New delhi sources stated that in a diplomatic embarrassment for india, the lock down in kashmir, the National Register of Citizens, and the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) that excludes migrant Muslims, all came under criticism by US lawmakers during a hearing on ‘Human Rights in south Asia’ in Washington on Tuesday.
Meanwhile india usually enjoys backing from the US government on Kashmir. Earlier on tuesday, however, several lawmakers voiced anger over the clampdown in J&K. They questioned their government over its backing of india amidst reports human rights violations. Even though senior US officials also criticized Pakistan’s record during the Congressional hearing, the focus largely remained on questions of india removing special status to J&K on August 5, along with the restrictions and detentions.
Moreover US lawmakers grilled Alice Wells, assistant secretary of state for south Asia, and assistant secretary for human rights, Robert Destro, on the continuing restrictions in kashmir and whether/ how the US was leveraging its relationship with india on easing the restrictions. At one point, Destro concurred with a lawmaker that kashmir had a “humanitarian crisis”. Wells said “As a democracy, we respect other democracies’ abilities to self-police and self-regulate”.
