India in danger of becoming Hindu nationalist State: US Congressman

In his last speech on the floor of the US House of Representatives, United States Congressman Andy Levin claimed that India was in danger of becoming a Hindu nationalist State rather than a secular democracy, the world's largest democracy. 

United States Congressman Andy Levin, a known India-baiter, has now claimed that India is facing the danger of becoming a Hindu nationalist State. The outgoing Democratic Congressman, who describes himself as a lifelong human rights advocate, said his country had had more success in upholding human rights than other parts of the world.

In his last speech on the floor of the US House of Representatives, the 62-year-old claimed that India was in danger of becoming a Hindu nationalist State rather than a secular democracy, the world's largest democracy. 

Levin, who represented the ninth Congressional District from Michigan, said the rights of all people in India, whether Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jains, Sikhs, Buddhists or Jews, need to be protected.

During his tenure as a lawmaker, Levin used to frequently make anti-India statements, including those on Kashmir. At a special Congressional briefing, 'India's Brutal Persecution of Kashmir', on April 20, organised by multiple human rights groups, including the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), Levin had called for international attention. 

'What is happening in Kashmir deserves the world's attention. While Kashmir may not be in the nightly news, it is still a prime example of how Prime Minister Narendra Modi is taking India in the wrong direction in terms of human rights and democracy,' Levin had alleged. 

Levin is vice chair of the subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, Central Asia, and non-proliferation and a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. At another Congressional briefing organised by the IAMC last year, Levin flagged off the issue of religious freedom in India.

The India of (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi today is not the India I fell in love with, he said.

'The reason why I am so critical and so publicly critical of a country that I love is that I am so passionate in my support for the vibrant democracy I came to know as a young man that I want to see that democracy flourishes for generations to come,' Levin said.