Indian opposition leader and senior Congress figure Rahul Gandhi is currently in the United States, where he has been addressing Indian communities and heavily criticizing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Rahul Gandhi recently met with Ilhan Omar, a Muslim member of the U.S. Congress, which has caused an uproar within BJP circles. The BJP claims that Ilhan Omar has a clear anti-India stance and has repeatedly spoken out against India.
Ilhan Omar is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and one of the first two Muslim women elected to the U.S. Congress. She is also the first African refugee to be elected to Congress.
The BJP reacted strongly to Rahul Gandhi's meeting with Ilhan Omar, stating that by meeting with someone who holds an anti-India stance, Rahul Gandhi has hurt the sentiments of Indians.
The BJP pointed out that Ilhan Omar has spoken out against the situation in Jammu and Kashmir (under Indian administration). She also condemned the killing of Khalistan sympathizer Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. Additionally, the BJP noted that Ilhan Omar has visited Pakistan.
Ilhan Omar represents Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District, which includes the city of Minneapolis and its surrounding areas. She is a policy analyst, organizer, public speaker, and advocate.
Originally from Somalia, Ilhan Omar's family migrated to the United States when she was 8 years old. Before arriving in the U.S. in the 1990s, her family spent four years in a refugee camp in Kenya. In 1997, they settled in Minneapolis.
In September 2023, Ilhan Omar emphasized the need for a full investigation into the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada and called for U.S. involvement in the matter.
Ilhan Omar has also introduced a resolution calling for a comprehensive investigation into the violation of basic religious freedoms in India, particularly focusing on the rights of Muslims and other minorities. In June 2023, she boycotted a speech by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the U.S. Congress.
In June 2022, Omar introduced a resolution urging the U.S. Secretary of State to declare India as a violator of basic religious freedoms.
In April 2022, Ilhan Omar visited Pakistan, where she met with then-Prime Minister Imran Khan and other Pakistani leaders. She also visited Azad Kashmir during this trip, which drew strong condemnation from the Modi government.
In 2019, Ilhan Omar also strongly criticized the implementation of the National Register of Citizens Act in the Indian state of Assam, calling it a Hindu nationalist agenda.
Before entering politics, Omar worked as a community educator at the University of Minnesota and served as a policy fellow at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. She also worked as a senior policy aide on the Minneapolis City Council and has served on several House committees during her time in Congress.
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