WASHINGTON: The head of a US government advisory board on Tuesday voiced concern over India’s drive to register citizens in the northeastern state of Assam, amid fears it could disenfranchise millions, most of them Muslims.
Tony Perkins — chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, which issues recommendations to the government but does not make policy — said that religious pluralism was “a bedrock of Indian society.”
“However, we remain concerned with the potential abuse of the National Register of Citizens in Assam and the resulting introduction of a religious requirement for citizenship, which are contrary to the ideals of religious freedom in India,” he said in a statement.
India has given Assam residents until the end of the month to prove they, their parents or grandparents were in the state before 1971, when millions fled predominantly Muslim Bangladesh’s war of independence.
Home Minister Amit Shah, the right-hand man of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has called for the ejection of “termites” from India and, before their Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party’s election triumph this year, vowed to take the Assam-style campaign nationwide and “send back the infiltrators.”
In another move, India’s lower house of parliament passed legislation in January to grant citizenship to people who came from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan at least six years ago — but not if they are Muslim.
Perkins is president of the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian group close to President Donald Trump’s Republican Party that is known for its opposition to acceptance of homosexuality.
Joining his statement of concern was Anurima Bhargava, a member of the commission appointed by Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
She said the commission was “troubled” by any actions that target minorities, saying that the registration “must not become a means to target and render stateless the Muslim community in northeastern India.”
The United States rarely criticizes India, an emerging ally, and has been guarded in statements on Modi’s recent stripping of autonomy for Kashmir, which had been the country’s only Muslim-majority state.
US body voices concern on India registry of Muslims
US body voices concern on India registry of Muslims
- Joining his statement of concern was Anurima Bhargava, a member of the commission appointed by Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Ukraine’s Zelensky: We have backed US peace proposals to get a deal done
- “The tactic we chose is for the Americans not to think that we want to continue the war,” Zelensky told The Atlantic
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv had sought to back US peace proposals to end the war with Russia as President Donald Trump seeks to resolve the conflict before November mid-term elections.
Zelensky, in an interview published by The Atlantic on Thursday, said Kyiv was willing to hold both a presidential election and a referendum on a deal, but would not settle for an accord that was detrimental to Ukraine’s interests.
“The tactic we chose is for the Americans not to think that we want to continue the war,” Zelensky told the US-based publication. “That’s why we started supporting their proposals in any format that speeds things along.”
He said Ukraine was “not afraid of anything. Are we ready for elections? We’re ready. Are we ready for a referendum? We’re ready.”
Zelensky has sought to build good relations with Washington since an Oval Office meeting in February 2025 descended into a shouting match with Trump and US Vice President JD Vance.
But he said he had rejected a proposal, reported this week by the Financial Times, to announce the votes on February 24, the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion. A ceasefire and proposed US security guarantees against a future invasion had not yet been settled, he said.
“No one is clinging to power,” The Atlantic quoted him as saying. “I am ready for elections. But for that we need security, guarantees of security, a ceasefire.”
And he added: “I don’t think we should put a bad deal up for a referendum.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Zelensky is not a legitimate negotiating partner because he has not faced election since coming to power in 2019.
Zelensky has said in recent weeks that a document on security guarantees for Ukraine is all but ready to be signed.
But, in his remarks, he acknowledged that details remained unresolved, including whether the US would be willing to shoot down incoming missiles over Ukraine if Russia were to violate the peace.
“This hasn’t been fixed yet,” Zelensky said. “We have raised it, and we will continue to raise these questions...We need all of this to be written out.”
