said Hindu-American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal on February 25. “Democracies should not tolerate division and discrimination, or promote laws that undermine religious freedom. The world is watching.”

Last year, Khanna made headlines when he stated, “It’s the duty of every American politician of Hindu faith to stand for pluralism, reject Hindutva, and speak for equal rights for Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhist[s], & Christians.” Hindutva is the BJP’s religious nationalist political ideology which treats non-Hindus as foreign to India.

According to India Abroad, Ritesh Tandon, who is challenging Khanna for his seat in Congress, “was motivated to run by Khanna’s alleged anti-Hindutva comments.” Referring to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh paramilitary, which is the parent group of the BJP, Tandon says his father was “a strong RSS person.”

Tandon has faced accusations that he was recruited and promoted by Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, the international wing of the RSS. In October 2019, the HSS had organized a protest against Khanna over his statement against Hindutva.

“We want more than lip service from Ro Khanna,” says West Sacramento Sikh Gurdwara President Balbir Singh Dhillon. He recalls his experience being falsely arrested in India in the 1990s. Held for two months, he was tortured in custody and only released after over 50 US congressional representatives signed a letter to the US State Department that pressured India to admit it had no proof he committed any crime. “The Indian government’s long track record of violating human rights with impunity has escalated into the Delhi Pogrom against Muslims that we saw in late February,” says Dhillon. “The time for denouncing its atrocities without acting to prevent them passed long ago. We want Khanna to act to get the US government to sanction individuals like Narendra Modi and Amit Shah.”