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The BJP on Wednesday (September 11) accused Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, of harbouring “anti-India” sentiments and “working against India” after he was pictured with US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.
BJP head of the IT cell, Amit Malviya, in a post on X, described Omar as a “Pakistan sponsored anti-India voice, a radical Islamist and an advocate of independent Kashmir.”
Rahul arrived in the US on Sunday for a three-day visit “to strengthen the bond” between India and America. On Tuesday Rahul met a group of American lawmakers including Jonathan Jackson, Ro Khanna, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Barbara Lee, Shri Thanedar, Jesus G Garcia, Hank Johnson, Jan Schakowsky, and Omar.
Here is all you need to know about Ilhan Omar, and why many in India do not like her.
Over the years, Omar’s words and actions have often elicited outrage in India. Here are some examples
ONE: Ilhan Omar in a post on X in September 2023 condemned the killing of Khalistani separatist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, and urged the US to extend its full support to Canada’s probe into Indian involvement in his death.
Her statements drew backlash from Indian politicians across the board, with Shiv Sena UBT member, Priyanka Chaturvedi, asking the Indian government to probe into American interference in Indian political affairs.
TWO: The congresswoman visited Pakistan occupied Kashmir in April 2022 on a trip sponsored by Islamabad, where she met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and former Prime Minister Imran Khan. While in Muzaffarabad, she said the United States Foreign Affairs Committee had inquired into reports of human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir.
Her visit drew swift backlash from India with the spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, Arindam Bagchi saying, “If such a politician wishes to practice a narrow-minded politics at home, that’s her business, but violating our territorial integrity and sovereignty in its pursuit makes this ours and we think the visit is condemnable.”
THREE: On June 22, 2022, Omar introduced a resolution in Congress to condemn human rights violations in India, specifically those targeting Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, Adivasis, and “other religious and cultural minorities.”
The resolution calls on the US Secretary of State to designate India as a ‘Country of Particular Concern’ under the International Religious Freedom Act — a move that can lead to economic sanctions in extreme cases. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), a consultative government body, has been recommending this designation for the past three years, said Omar.
Ilhan Omar is the Congress representative for Minnesota’s Fifth District. She is the first Somali-American in the US Congress, and the first woman representative from Minnesota.
Born in Somalia, Omar arrived in the US as a refugee at the age of 13 years, fleeing the Civil War back home. In November 2016, Omar contested elections and entered the Minnesota House of Representatives, where she served as a legislator for two years. She became a Congresswoman in 2018.
She has also been a part of ‘The Squad’, an informal grouping of Democratic lawmakers in the US Congress who are ideologically to the left of their party which included Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib, Cori Bush, and Jamaal Bowman.
Over the years, Omar has also spoken out against the treatment of Uighur Muslims in China, the 2019 Easter bombings in Sri Lanka, and other international issues. More recently, she has condemned Israel’s assault on Gaza and excesses in Palestine. She boycotted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address in the US Congress in June this year.
