WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) released the following statement, confirming her intent to boycott Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s joint address to Congress.
“I will be boycotting Prime Minister Modi’s address to Congress tomorrow, and I encourage my colleagues who stand for pluralism, tolerance, and freedom of the press to join me in doing the same.”
In 2005, Narendra Modi was denied a U.S. visa because of his violations of religious freedom, including his complicity in an anti-Muslim riot that left over 1,000 dead. India currently ranks 161 out of 180 in the World Press Freedom Index – in part due to Modi’s raids on BBC India’s offices and his court challenges against a critical documentary. Additionally, a report from the U.S. Holocaust Museum found that India is at high risk for mass killings – the 8th most at risk of 162 countries studied.
A joint address is among the most prestigious invitations and honors the United States Congress can extend. We should not do so for individuals with deeply troubling human rights records – particularly for individuals whom our own State Department has concluded are engaged in systematic human rights abuses of religious minorities and caste-oppressed communities.
