FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 24, 2022

WASHINGTON, D.C – HinduPACT calls on Republicans and Democrats in Congress to reject Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN)’s recently introduced resolution which unfairly and dishonestly condemns India’s human rights record and alleges “violations of international religious freedom.”

“With House Resolution 1196, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is clearly taking talking points from Jamaat-e-Islami and Muslim Brotherhood-linked groups, which is extremely troubling to see from an elected official who has sworn an oath of loyalty to the United States Constitution,” said HinduPACT Executive Director Utsav Chakrabarti.

Ilhan Omar is a politically controversial Democratic Congresswoman from Minnesota, who has been called out internationally in the past for her anti-Semitic remarks. This is not the first time – nor will it be the last time – she shows her anti-Hindu and anti-Indian bias while revealing her ties to Pakistan. In April, Omar visited Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoK) following a photo op with former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

That same month, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released a biased report which HinduPACT pointed out was outsourced to Islamist groups. Omar heavily references this biased report in her malicious resolution. HinduPACT Executive Director Utsav Chakrabarti noted in April that this year’s USCIRF report followed “a pattern of reports that have appeared in previous years. Based on publicly available information on topics like Citizen’s Amendment Act (CAA) and Kashmir, the USCIRF report is a ‘copy-and-paste’ of talking points peddled by an agglomeration of Islamist groups working with radical Islamist-linked group “Justice for All”, on whose platform USCIRF commissioners are known to appear regularly.”

Ajay Shah, President of World Hindu Council of America (VHPA) and Convenor of HinduPACT said, “It would be easy to dismiss Rep. Omar’s HR 1196 as being borne out of ignorance or political pandering. However, even to a casual observer of the geopolitical situation in the Indian subcontinent, it is clear that this resolution has much deeper sinister motives.”  He further stated, “Ms. Omar has taken her ideological cues from the US hating Pakistani regime of the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan. It raises questions as to whether Rep. Omar was coached by Imran Khan? We demand she cut ties with him.”