US lawmakers’ demand of fair trial for Umar Khalid: BJP blames Rahul

New Delhi: On eight US lawmakers writing to the Indian envoy demanding a fair and timely trial for activist Umar Khalid, the BJP blames Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. BJP claimed there is an anti-India campaign going on in American soil, and Rahul Gandhi is linked to it.

BJP brought up a photograph of a meeting between Rahul Gandhi and US lawmaker Janice Schakowsky as proof for its claims that Rahul has international anti-India ties.

BJP Pradeep Bhandari, sharing the photograph on X, said that Jan Schakowsky co-led the introduction of the Combating International Islamophobia Act in the US Congress, a bill aimed at addressing anti-Muslim bigotry worldwide. He also said Schakowsky explicitly named India and raised concerns about "crackdowns on Muslim communities."

“The same Jan Schakowsky writes to the Government of India, raising “concerns” over Umar Khalid — an accused under UAPA in serious cases linked to riots and violence,” he said.

Bhandari wrote, "Every time an anti-India narrative is peddled abroad, one name recurs in the background: Rahul Gandhi. Those who want to weaken India, defame its elected government and dilute its anti-terror laws seem to inevitably converge around him.”

After New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s note to Umar Khalid, along with a US lawmaker's letter, a furious BJP blared on Friday that Mamdani cannot interfere in India’s internal matters and such actions would not be tolerated.

Questioning Mamdani's locus standi of commenting on India's internal matters, BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia also cautioned the New York City Mayor against such efforts, claiming, "If India's sovereignty is challenged, 140 crore Indians will stand united under the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership."