A bipartisan delegation of the US lawmakers headed for India for, among other things, attending the Indian Prime Minister’s Independence Day speech from the Red Fort on August 15, plans to raise issues of democracy, minority rights and pluralism during its visit.
Rohit Khana popularly known as Ro Khanna, a Democratic member of the House of Representatives, and Micheal Waltz, a Republican, who are also co-chairs of the India Caucus, are leading the delegation, as per an announcement. They will be joined by Representatives Deborah Ross, Kat Cammack, Shri Thanedar, Jasmine Crockett, Rich McCormick and Ed Case.
The delegation will attend Narendra Modi’s Red Fort speech on August 15, visit Raj Ghat and meet government, tech, business and film world leaders in Hyderabad and Mumbai, said the statement issued from Khanna’s office. The delegation will also raise issues that may be considered uncomfortable to their Indian interlocutors.
“The delegation will discuss issues of democracy, freedom of speech, pluralism and minority rights,” said a Congressional aide.
While there are no indications as to how and where the delegation will raise these issues, they are most likely to be raised in private conversations in line with what US officials have termed as their preferred platform, instead of public finger-pointing.
Khanna, who is an Indian-American, has been a keen observer of the developments in India. He was very critical, for instance, of the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha in March. He had also urged Narendra Modi to reverse the decision for the “sake of Indian democracy”.
Khanna’s reference to his grandfather in the Rahul Gandhi tweet had met with a barrage of criticism from BJP supporters and activists who had pointed to Vidyalankar’s vote in support of the declaration of Emergency by Indira Gandhi in 1971. He was then an MP from Chandigarh and never ran again for office.
In December 2020, the Indian-American lawmaker had extended support to the Indian farmers in their protests against the Modi government.
Khanna has also been critical at home of ‘exclusionary’ assertion of Hinduism. “It’s the duty of every American politician of Hindu faith to stand for pluralism, reject Hindutva, and speak for equal rights for Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhist & Christians,” he wrote in a tweet in 2019, adding a reference to his grandfather late Amarnath Vidyalankar, a freedom fighter and three-time MP as a member of the Congress in India.
Khanna is a rising star in the Democratic party and is widely believed to be considering a run for the Presidential elections at some stage.
