As Modi visits, Indian American lawmakers face balancing act
Ahead of Narendra Modi’s state visit to Washington this week, Pramila Jayapal – a progressive Democratic congresswoman – circulated a letter signed by dozens of congressional lawmakers calling for Joe Biden to acknowledge the erosion of human rights and democracy during the Indian prime minister’s nine years in power.
“A series of independent, credible reports reflect troubling signs in India toward the shrinking of political space, the rise of religious intolerance, the targeting of civil society organizations and journalists, and growing restrictions on press freedoms and internet access,” it warned.
The letter was also signed by Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren; notable in their absence, however, were several other Indian American politicians and Democrats, including Ro Khanna, Shri Thanedar, Ami Bera and Raja Krishnamoorthi.
Modi’s state visit comes at a consequential time for the small but record number of Indian Americans in Congress.
Many of these same lawmakers have led some of the country’s most vocal and comprehensive responses to the threats against US democracy, from the bipartisan focus on China to voting rights legislation.
But speaking out on India’s crackdown on religious freedoms, press and speech comes with political risk: some lawmakers serve large diaspora constituencies and surveys suggest at least half of Indian Americans remain supportive of Modi. The voting bloc is also only growing in political influence and importance – now 4 million strong and on track to be the largest among Asian Americans.
Meanwhile, a growing number of Indian Americans are speaking out against Modi’s brand of Hindu nationalism – Hindutva – and its repercussions in India and abroad.
“It’s difficult terrain for Indian American politicians to have to navigate or lead a response to the Modi visit,” said Sara Sadhwani, a politics professor at Pomona College and author and researcher of the Indian American Elections Survey. “It’s one thing to support the relationship of the US and India. It’s another thing to support a leader.”
Khanna, a congressman from California, represents the largest Asian American district in the country. The Democratic-majority district is home to some of the most concentrated south
Asian communities in the US, and Khanna was recently named co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans.
But when Khanna has broached the topic of Modi in recent years, he has quickly met backlash from Modi supporters and critics alike. In 2019, he tweeted a call for Hindu American politicians to “stand for pluralism, reject Hindutva, and speak for equal rights for Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists and Christians”. More than 200 Indian American organizations immediately lodged complaints, and called for him to resign from the Congressional Pakistan Caucus.
Last month, when Khanna joined the House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, in inviting Modi to address Congress, advocacy organisations and activists such as the Indian American Muslim Council expressed their own disappointment.
“I support very strongly the USIndia strategic relationship and I also believe it has to be grounded in a commitment to the rule of law, to pluralism, to human rights – we have to build and strengthen the relationship,” Khanna told the Guardian, adding that the “vast majority” of his constituents felt the same. His office did not immediately comment on Jayapal’s letter.
Krishnamoorthi, a congressman from Illinois also acknowledged the complicated issues of democracy in India, but pointed to the country’s role in the context of the US’s tensions with China.
“What’s very important is that right now democracy is under threat [in the US and India] and we have to do what it takes to buck up,” he said. “I’ve lived through January 6 – it represents how fragile our own democracy is. At the same time I’m aware of what’s happening in India and concerned.
“We have to make sure we leverage each other’s strengths and promote democracy everywhere. Because remember there is an alternative model out there that is being shopped by the Chinese Communist party.”
Such qualified acknowledgments of the threats facing democracy in India don’t go far enough for some.
“The White House and Congress are making a terrible mistake by celebrating Modi on this trip,” said Arjun Sethi, a Georgetown Law professor and human rights activist. “Human rights abuses continue to worsen under his administration and they should be asking him very difficult questions instead of honoring him.”
Sethi pointed to numerous internet blackouts that the Modi government has used to quell dissent and the extreme tactics to stifle the press, whether by blocking accounts on Twitter or deporting journalists. But he said the onus was not just on lawmakers, but on members of the community itself.
“There is a well-known phenomenon among south Asians in America who proclaim to be liberal and supporters of human rights – except when it comes to Modi, violence and hate against marginalized communities in India,” he said.
Sadanand Dhume, a senior fellow focused on south Asian politics at the American Enterprise Institute, said lawmakers like Khanna have to do a “balancing act” to serve both a progressive base and Modi supporters. But he also said the chasm between Indian Americans supporting Modi and those who were either critical or indifferent of him was only expected to grow with the younger population.
“Hindu nationalism as an ideology is innately unappealing, and there’s a large proportion of the Indian American community that is not Hindu,” he said. “The ideas espoused by the BJP [Modi’s party] are simply not compatible with liberal democracy as we understand it.”
The White House, in the meantime, has done its own balancing act. Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, said the administration will “make our views known” on India’s press and religious freedoms, according to Reuters. “We do so in a way where we don’t seek to lecture or assert that we don’t have challenges ourselves.
With all of the careful political calculus, Thursday’s events promise to be contentious. Some members of Congress – including Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib – will boycott Modi’s address to the chambers because of antiMuslim sentiment. And thousands of Indian Americans, which will probably include influential political donors, invited to Modi’s address could encounter protesters outside the White House complex.
But for some Indian American lawmakers, the ability to simultaneously represent the US and strengthen a relationship with India is worth protecting.
“I just want to focus on the people of both countries,” said Thanedar, a congressman from Michigan. “I’d like to see a much stronger relationship with India than we’ve seen in the last several decades.”