WASHINGTON: Liberal Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders became the first US Presidential candidate to publicly rebuke India for its constitutional changes in Jammu and Kashmir, using an Islamic platform to voice concern about the situation in the region in an ostensible effort to court Muslim-American votes.

"India’s action [in Kashmir] is unacceptable. The communications blockade must be lifted immediately. The US government must be speak out boldly in support of a UN backed peaceful resolution,” Sanders told a largely Muslim audience at the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) convention in Houston, a city where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address the Indian-American community later this month on September 22.

“I am deeply concerned about this situation in Kashmir where the Indian government has revoked Kashmiri autonomy, cracked on dissent and instituted a communications blackout. The crackdown in the name of “security” is also denying the Kashmiri people access to medical care,” Sanders said, adding, “Even many respected doctors in Indian have acknowledged the Indian government-imposed restrictions on travel are threatening the life-saving care that patients need.”

Sanders’ remarks at the 56th Islamic Society of North America (Isna) convention were evidently aimed at boosting his stock with the Muslim voting block, considering he had not taken any strong position on the Kashmir issue before this. This year’s gathering ISNA gathering is billed as one of the largest events held by Muslim American advocacy groups and organisers have said they aim to make themselves a force to reckon with in the 2020 presidential elections while seeking to persuade lawmakers to take a public stand on issues of their concern. Several Democratic candidates were invited to the convention but only Sanders and Julian Castro turned up.

In fact, some observers saw the hand of Faiz Shakir, a Pakistani-American who works for the Sanders campaign, in the Kashmir remarks. “Bernie Sanders couldn't find Kashmir on a map if it was colored with a bright blue Crayon. That statement was likely influenced by his Pakistani campaign manager & Muslim activist, Faiz Shakir, who may be aggressively promoting pro-Pakistani positions,” noted Lawrence Sellin, a former US military commander who is a trenchant critic of Pakistan’s role in the region.

Sanders’s remarks thrilled the Pakistani community and made headline news in the Pakistan, which has been dismayed by the lack of U.S and global support for its campaign to put India on the defensive on the Kashmir issue. While some liberal US lawmakers have expressed concern about the human rights situation in the region, no has explicitly opposed New Delhi’s right to change the status of a state in the Indian union.

In fact, support for India’s move remains strong in conservative circles, flowing from President Trump’s own stand that Prime Minister Modi appeared to have the Kashmir situation under control and it up to India and Pakistan to sort out the issue, unless they both want his mediation. The Trump administration has also indicated that it has no issues with the structural changes brought about by India in Jammu and Kashmir but it remains concerned about the external fallout, particularly vis-a-vis Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“There can be a real and legitimate debate about Kashmir with regard to human rights and economic opportunity. The Indian government and Indian security forces are not without flaws and problems….however, Pakistan has little authority to complain about India’s decision to change Kashmir’s status given that Pakistan itself created the precedent when Pakistan undermined Gilgit-Baltistan autonomy and self-governance,” Michael Rubin, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and a former Pentagon official wrote in a recent commentary, broadly reflecting the establishment position.

“Kashmiris themselves may debate the revocation of Article 370. What is certain, however, is first that Pakistan’s own actions and attempts at unilateralism likely forced India’s hand. Pakistani support for terrorism not only inside Kashmir but also throughout India lost Islamabad the moral high ground decades ago which is why, despite President Trump’s ego-stroking of Khan during the Pakistani leader’s recent visit, US-Pakistani ties remained strained and most American officials consider Pakistan more an adversary than an ally,” he added.

Sanders’ remarks also generated pushback from the Kashmiri Pandit community in the US, which though small and long neglected by the larger, better-funded, and Pakistani backed Muslim community, is gradually finding some voice and traction.

“Where were you when Kashmiri Hindus were being killed by terrorists? Did you ask the same questions at that time?” one activist tweeted in response to Sanders’ concerns.

