India asks US to step up security for PM Modi

India has asked United States to step up security for Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Houston, as some Pakistanis and Khalistani Sikhs are planning to stage protests during his visit against alleged human rights violations in Kashmir.

New Delhi is also discussing with Washington the implication of the lawsuit filed against the Prime Minister in a US federal court in Houston, accusing him of committing atrocities against Kashmiris. Prime Minister, being the head of a foreign government, enjoys immunity from any legal action in America and the US State Department is expected to inform the court about it in due course, sources in New Delhi told the DH.

Modi will reach Houston early on Sunday (Indian Standard Time). He will address “Howdy! Modi” – a conclave of about 50,000 Indian-Americans – at the NRG Stadium in the south-eastern metropolis of Texas late on Sunday (Indian Standard Time). He will be joined by the US President Donald Trump, himself, at the event.

New Delhi has received reports about preparations by some Pakistani-Americans and Khalistani-Sikhs to stage protests during Prime Minister's visit to Houston, particularly during the “Howdy! Modi” event on Sunday. The protesters are also likely to be joined by some Kashmiris, mostly the ones having origins in parts of Jammu and Kashmir currently under occupation of Pakistan.

They are likely to stage protest against Modi Government's recent decisions to strip Jammu and Kashmir off its special status and to reorganize the state into Union Territories. They are also likely to use the opportunity to campaign for a separate Khalistan to be carved out of Punjab as well as to accuse New Delhi of committing atrocities against Sikhs and other minorities in India.

Sources told the DH that New Delhi had learnt that Pakistan's “state agencies” mobilized Pakistani-American and Khalistani Sikhs living in and around Texas to hold the protest against India during Prime Minister's visit to Houston.

Pakistanis and Khalistani Sikhs living in United Kingdom recently staged violent protests in front of the High Commission of India in London - protesting against New Delhi's recent decisions on J&K.

Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said that the Government was aware about the purported plans by some groups to stage protests during Prime Minister's visit to Houston.

“I have no doubt that those who handle these matters have discussed this with the US side. I am confident that United States, within the laws that prevail in that country, will take care to see that there is no disruption to the event or any threat to the security of the Prime Minister,” Gokhale told journalists in New Delhi.

Two unidentified Kashmiris living in America filed the lawsuit in a US federal court, alleging that Prime Minister, Home Minister Amit Shah, Lt General Kanwal Jeet Singh Dhillon, commander of the XV corps of Indian Army, carried out extra-judicial killings, committed wrongful death, emotional distress, crimes against humanity and inflicted “cruel, inhuman, degrading treatment or punishment” upon Kashmiris. They alleged that Prime Minister and others had created a public nuisance and were guilty of negligence by not preventing the “deliberate, wilful, wanton, malicious, intentional and/or oppressive killings of Muslims” in the regions of J&K, according to a report in Houston Chronicle.

The complaint was filed under the US Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991, which allows civil suits in US against foreign officials suspected of committing torture or extra-judicial killing, reported the newspaper published from Houston.

The pro-Khalistani “Sikhs for Justice” had also filed similar lawsuits against Manmohan Singh, when he had held the office of Prime Minister between 2004 and 2