CHICAGO: The Chicago City Council rejected a resolution that sought to condemn "violence against certain castes and religious minorities" in India, following intense pushback from members of the Indian American community over concerns that it could lead to disharmony within the South Asian community here. According to a statement from the US-India Friendship Council, the resolution, targeting India's internal matters and full of inaccuracies, was tabled by the Chicago City Council in July 2020 by Alderwoman Maria Hadden of the 49th ward. The resolution was meant to mislead the reader with its opening remarks “honoring India's democracy and independence” and was intended to be passed without any discussion or debate, the USIFC statement added.
The proposed draft called Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP government as Hindu extremist, and denounced the Citizenship Amendment Act, which was passed in India's Parliament, as discriminatory and unconstitutional. Additionally, it used defamatory language against high-ranking elected representatives of India, unfavorably addressed the abrogation of Article 370 and falsely claimed that police had attacked peaceful protestors with live ammunition and had arrested thousands of them, the statement said.
The resolution failed to gather majority support with 26 members voting against the resolution, 18 voting in favor and six abstaining. During the meeting, some Aldermen felt the proposal needlessly sowed division within Chicago's Indian American community and that matters at home were more pressing.
Nirav Patel, a retail business owner in Chicago, said: "The resolution was presented in June 2020, which made false narratives about issues such as the Citizenship Amendment Act, National Register of Citizens and Kashmir, under the guise of congratulating India's 72nd independence. This resolution can lead to severe effects against India and the Indians living in the US. We opposed the bill and it has been over an 8-month-long marathon, but the truth has won in the Council."
According to the US-India Friendship Council, the bill was sponsored by the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Several fake and non-existent US organizations had supported the resolution, which published wrong pictures and formulated narratives on India, Patel said, further alleging that the resolution was backed by Pakistan.
Amitabh Mittal, who heads the US-India Friendship Council in Chicago, said the resolution was pushed back six times, but due to the support of paid professionals and a technicality, it was tabled in the Chicago City Council. Mittal said that the resolution spread nefarious and false narratives of 'genocide' against minorities in the Bharatiya Janata Party government in India, which could lead to long term implications in the US.
