Former Vice President Hamid Ansari, Actress Swara Bhasker, Archbishop Peter Machado among others are invited in an event titled ‘Protecting India’s Pluralist Constitution’ on the eve of Indian Republic day, January 26 at 10:30 PM IST. The online event which is touted as a ‘Special Congressional Briefing’ also includes Senator Ed Markey from Massachusetts, Rep. Jim McGovern, Rep. Andy Levin, Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, Former President of Mauritius and Nadine Maenza who chairs the United States Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) among several others. The virtual event is hosted by 17 US-based rights organizations including Amnesty International (USA), Genocide Watch, Hindus for Human Rights, Indian American Muslim Council among others.
The ‘rights groups’ based in the USA responsible for hosting this event are infamous for targeting India many times for its sovereign decisions. The groups have not only lobbied against India for acts passed in the parliament democratically, but they also constantly engage in the discourse which is anti-Indian and hinduphobic in nature. The Indian American Muslim Council is also responsible for hosting and promoting this event. It is the same radical Islamist group that has alleged links with banned terror organizations such as the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). The Islamist organisation has often misrepresented facts and ignored ground realities, to undermine India’s secular judicial system by calling for separate minority courts.
According to a recent expose done by DisInfo Lab, The IAMC has allegedly paid money to lobby groups in the USA to get India black-listed by the USCIRF (United States Commission on International Religious Freedom). DisInfo Lab has also alleged that the group has also open links with terror outfit Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI). It is learnt that IAMC founder Shaik Ubaid has earlier collected funds ‘to stop the genocide of genocide of Muslims in Burma.’ With the help of Fidelis Government Relations (FGR) and First Principles Strategies, the IAMC has raised a total of US $ 4,12,000 to promote sanction legislation on Burma, China and India on ‘issues related to human rights’.
It is also important to note that FGR head Terry Allen happens to be a long time associate of Nadine Maenza the USCIRF Chair who is also participating in the event. IAMC has taken repeated stances against the ruling Indian government to fight ‘civil rights and liberty issues in India’ to reaffirm the ‘rights of religious minorities’. However, contrary to its claim, the organisation was found lobbying against India in 2013 as well – a year before the current dispersion of the BJP came to power in 2014.
The interlinking of IAMC with other organisations throws light on its direct and indirect linkages with terror organizations and radical Islamist outfits. IAMC founder Shaik Ubaid and member Abdul Malik Mujahid have headed the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), the US front for Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan. According to DisInfo Lab, ICNA has established links with Pakistan based terror groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba. Rasheed Ahmed, who heads the IAMC currently was former executive director of the Islamic Medical Association of North America (IMANA). IMANA’s director of Operations is Zahid Mahmood an ex-Pak Navy official.
It is also the case when individual members of IAMC have been vocal supporters of the Taliban including Kaleem Kawaja who had given a call, ‘Brother, you can spare a tear for Taliban’. To remember, IAMC was caughtt spreading fake news in India to incite communal violence. The organisation was slammed with UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) in 2021. With the participation of Swara Bhasker and Hamid Ansari, local voices have amplified the causes of IAMC and others to peddle the narrative of ‘minorities under threat’ in India.