 "Who is US lawmaker Ilhan Omar? Why is Rahul Gandhi under fire for meeting her?")
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s visit to the United States has sparked controversy back home. From his remarks on Sikhs to reservations, the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha has faced flak from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over his utterances on foreign soil.
Now, the saffron party has come down heavily on Gandhi over the presence of US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar in his meeting with American lawmakers in Washington. The BJP has lambasted the Congress MP for meeting the “anti-India” politician.
Who is Omar and why is she accused of being against India? Let’s take a closer look.
Who is Ilhan Omar?
Ilhan Omar represents Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District in the US House of Representatives.
Born in Somalia, she and her family fled the civil war when she was eight. After spending four years in a refugee camp in Kenya, they came to the US in the 1990s, as per her official website.
Omar has worked as a community educator at the University of Minnesota and as a Senior Policy Aide for the Minneapolis City Council.
She created history in January 2019, becoming the first African immigrant and woman of colour to be elected to Congress from Minnesota. She is also one of the first Muslim-American women in the US Congress.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsHer many controversies
Last September, Omar hit a nerve in India after she condemned the killing of Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar and urged the US government to support Canada’s probe into his death.
“The allegations that Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Niijar was assassinated by the Indian government are deeply concerning. The US must fully support the Canadian investigation,” she wrote on X.
“We are also requesting a briefing on whether there are similar operations in the United States,” Omar added.
The allegations that Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Niijar was assassinated by the Indian government are deeply concerning. The US must fully support the Canadian investigation.
— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) September 26, 2023
We are also requesting a briefing on whether there are similar operations in the United States.
Her remarks came after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged the involvement of Indian government agents in Nijjar’s killing.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi had sharply responded to Omar’s statement. She wrote on X, “Sit down Madam Representative. Such be the case, as an Indian Parliamentarian I urge @MEAIndia to start an enquiry into how an elected representative in USA is interfering in the peace of Jammu & Kashmir via Pakistan funded PoK visit.”
Chaturvedi was referring to Omar’s visit to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in April 2022, which stirred a massive row in India. She had reportedly said “Kashmir should get more attention” from the US during her Pakistan visit.
Besides visiting PoK, she met Pakistan PM Shehnaz Sharif and former PM Imran Khan. The Democrat had discussed Islamophobia and related issues with Khan at his home in Islamabad, as per reports.
India took strong objection to her PoK visit, which was viewed as an implicit endorsement of Pakistan and its support for terrorism in the region.
“We have noted that US Representative Ilhan Omar has visited a part of the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir that is currently illegally occupied by Pakistan. If such a politician wishes to practice her narrow-minded politics at home, that may be her business. But violating our territorial integrity and sovereignty in its pursuit makes it ours. This visit is condemnable,” the then Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at the time.
Washington had distanced itself from Omar’s trip, terming it an “unofficial personal visit” that did not “represent any policy change on behalf of the United States government”.
In June last year, Omar boycotted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the Joint Session of the US Congress.
Omar has previously criticised the Modi-led government, calling on the US to review its security alliance with India in the Indo-Pacific region. Questioning India’s human rights record, she asked why the Joe Biden administration was reluctant to criticise New Delhi.
“How are we promoting a free and open region by supporting Modi? So, I ask you, why has the Biden administration been so reluctant to criticise Modi’s government on human rights?" Omar said, as per The New Arab.
In June 2022, she introduced a resolution to condemn alleged human rights violations in India, especially those targeting Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, Adivasis, and “other religious and cultural minorities”.
The Democrat urged the US Secretary of State to designate India as a “Country of Particular Concern” under the International Religious Freedom Act, which could result in economic sanctions in extreme cases.
Omar has spoken against the Modi government’s decision to abrogate Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
The US lawmaker opposed the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam in October 2019. She asked whether the US government was strongly raising the issue. “Are we waiting for Muslims in Assam to be put in detention?”
She reportedly said the US relationship with India based on values had been threatened due to the Modi government’s “Hindu nationalism project”.
BJP hits out at Rahul Gandhi
The BJP leaders have castigated Rahul Gandhi for meeting the controversial US Congresswoman during his foreign visit.
The Congress MP met a group of 10 American lawmakers, including Omar, at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington DC on Tuesday (September 10).
Shri @RahulGandhi met with U.S. lawmakers at the Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C.
— Congress (@INCIndia) September 10, 2024
Attendees:
•Hosted by Congressman Bradley James Sherman
•Congressman Jonathan Jackson
•Congressman Ro Khanna
•Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi
•Congresswoman Barbara Lee… pic.twitter.com/zVUJz5VmrW
Union Home Minister Amit Shah attacked Gandhi for “standing with forces that conspire to divide the country”.
BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi said, “Rahul Gandhi is in Opposition, and in his own signature ways, is being indulged in a tour which is against India. But this time, it is serious. He has become the first LoP from India who met with a declared anti-India MP. Ilhan Omar is notorious for speaking against India…”
“Rahul Gandhi has added another feather in his cap with respect to being anti-India,” he added.
With inputs from agencies
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
