Rahul Gandhi meets 'anti-India' American lawmaker Ilhan Omar. Why is the meet controversial?

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi meets US lawmakers. (Photo: X)

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is on a three-day trip to the United States, courted controversy for meeting “anti-India” and “radical” politician Ilhan Omar. Slamming the meet, the Bharatiya Janata Party accused Gandhi of siding with Ilhan Omar, whom he described as a Pakistan-sponsored anti-India voice.

Gandhi, who has interacted with the Indian diaspora besides students and faculty at universities during his visit to the United States, also met US lawmakers. The meeting, which took place at Rayburn House Office Building in Washington DC was hosted by Congressman Bradley James Sherman and those present included US Congress members Jonathan Jackson, Ro Khanna, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Barbara Lee, Shri Thanedar, Jesus G “Chuy” Garcia, Ilhan Omar, Hank Johnson and Jan Schakowsky.

Responding to Gandhi’s meeting with US representative for Minnesota’s 5th congressional district, Omar, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla took to social media platform X and said, “After spewing venom against Sikhs & running down India on foreign soil now Rahul Gandhi meets & engages with anti-India Ilhan Omar.

Reiterating Omar’s anti-India stance, he wrote, “1) Ilhan had introduced anti India resolutions in US Congress 2) She has been against abrogation of Art 370 3) She violated India’s sovereignty & visited PoK on a trip sponsored by Pakistan 4) She met Imran Khan & other such elements to discuss “Islamophobia” in India 5) She has been instrumental in peddling hatred against Hindus.”

A politically controversial Democratic Congresswoman from Minnesota, Ilhan Omar fled her home country with her family shortly after the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991, spending four years in a Kenyan refugee camp before emigrating to the United States in 1995.

In June 2022, Omar introduced a resolution in the United States (US) House of Representatives condemning India’s alleged human rights record and ‘violations’ of religious freedom, “including those targeting Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, Adivasis and other religious and cultural minorities”.

Omar’s visit to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir had evoked a furious response from India two years ago. Omar visited PoK during a four-day trip to Pakistan. Omar had previously been perceived as a supporter of Pakistan’s line on Jammu and Kashmir. India had said Omar’s visit to PoK violated the country’s sovereignty and reflected her “narrow-minded” politics.