Amid rising tensions in Delhi, six US lawmakers, including Pramila Jayapal, addressed a letter to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressing serious concern over the alleged wrongful detention and excessive use of force against demonstrators. The representatives urged Rubio to request that the Indian government initiate a transparent and independent investigation into the matter.
This comes after India’s rejection of Jayapal’s previous remarks on the revision of India’s electoral rolls. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had labelled her comments “unwarranted” and said they amounted to interference in the “electoral practices of a fellow democracy”. Besides Jayapal, the letter was signed by James P McGovern, Jesus G "Chuy" Garcia, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib. They urged Rubio to raise these concerns with his Indian counterparts during his scheduled visit.
‘Heavy Surveillance On Us’
Apart from this, the lawmakers also questioned “incidents of apparent surveillance and intimidation of individuals exercising their fundamental rights on United States soil by individuals in the employ of or acting in coordination with the Indian Embassy and consulates”.
The letter signed by six lawmakers voiced concerns over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in India, claiming that “the process lacked transparency”.
ALSO READ: Marco Rubio To Visit India Amid US Trade Deal Delay And Immigration Policy Concerns; What To Expect?
In the letter, the lawmakers asked Rubio to urge the Indian government to probe into the “alleged human rights violations connected to the law enforcement response to protests”. They also sought the “release of the people detained in contravention to Indian and international law for peacefully exercising the rights to freedom of expression and assembly”.
India on Jayapal’s previous remarks
Earlier this week, Jayapal flagged concerns over reports that 13 crore names had been removed from India’s draft electoral rolls.
Jayapal, who was born in Chennai and moved to the US in 1982, shared a social media post, saying she was “deeply concerned about the actions of the Indian government to purge 130 million people from the voting rolls”. She added that the move “appears to be a similar playbook to what the Trump Administration is doing [in the US] to undermine voting rights in a democracy”.
To this, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal launched a scathing attack on Jaypal. "We find the remarks of the Congresswoman unwarranted and uninformed and tantamount to interfering in the electoral practices of a fellow democracy," Jaiswal said.
"This is an approach that undermines democracy itself," he said.
Jayapal’s remarks came amid protests by young people and Opposition parties in India over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. The exercise has led to the removal of millions of names from voter lists.