India hopeful of Pramila Jayapal move getting only marginal support

New Delhi: India is hopeful that a bipartisan resolution tabled in the US Congress on Kashmir by Indian-origin lawmaker Pramila Jayapal, and backed by Republican Steve Watkins, will at the most receive marginal support.

Democrat Jayapal has introduced the Congressional resolution urging India to end as swiftly as possible restrictions on communications and preserve religious freedom for all residents in Kashmir.

The resolution, introduced in the House of Representatives after several weeks of efforts by Jayapal, has only one cosponsor — Republican Congressman Watkins from Kansas.


It is a simple resolution, which cannot be voted in the other chamber, Senate, and does not have the force of law.

Jayapal, a first-time representative from Seattle, belongs to the left liberal section of the Democratic Party and is keen to make a mark by championing ‘human rights issues’, observers of India-US relations said. Her cosponsor, Watkins, is facing allegations of fraudulent voting and Jayapal is understood to have supported him to clear these, the observers said.

The Topeka Capital-Journal in Kansas reported that Watkins might have committed felony voter fraud and perjury by claiming on three different government forms that his residential address, for voting purposes, was a UPS store in Topeka, the US state’s capital city. He has also allegedly lied about his business interests and sporting achievements, according to the reports.

Jayapal is facing the ire of Indian community members, who have arranged a campaign on Sunday.