Washington DC – The WhatsApp message arrives with a colorful infographic highlighting numerous achievements of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decade-long government. Includes a succinct comparison of statistics on the economy, education, healthcare, social security schemes and infrastructure development between the period under Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the previous Congress party government, now in opposition .
By every metric, these infographics show that India has performed better under Modi. It’s the kind of message that political parties have bombarded Indians with over the past few months, as the country held the biggest elections in the world, with almost a billion voters.
But the recipients of this specific message are not Indian voters: they are members of the vast Indian diaspora in the United States and beyond, who are being encouraged to convey these messages to family and friends in India to amplify the demands of the Modi campaign.
At the heart of this diaspora outreach campaign is Non Resident Indians For Mission 2024 (NRIM), a Florida-based company registered in July 2023.
The extent of its work and links with Modi and his party only became public after the company was registered as foreign agent by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) in April 2024. FARA is a law that requires individuals and entities acting on behalf of foreign governments, political parties, or other foreign officials to disclose their relationships and activities.
The company’s top foreigner in FARA records is listed as Modi’s Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). FARA regulations were invoked at NRIM after its owners, Gaurang Vaishnav and Girish Gandhi, were found to be in contact with Nirav Shah, a PMO research officer, regarding election campaign materials, including infographics, according to the FARA archives. Both Vaishnav and Gandhi are also senior leaders of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America, the North American branch of the far-right group Vishwa Hindu Parishad in India.
The persuasive infographics highlighting Modi’s achievements were intended for distribution among NRIM volunteers in 18 US states as well as 26 other countries. Al Jazeera contacted the DoJ for more details about the circumstances surrounding the group’s FARA registration, but the department declined to comment. Al Jazeera requested responses from NRIM and five of its leaders. They didn’t respond.
In addition to NRIM, the BJP’s North American branch, Overseas Friends of BJP (OFBJP), another registered foreign agent, is also at the forefront of efforts to mobilize support for Modi’s re-election. The group is currently engaged in a campaign to make 2.5 million calls to voters in India, urging them to vote in favor of the BJP for an unprecedented third term.
Modi’s cabinet and the BJP’s direct involvement in outreach to the Indian diaspora are emblematic of the government’s watchful eye on the community and deft use of its influence for political mobilization to shape electoral outcomes at the national level, community members say .
For many in the diaspora, this involvement is a source of pride and hope as they actively campaign for Modi’s re-election. For others, it is a reason for fear and apprehension.
‘I don’t feel safe in my own home’
Domestically, Modi’s decade-long rule has been marred by allegations of hatred, violence and discrimination against the country’s 230 million Muslim and Christian minorities, along with a crackdown on journalists, political opponents and critics. Modi and the BJP deny the accusation of discrimination based on religion and have accused detained critics and opponents of facing justice for corruption or other alleged crimes.
But outside India, a new fear has gripped sections of the diaspora who criticize the Indian government’s policies. Last June, a Canadian Sikh leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, was killed by individuals allegedly acting on behalf of agents of the Indian government, according to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Nijjar defended Khalistan, a separate Sikh state in parts of India.
In November, a more elaborate plot to kill several Sikh leaders in North America was revealed after US authorities foiled what they said was an attempt to assassinate another Sikh activist, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, in New York.
India has denied any role in Nijjar’s murder, although it has said it is investigating allegations made by US prosecutors that an Indian agent was involved in trying to orchestrate Pannun’s murder.
But some members of the Sikh community fear that a potential third term for Modi could leave them even more vulnerable.
Pawan Singh, a Sikh activist based in Washington, D.C., is in his late 30s and has known Pannun personally for many years. He is increasingly worried about his safety. “I don’t feel safe in my own home. It’s only a matter of time before an assassination attempt is successful. Nijjar’s was successful, Pannun’s was not,” Singh said in an interview with Al Jazeera.
Singh fears that if Modi returns to power, extraterritorial attacks against Sikh leaders will become more sophisticated. “Modi 3.0 will be encouraged more. The Sikh community is scared. Our social gatherings are now dominated by conversations around transnational repression. It is a serious threat to American sovereignty and democracy,” he says.
Some Kashmiris living in the US share these sentiments. A Kashmiri academic, speaking to Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity for fear of being targeted, says Kashmiris in India and abroad have been completely silenced. “If Modi returns to power, he would completely end the ability of the Kashmiri people to express dissent and resist erasure,” says the academic.
‘Nightmare for Indian Muslims’
Sabiha Rahman, a community organizer from Austin, Texas, was born and raised in New Delhi. Her grandfather, Hifzur Rahman Seoharwi, was a prominent politician and freedom fighter who fought alongside Mahatma Gandhi for India’s independence from British rule, for which he was imprisoned for almost eight years. After independence, she served in the Indian parliament for two consecutive terms.
“Everything has changed in the last 10 years. There is so much hate. No member of the minority community is safe today,” Rahman told Al Jazeera. “A potential third term for the BJP will be extremely scary. It is like a nightmare for Indian Muslims. I’m scared for my family, who still lives in India. It’s no longer the kind of country my grandfather sacrificed his life for.”
Devendra Makkar, 67, left India in December 1996, four years after the demolition of the historic Babri Mosque in 1992, when a mob of Hindu nationalists razed the shrine with their bare hands and primitive tools. A temple built on the ruins of the mosque was inaugurated by Modi in January this year.
“Nothing was the same in India after that criminal demolition. I had decided that I would not stay in India,” recalls Makkar. Twenty-eight years later, Makkar, sitting in his home in Edison, New Jersey, drinking tea, believes he was right in his decision. “No one would like to grow old in a country where its leaders make people hate each other and, in the process, murder the constitution and democracy. Five more years of Modi government will break the soul of India.”
However, many in the Indian diaspora do not share this view.
‘Modi has a vision’
Modi enjoys great popularity among a segment of the Indian-American diaspora. During the 2014 election campaign, his supporters launched initiatives like “NaMo for PM” (Narendra Modi for Prime Minister) and “Global Indians for Bharat Vikas” to organize phone banks to persuade voters, while others traveled to India to participate in popular campaigns.
A decade later, his diaspora supporters remain loyal, motivated and more optimistic than ever. On April 28, around 300 Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) from the US, UK, Canada, Europe and Africa gathered at the Sabarmati riverfront in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. They arrived in more than 100 cars adorned with their countries’ flags, stickers with BJP election symbols and photos of Modi.
These cars then embarked on a 270 km (168 mile) rally from Ahmedabad to the city of Surat, demonstrating their support for another term for Modi and his party. Among them was Jagdish Sewhani, a founding member of the New York OFBJP and longtime supporter of the BJP.
In the third week of April, he took a break from work, packed his bags and flew to India to campaign for the BJP. “People told me that coming from the US to campaign for the BJP shows how much passion we have for India. It was an incredible experience. Modi will win big,” says Sewhani.
“What he has done in the last 10 years has changed the face of India. There are infrastructures, electricity, water, gas, houses for the poor and free health insurance. Modi has a vision. He took India to the next level.”
Srujal Parikh, an IT administrator at the New York City Police Department who first met Modi in 2014, agrees with Sehwani and believes a third term for Modi would be good for India.
“The Indian diaspora has love, affection and admiration for Modi. They want to see the country grow, be safe and in good hands, and that is why they are committed to ensuring its victory. He did a wonderful job,” Parikh told Al Jazeera.
“India just needs a leader like him,” he adds after a pause.
Al Jazeera contacted Vijay Chauthaiwale, head of the BJP’s Foreign Affairs Department, for more details on the extent of diaspora supporters’ involvement in the ongoing elections, but he declined to comment.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
