Rep. Omar Statement on Human Rights Violations in Punjab, India

WASHINGTON—Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) released the following statement on the human rights situation in Punjab, India.

"I am profoundly concerned about the human rights situation in Punjab, India. The Indian government has enacted a draconian communications shutdown, arrested hundreds, and blocked the Twitter accounts of civic leaders, journalists, including the BBC Punjab and a Canadian Member of Parliament. This has unmistakable echoes of the crackdown in Kashmir, and the sweeping response to the farmer’s protests. For many Punjabis and Sikhs, it also bears unmistakable echoes of the brutality against their community in 1984.

"We hear a lot about how our relationship with India’s government is based on mutual values of democracy and human rights, in spite of their quadrupling trade with Russia since the invasion of Ukraine.We hear this in spite of their constant violations of human rights.

"With right-wing authoritarianism on the rise across the globe, the United States should stand unequivocally for the protection of universal human rights, in particular the rights of all religious and ethnic minorities."