Having Criticised India On Kashmir, Muslim Congresswoman Ilhan Omar Refuses To Back Vote To Recognise Armenian Genocide

In an overwhelming show of support and solidarity with the Armenian people, the United States House of Representatives, voted by a margin of 405-11 vote on Tuesday (29 October) to recognize the systemic extermination and expulsion of ethnic Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during World War I as genocide.

However, Ilhan Omar, the Democratic Congresswoman from Minnesota, found herself in the minority when she voted “present”, which essentially means, she abstained from voting which can be construed as a ‘no vote’ against the resolution titled ‘H.Res 296, the resolution Affirming the United States record on the Armenian Genocide, reports News18.

The resolution passed on the floor of the house with near unanimity but Omar’s office issued a statement later, giving her justification, “I believe accountability for human rights violations – especially ethnic cleansing and genocide – is paramount. But accountability and recognition of genocide should not be used as a cudgel in a political fight. It should be done based on academic consensus outside the push and pull of geopolitics. A true acknowledgement of historical crimes against humanity must include both the heinous genocides of the 20th century, along with earlier mass slaughters like the transatlantic slave trade and Native American genocide, which took the lives of hundreds of millions of people in this country. For this reason, I voted ‘present’ on the final passage of H.Res 296, the resolution affirming the United States record on the Armenian Genocide.”

Omar along with a group of four Congresswomen known as ‘The Squad’ (The other members are Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley) represent the far left of the Democratic Party.

Omar is not new to court controversy because of her incessant attack directed at the State of Israel and her “anti-Semitic” views which have been pointed out by several people from her own party.

In April this year, she was accused of downplaying the 2001 11 September attacks by saying 9/11 was an incident when “some people did something”.

In the recently concluded US Congressional hearing on human rights in South Asia on human rights, Omar was very critical of India’s decision to abrogate Article 370 and harangued Senior Indian journalist Aarti Tikoo Singh.

Omar was also very critical of the rollout of the NRC in Assam which can be seen as a direct interference into the affairs of a sovereign nation and had questioned whether PM Modi shares American values.