—- by Hindus for Human Rights

Seattle Council Member Kshama Sawant introduced a resolution to express solidarity with the Seattle South Asian Community regardless of religion and caste and to oppose India’s National Register of Citizens (NRC) and Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The resolution demands that the Modi government fully rescind the NRC and CAA.

Here is a video of Ms. Sawant introducing the resolution and the discussion. The Seattle City Council will vote on this resolution on Monday. HfHR sent this letter in full support of the Resolution.

We applaud Ms. Sawant for her courage and leadership, and stand in solidarity with her.

Dear Seattle City Council Members,

Hindus for Human Rights (HfHR), an advocacy group with presence both in the Unites States and in India, strongly urges the City Council to vote in favor of Resolution 31926 condemning India's recent citizenship laws (CAA and NRC). 

We have been closely monitoring the development of these discriminatory and unconstitutional laws for several months. Several of our board members have just returned from visits to multiple cities and towns in India, where they personally witnessed peaceful protests from every section of society, which have been met with unprecedented police brutality, especially targeting Muslim communities. (Please see www.hindusforhumanrights.org.)

As you must be aware, many international and Indian organizations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the State Department's USCIRF, have expressed alarm that these laws will lead to marginalizing India's 200 million Muslims, and could result in one of the greatest humanitarian crises that India has seen since independence.

The Indian government has responded to these organizations, accusing them of interfering in "an internal matter" of India. We strongly disagree with that argument: As the experience of NRC in the state of Assam clearly indicates, whether we are citizens of India or the United States, our families and our friends in India are all likely to be touched by these inhuman laws. It is well within our rights to be not only challenging the Indian government on the laws, but to urge lawmakers in D.C. as well as locally to take up our cause to protect our families and friends from facing imminent and massive discrimination in the land of their birth.

We urge the City Council to push back on this fraudulent argument by the Indian Government and vote in favor of the resolution. We must send a message internationally that we will not stand by idly as the BJP/RSS attempt to destroy the very idea if India. 

Please vote yes on Monday, February 3, so Seattle can stand on the right side of history.  

Thank you,

Raju Rajagopal

for Hindus for Human Rights (.org)