Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), the two Muslim women in Congress, on Tuesday said they would boycott Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming joint address to Congress.
Tlaib wrote on Twitter that Modi’s “long history of human rights abuses, anti-democratic actions, targeting Muslims and religious minorities, and censoring journalists is unacceptable.”
Hours later, Omar said she would also not attend.
“Prime Minister Modi’s government has repressed religious minorities, emboldened violent Hindu nationalist groups, and targeted journalists/human rights advocates with impunity,” she wrote on Twitter.
Omar will also host an event at the Capitol following Modi’s address with human rights experts, religious freedom leaders and other members of Congress on Indian policy issues.
A group of more than 70 Democrats from both the House and the Senate have asked President Biden to make human rights the focus of his discussion with Modi during his state visit this week.
The State Department’s 2022 religious freedom report also highlighted significant human rights issues including credible reports of unlawful and arbitrary killings and extrajudicial killings by the government or its agents.
A U.S. panel also recommended that the State Department designate India among others as “countries of particular concern” for violating religious freedoms.
Updated: 10:30 p.m. ET