Two Kashmiri citizens have sued Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in US Federal Court Thursday for carrying out extrajudicial killings and other crimes in Indian occupied Kashmir.
The lawsuit was filed just days before Modi is scheduled to speak at a major rally called “Howdy, Modi!” in Houston, Texas, where he will be joined by President Trump.
According to Houston Chronicle, the 73-page lawsuit alleges Modi; his minister of home affairs, Amit Shah; and commander of the Indian army, Lt. General Kanwal Jeet Singh Dhillon, carried out extrajudicial killings, committed wrongful death, battery, emotional distress, crimes against humanity and inflicted “cruel, inhuman, degrading treatment or punishment” upon Kashmiris during the military exercise. They say Modi and his henchmen have created a public nuisance and are guilty of negligence by not preventing the “deliberate, willful, wanton, malicious, intentional and/or oppressive” killings of Muslims in the regions of Jamuu and Kashmir.
The civil complaint accuses the Indian head of state of human rights violations under the The Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991, a federal statute that allows civil suits on U.S. soil against foreign officials suspected of committing torture or extrajudicial killing.
The act was first used the following year by Sister Dianna Ortiz, who sued the defense minister of Guatemala, Hector Gramajo for her abduction, rape, and torture by military forces. A federal court in Massachusetts awarded her $5 million in damages, reported Houston Chronicle.
Their New York attorney, from an organization called the Kashmir Khalistan Referendum Front (KKRF), plans to submit the case as a class action.
“He can only escape if he has been granted immunity by the U.S. Department of State,” Pannu said. “Otherwise, the facts and the law are on the side of the victim.” said Gurpatwant Singh Pannu of KKRF.
Pannu said Modi and the two other officials do not enjoy an automatic immunity. The U.S. State Department typically intervenes in such cases to ask the judge to grant officials immunity from civil lawsuits.
Pannu told Houston Chronicle that he is working with process servers to deliver Modi the court summons before he leaves the “Howdy Modi” event at NRG Stadium on Sunday. If that doesn’t work Pannu’s team will try again in New York when Modi visits an awards ceremony at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation or during his scheduled visit to see statutes of Mahatma Gandhi.
