Washington, December 10, 2022 (PPI-OT):Indian American friends of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are facing growing scrutiny from the US authorities under a law that requires Americans working for or on behalf of foreign governments or entities to register themselves and their organisations as “foreign agents”.
Investigations are currently understood to be underway against an unspecified number of Indian Americans, who include one person who has claimed to be a long-time friend and supporter of the Indian Prime Minister and who has been at the forefront of many diaspora rallies and outreach involving Modi and senior members of his cabinet.
A spokesperson for the National Security Division of the US Department of Justice that administers the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) that has triggered these investigations, refused to confirm or deny whether two Indian Americans – specifically named in the request – were being investigated under FARA.
“Please note that the FARA Unit does not issue advisory opinions to third parties, or provide comment on any activities the staff conducts in its efforts to enforce the Act,” the spokesperson replied in a written response.
Just this past July, a Texas-based organisation became the second organisation set up by Indian Americans to register themselves under FARA – Ethos Foundation (DBA – Bharati Foundation). Its office-bearers are a US-based Indian citizen and two Americans of Indian descent. It was not immediately clear if the organization was forced to register itself under FARA by the US authorities or did so voluntarily.
Overseas Friends of BJP-USA was the first organisation formed by Indian Americans that was forced to register itself with the US Justice Department under FARA in August 2020, along with its three office-bearers, who are all naturalised American citizens of Indian descent. One of them shared the stage with Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar at a diaspora outreach during his last visit to Washington DC in September.
The Overseas Friends of BJP was embroiled at the time in a controversy arising from the use of a bulldozer in a rally it had organised in New Jersey state to commemorate the 75th anniversary of India’s independence. Critics slammed the bulldozer as a deliberate ploy to bring India’s divisive politics to the US as it has become a symbol of the oppression of minorities in India. A coalition of advocacy groups of Muslims and African Americans is demanding a multi-agency probe by the FBI and CIA of the growing visibility of Indian right-wing politics in the US.
The Overseas Friends of BJP cited the BJP as the “foreign principal” that it represents and works for in its FARA registration form. Vijay Chauthaiwale, BJP office-bearer in charge of the department of foreign affairs, was listed as the person the Overseas Friends of BJP engages with.
The growing scrutiny of BJP’s and Modi government’s Indian American friends has rattled the Indian community at large, and many of them who are active in the advocacy of India-US relations have become wary of what they say and do, some of them said in interviews on condition of anonymity.
For more information, contact:
Kashmir Media Service
Phone: +92-51-4435548, +92-51-4435549
Fax: +92-51-4861736
Email: info@kmsnews.org
Website: www.kmsnews.org