US legislator says India is at risk of becoming a Hindu nationalist state

US legislator, Andy Levin, has said that India is facing the danger of becoming a Hindu nationalist State.

Democratic Congressman, Andy Levin, said this in his last speech on the floor of the US House of Representatives.

“I have been a vocal advocate for human rights in places like India, which is in the danger of becoming a Hindu nationalist State rather than a secular democracy,” said Andy Levin, who represented the ninth Congressional District from Michigan. In the next Congress, it will be represented by Lisa McClain of the Republican Party.

He said, “I am a lover of Hinduism, a lover of Jainism, Buddhism and other religions that were born in India, but we need to protect the rights of all people there. Whether they’re Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, Christians, Jains.”

As a lawmaker, Andy Levin used to frequently highlight human rights violations in India and Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir. During a special Congressional briefing titled “India’s Brutal Persecution of Kashmir,” organised by multiple human rights groups, including the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), on April 20, this year, he had called for international attention on the issue.
“While Kashmir may not be in the nightly news, what’s happening there deserves the world’s attention, and it’s still a prime example of how Prime Minister Modi is taking India in the wrong direction in terms of human rights and democracy,” said Andy Levin who is a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and is vice chair of the subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, Central Asia, and non-proliferation.

During another Congressional briefing organised by IAMC last year, Andy Levin had expressed concern over religious freedom in India. The India of (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi today is not the India I fell in love with, he said.

“Why would I be so critical and so publicly critical of a country that I love? The answer is it is because I love India that I am committed to ending these attacks on its people. It is because I am so passionate in my support for the vibrant democracy I came to know as a young man, that I want to see that democracy flourish for generations to come,” he added.