OPINION: Protests Against Modi’s US Visit Unlikely To Hurt US-India Dialogue

The protests reportedly planned to be held by the American rights groups during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's upcoming United States sojourn will be hardly surprising. However, they are highly unlikely to spoil the mood of the state dinner President Biden is to host in honour of Prime Minister Modi and hurt the US's India dialogue.

Reports suggest that several American rights groups are up in arms against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's upcoming State visit to the United States. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have invited policy makers, journalists and analysts next week to a screening in Washington of a BBC documentary on Modi that questions his leadership as Chief Minister of Gujarat during its 2002 riots.

In a letter to US President Joe Biden, Human Rights Watch has urged him to raise concerns, publicly as well as privately, about the human rights situation in India, during Modi's visit. The Indian American Muslim Council, Peace Action, Veterans for Peace and Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition are planning to gather near the White House on June 22 when Prime Minister Modi is due to meet President Biden. Some protesting groups have prepared flyers that say "Modi Not Welcome" and "Save India from Hindu Supremacy".

Knowledgeable sources say such protests by the rights groups during the Modi sojourn in the United States will be hardly surprising. Dissent and various forms of peaceful protests to voice it are part of the culture of democracy. Ideologically, the Democratic Party, to which current US President Biden belongs, claims to be closer to this culture.

The Democratic Party claims to fight for every American, irrespective of their race, sex, ethnicity or national origin, language, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age or disability. Democrats boast of their proud history of defending civil rights -- from the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in 2009 to including marriage equality in the party platform in 2012. They claim to be committed to protecting voting rights, freedom of religion, women's right to make their own health care decisions, and equal federal rights for LGBT couples.

The White House today calls for the struggle to bolster democratic governance (at home and) abroad. It has, in recent years, invested approximately $9.5 billion to support democracy, human rights, and good governance globally. The Biden administration may hence be naturally sympathetic to the rights lobbies in the country.

These rights groups have long been critical of Prime Minister Modi. They blamed him for the 2002 Gujarat riots, when he was Chief Minister of the State. Since Modi became India's Prime Minister in 2014, the rights groups in the United States have specifically been targeting him. They have alleged India under Prime Minister Modi has slid in the World Press Freedom Index. It has come to top the list for the highest number of internet shutdowns globally.

They have alleged the Modi government has been anti-Muslim. It passed a 2019 citizenship law discriminatory to Muslim migrants in India. It revoked Muslim-majority Kashmir's special status in 2019. Since Modi came to power, there has been demolition of properties owned by Muslims in the name of removing illegal construction. There was a ban on wearing the hijab in classrooms in Karnataka when the BJP was in power in that state. Under Modi's influence, some states in India have passed an anti-conversion legislation which challenges the constitutionally protected right to freedom of belief.

However, the sources say the issue of human rights is highly unlikely to spoil the mood of the State dinner President Biden is scheduled to host in honour of Prime Minister Modi and hurt the US-India dialogue. The White House right now wants the Modi visit to result in, to borrow the words of US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, "a transformational moment" in the ongoing partnership between the two nations.

Washington today sees New Delhi as an ally in its "fight for global democracy." The US wants to use India as a counterweight to communist China's growing influence in the Indian-Pacific region. The Biden administration is aware that there is little merit in the accusations of the rights lobbies against Prime Minister Modi. It knows the Indian judiciary is fiercely independent. The Supreme Court of India had ordered an investigation into the Gujarat riots. This apex Court in India found no evidence to prosecute Modi.

The sources add the intelligence and security agencies in the United States are likely to remain appropriately vigilant during the Modi sojourn in the country. They must be fully aware that anti-India elements, based in the United States, might be at work to sabotage the upcoming dialogue between Prime Minister Modi and President Biden at the White House.

(Jagdish N. Singh is a senior journalist based in New Delhi. He is also Senior Distinguished Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, New York)

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