Indian Americans Protest across US against Erasure of Voters and Crackdown on Protesters
Washington, DC: Indian Americans took to the streets across several cities in the United States this weekend to express solidarity with millions of Indians fighting against mass disenfranchisement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). According to a press release, “in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Georgia, Texas and California, Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) chapters joined Hindu, Dalit and South Asian partners to condemn the Modi regime’s illegal deletion of voters and its brutal crackdown on the students and citizens protesting it.
“The rallies came as the Modi regime detained thousands of peaceful protesters in New Delhi, in blatant violation of an order of India’s Supreme Court. Police dragged students off trains and buses , detained and assaulted journalists covering the protests and pulled protest leaders off a commercial flight. The UN Human Rights Office has demanded the release of everyone arbitrarily detained. The protesters are demanding resignation of Chief Election Commissioner of India Gyanesh Kumar, under whose watch the Election Commission has erased 133 million citizens via the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) from India’s voter rolls, with Muslims and other minorities targeted in disproportionate numbers .”
In Boston, “protesters filled Harvard Square at a rally organized by the IAMC Boston Chapter, the Boston South Asian Coalition and the Boston Study Group. They demanded an end to state violence and the criminalization of dissent, the suspension of police officers accused of sexually assaulting women protesters, and accountability for electoral irregularities in the Bihar and West Bengal elections.”
IAMC and coalition partners, including Hindus for Human Rights and AKSC, held a two-and-a-half-hour protest in Fremont, California, demanding the Chief Election Commissioner’s resignation.
“We will not allow India’s authoritarian regime to mass disenfranchise the voters. The days when people feared this regime are over ,” said Mohammed Jawad, President of IAMC. “Hindus, Muslims and Dalits stood together because this is a fight for the soul of Indian democracy. Students in Delhi are being beaten and detained for demanding their right to vote. We stand with them, and we will not stop until every detainee is free, Gyanesh Kumar resigns and every stolen vote is restored.” - IAMC
