A resolution denouncing India's alleged human rights record and 'violations' of religious freedom, 'including those targeting Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, Adivasis, and other religious and cultural minorities,' has been introduced in the US House of Representatives by Ilhan Omar, a politically contentious Democratic congresswoman from Minnesota.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom also recommended that India be designated as a 'country of special concern' in the resolution, which expresses 'grave concern regarding the increasing persecution of religious minorities in India' (USCIRF).

The resolution's submission does not guarantee that it will be taken up for discussion or approved. Omar, a Somali-American who has previously taken a strong stance against India, visited Pakistan in April 2022, visiting Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The ministry of external affairs (MEA) responded by stating, 'We have observed that US Representative Ilhan Omar has visited a region of the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir that is now being occupied unlawfully by Pakistan. Such a politician is free to exercise her partisan politics at home if she so chooses. However, pursuing it infringes on our territorial integrity and sovereignty, making it ours. This visit is abhorrent.

The resolution has three co-sponsors. Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian-American congresswoman from Michigan who, together with Omar, is a member of the Left-wing Democratic Party cohort known as 'the Squad,' is one of them. The first two Muslim women to be elected to the House are both of them.

Jim McGovern, a Massachusetts congressman who is a part of the Democratic progressive caucus in the House and who is also the co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, a bicameral group in the House, is another co-sponsor.

Juan Vargas, a California congressman who after graduation joined the Jesuits working in El Salvador, served in the California State Senate, and was elected to the House in 2012, is the third co-sponsor.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) will decide whether to examine the resolution and whether to send it on to the full House afterwards. The resolution will expire if it is not taken up by the conclusion of the current House session (fresh House elections will take place in November).

When critical resolutions on India's conduct in Kashmir were introduced in 2019, including one by prominent progressive Democratic Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, HFAC did not take them into consideration and sent them to the House, ending the legislative push when the House's term expired the following year.

The committee on foreign affairs' rules, which were adopted in February 2021, state that 'Except in extraordinary circumstances, a bill or resolution originating in the House of Representatives that contains exclusively findings and policy declarations or expressions of the sense of the House of Representatives or the sense of the Congress shall not be considered by the Committee or a subcommittee unless such bill or resolution has at least 25 House cosponsors, at least 10 of whom are members of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

The rules also provide that the committee's chairman, Gregory P. Meeks, would decide what 'exceptional circumstances' are after consulting with the Ranking Minority Member, Michael McCaul, the committee's senior-most Republican, and other members as the chair think necessary.

Given the procedural restrictions of Omar's resolution (it lacks 25 co-sponsors, isn't co-sponsored by any HFAC members, and didn't come from any of the committee's subcommittees), the larger strategic and political relationship with India (HFAC itself has spoken of the importance of ties with India), and given the timeline (with only a few months left in the current House's term), the Congresswoman's move will have to cross se

Even if it is approved, a house resolution serves solely to express the sentiment of the entire legislative body.

The resolution's main argument is based on the USICRF's 2022 report, which stated that in 2021, 'the Indian government escalated its promotion and enforcement of policies — including those promoting a Hindu-nationalist agenda — that negatively affect Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, and other religious minorities.'

India has previously disregarded findings from the USICRF. The MEA referred to the report's conclusions as 'biassed and tendentious' as well as 'misrepresentation reaching unprecedented dimensions' when it suggested designating India as 'a country of particular concern' in 2020. At the time, India declared, 'We see it as an organisation of particular concern and would tackle it accordingly.'

The Indian government has allegedly continued to 'systematise its vision of a Hindu State...hostile to the country's religious minorities,' according to Omar's resolution, which references the USICRF 2022 study. It specifically mentions the cases of the late Jesuit priest and activist Stan Swamy and the arrested Kashmiri activist Khurram Parvez as 'emblematic cases' of the government's 'repression of religious minority leaders and voices for religious pluralism.' It also claims that laws like the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the sedition law are being used to foster a climate of fear and intimidation.

The resolution makes reference to the same report when discussing the 'criminalising, harassing and repression of interfaith couples and converts from Hinduism to Christianity or Islam,' the dangers posed to Indian Muslims by the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens, and the rising number of 'attacks' on religious minorities and their houses of worship, businesses, and homes.

Further allegations are made, using an Oxfam study cited by the USICRF, claiming during the epidemic, a third of Indian Muslims reported experiencing prejudice in Indian hospitals. According to the resolution, government representatives tried to portray Sikh protestors as 'terrorists and religiously motivated separatists' during the agricultural demonstrations. The resolution also mentions the violence or threats of violence against Muslims and Christians detailed in the US State Department's annual report on international religious freedom, which was published on June 2, as well as Secretary of State Antony Blinken's claim that there have been 'rising attacks on people and places of worship.'

The MEA stated, 'It is sad that vote bank politics is being conducted in international affairs, in reaction to the state department's findings. We strongly advise against making judgments based on motivated inputs and prejudicial viewpoints.

India cherished religious freedom and human rights 'as a naturally pluralistic community,' the statement continued. 'We have frequently brought up matters of concern in the US in our meetings, including racially and ethnically motivated attacks, hate crimes, and gun violence,' the MEA stated.