How Indian Americans Should Respond to Modi’s Upcoming New York Rally

On Sept. 22, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address a gathering of over 10,000 Indian Americans in New York City. While Modi likely aims for this visit to be seen as a triumph, similar to his 2019 Texas event, it should be the opposite.

Modi’s government’s extreme Hindu nationalist agenda, which has targeted religious minorities, has led to a decline in his popularity during the recent election. With support for his Bharatiya Janata Party and India’s opposition experiencing a rise in voter support, marking a first in recent years, this new check on Modi’s power is beneficial for India, the U.S., and the interconnected relationship between both nations.

There has never been a moral justification for the U.S. to support Modi’s policies from afar, and now there is even less of a strategic reason. After all, Modi’s veiled references to Muslims as “” during the last campaign cycle contributed to a wider wave of in 2024. Modi is yet to be held accountable for the in 2002.

U.S. officials and citizens alike must recognize that this leader’s days are numbered, and speak out against his authoritarian tendencies while the global media focuses on him during his latest American tour.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, New York City Council members Shekar Krishnan and Shahana Hanif, and New York State Representative Zohran Mamdani have taken a crucial step by the presence of an anti-Muslim hate symbol at the Modi-allied New York Indian Consulate for the city’s India Day parade on .

An interfaith coalition is planning a large protest outside the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, where Modi is set to speak. Washington state representative Pramila Jayapal has condemned Hindu nationalism on multiple occasions, and she in June signed by dozens of U.S. lawmakers highlighting Modi’s troubling human rights record during his last U.S. visit in June. According to Pew Research, a of Americans who know Modi “have little or no confidence in his ability to do the right thing regarding world affairs.” Globally, and particularly in Europe, attitudes towards Modi have .

Indian Americans, local, and national politicians must leverage this momentum by addressing Modi’s problematic record on human rights and democracy during his upcoming visit.

Such a demonstration will have global implications. The Indian diaspora has been referred to as for a reason, offering both essential financial and political backing for his policies at home. With American diaspora events widely reported in major Indian news outlets, any criticism of Modi is bound to resonate abroad. 

This action will also convey a strong message that Modi’s critics in the diaspora cannot be silenced. Indian Americans have been subjected to via online BJP trolls, card statuses have been revoked, and Indian family members of U.S. citizens have been . Reporting in The Washington Post has that former Indian intelligence officials targeted several U.S. organizations with widespread disinformation campaigns aimed at Congress to undermine Modi’s American critics. The Indian government was even accused of—one of them fatal—targeting Sikhs on North American soil last year.

Taking a stand against Modi and his Hindu nationalism might also help improve internal relationships within the Indian American diaspora. A conducted by my organization, the Indian American Council, and ReThink Media, revealed that over 80% of Indian American Muslim respondents have faced discrimination from their Hindu peers. As one survey respondent remarked: “I have lost good, old friends to Islamophobia and hatred fueled by the BJP government.”

One pro-Modi Hindu nationalist organization in the U.S., the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America, has to its Indian counterpart, which has been against Muslims. Another pro-Modi Hindu nationalist group, the Global Hindu Heritage Foundation, reportedly hosted a to raise funds to destroy churches in India. Modi’s U.S. visit is likely to mobilize organizations whose presence in American communities is deeply harmful to the diaspora and the U.S. as a whole.

With 50% of Indian Americans supporting Modi compared to 74% of Indians in India, according to a , it’s time for his American critics, like us, to make our voices heard. Indian Americans and Americans of all faiths cannot continue to allow Modi to use our country as a platform to legitimize his policies abroad and spread hate here at home.

During Modi’s latest U.S. visit, we must use our voices to guide the U.S.-India relationship in a more productive direction, making it clear that if India is to continue to receive diaspora support, Modi must immediately end his regime’s persecution of minorities, its on the free press, and its attempts to export these hateful policies into the United States.