Washington: Six Democratic lawmakers in the United States, including Pramila Jayapal and Ilhan Omar, have urged Secretary of State Marco Rubio to raise concerns over alleged police excesses during student protests and changes to electoral rolls during his forthcoming visit to India. The move has drawn criticism from India’s Ambassador to the US, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, and Democratic leader and former Joe Biden adviser Ajay Jain Bhutoria.

The lawmakers have called on Rubio to discuss allegations of wrongful detentions and excessive use of force against students protesting in Delhi and other parts of India. They have also alleged that people demonstrating in support of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) were being monitored outside Indian diplomatic missions in the US.

The six lawmakers who signed the letter are Jayapal, Omar, Jim McGovern, Rashida Tlaib, Eleanor Holmes Norton and Jesús García. They alleged that photographers had been deployed to monitor demonstrators outside the Indian Embassy in Washington and Indian consulates in other American cities.

In a letter sent to Rubio on Friday, the lawmakers expressed concern over what they described as the wrongful detention of students and excessive use of force by security personnel during protests in Delhi and elsewhere in India.

They cited demonstrations by the CJP against then Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and protests demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar as examples of alleged excessive force against demonstrators.

Jayapal also referred to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, expressing concern over the alleged removal of 130 million names from draft voter lists. She voiced support for the CJP and called for the issue to receive attention during Rubio’s visit.

Rubio is scheduled to travel to India next week, where he is expected to meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Mumbai.

Reacting to Jayapal’s remarks, Indian Ambassador to the US Vinay Mohan Kwatra strongly criticised her comments, describing them as “unacceptable interference” in India’s internal affairs.

In their letter, the lawmakers argued that the fair exercise of fundamental freedoms and the right to vote were central to the democratic traditions of both the US and India. They urged Rubio to raise what they described as shared concerns affecting people in both countries during his visit.

Bhutoria, a Democratic leader and former White House adviser to President Joe Biden, criticised Jayapal’s decision to write to Rubio, arguing that American lawmakers should concentrate on domestic challenges rather than comment on India’s internal affairs.

“India is the world’s largest democracy, with its courts, free media and more than 900 million voters. The US Congress has no right to lecture India on its internal affairs. This undermines the India-US partnership. The United States should focus on its own problems,” Bhutoria said.