Modi, Shah sued in Houston, ahead of ‘Howdy Modi’ event

Ahead of his much-anticipated arrival in Houston, PM Modi has been sued at the federal court by two Kashmiri citizens, who have alleged that his abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir has caused the detention, disappearance and deaths of their loved ones, amid ongoing repression.

According to the Houston Chronicle, a summon was also issued against the Union Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah and Lieutenant General in the Indian Army Kanwal Jeet Singh Dhillon.

The lawsuit accuses Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, and Lt General Dhillon, of having carried out extrajudicial killings, committed wrongful deaths, caused emotional distress, perpetrated crimes against humanity and inflicted “cruel, inhuman, degrading treatment or punishment” upon Kashmiris during the military exercise.

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The 73-page lawsuit against Modi has been filed under “The Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991”, a federal statute that allows civil suits on US soil against foreign officials suspected of committing torture or extrajudicial killing, as reported in The International News.

“We want to hold a human rights violator like Modi accountable,” said Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, whose group is focused on the right to self-determination campaign for the state of Punjab. Since the abrogation of article 370 this summer, the campaign has been advocating the cause of the Kashmiri people.

“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,” Huston Chronicle reported.