Washington DC – The WhatsApp message arrives with a colorful infographic highlighting numerous achievements of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decade-long rule. It includes a succinct comparison of statistics on economy, education, healthcare, welfare schemes and infrastructure development between the period of Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the previous government of the now-opposition Congress Party.
By every metric, these infographics show that India is doing better under Modi. It's the kind of message that political parties have bombarded Indians with over the past few months as the country holds the world's biggest elections, with nearly a billion voters.
But the recipients of this particular message are not Indian voters: they are members of the vast Indian diaspora in the United States and beyond, who are encouraged to send these messages to family and friends in India to amplify the campaign claims of Modi.
At the center of this diaspora outreach campaign is Non-Resident Indians for Mission 2024 (NRIM), a Florida-based company registered in July 2023.
The extent of its work and its connections to Modi and his party became public only after the company was registered as a foreign agent by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. (FARA) in April 2024. FARA is a law that requires individuals and entities acting on behalf of foreign governments, political parties, or other foreign principals to disclose their relationships and activities.
The company's foreign director in documents filed by FARA is listed as Modi's Prime Minister's Office (PMO). FARA regulations were invoked at NRIM after its owners, Gaurang Vaishnav and Girish Gandhi, were found to have been in contact with Nirav Shah, a PMO investigation officer, regarding election campaign materials, including infographics, according to FARA documents. Both Vaishnav and Gandhi are also senior leaders of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America, the American branch of the far-right group Vishwa Hindu Parishad in India.
The persuasive infographics highlighting Modi's achievements were intended to be distributed to NRIM volunteers in 18 US states and 26 other countries. Al Jazeera contacted the Department of Justice to seek more details about the circumstances surrounding the group's registration with FARA, but the department declined to comment. Al Jazeera sought responses from the NRIM and five of its leaders. They have not responded.
Apart from NRIM, the BJP's US affiliate, Overseas Friends of BJP (OFBJP), another registered foreign agent, is also leading efforts to mobilize support for Modi's re-election. The group is currently involved in a campaign to make 2.5 million phone calls to Indian voters, urging them to vote for the BJP for an unprecedented third term.
Modi's office and the BJP's direct involvement in outreach to the Indian diaspora are emblematic of the government's close surveillance of the community and its deft use of its influence for political mobilization to shape electoral outcomes in the country, community members say.
For many in the diaspora, this participation is a source of pride and hope as they actively campaign for Modi's re-election. For others, it is a cause of fear and apprehension.
“I don't feel safe in my own home”
At home, Modi's decade-long rule has been marred by accusations of hate, violence and discrimination against the country's 230 million Muslim and Christian minorities, along with a crackdown on journalists, political opponents and critics. Modi and the BJP deny the charge of discriminating on the basis of religion and have accused detained critics and opponents of facing justice for corruption or other alleged crimes.
But outside India, a new fear has gripped sections of the diaspora who criticize the Indian government's policies. Last June, a Canadian Sikh leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, was murdered by individuals allegedly acting on behalf of agents of the Indian government, according to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Nijjar advocated Khalistan, a separate Sikh state in some parts of India.
In November, a more elaborate plot to kill several Sikh leaders in North America was revealed after US authorities thwarted what they said was an attempt to assassinate another Sikh activist, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, in New York.
India has denied any involvement in Nijjar's murder, although it has said it is investigating allegations made by US prosecutors that an Indian agent was involved in trying to orchestrate Pannun's murder.
But some members of the Sikh community fear that a possible third term for Modi could leave them even more vulnerable.
Pawan Singh, a Sikh activist based in Washington, DC, is in his early 30s and has known Pannun personally for many years. He is increasingly concerned for his safety. “I don't feel safe in my own home. It is only a matter of time before an assassination attempt succeeds. Nijjar's was successful, Pannun's was not,” says Singh in an interview with Al Jazeera.
Singh fears that if Modi returns to power, extraterritorial attacks on Sikh leaders will become more sophisticated. “Modi 3.0 will be more emboldened. The Sikh community is afraid. Our social gatherings are now dominated by conversations about transnational repression. “It is a serious threat to American sovereignty and democracy,” he says.
Some Kashmiris living in the United States echo these sentiments. A Kashmiri academic, speaking to Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity for fear of being attacked, says Kashmiris in India and abroad have been completely silenced. “If Modi returns to power, he would completely end the ability of the people of Kashmir to express their dissent and resist elimination,” the academic says.
“Nightmare for Indian Muslims”
Sabiha Rahman, a community organizer from Austin, Texas, was born and raised in New Delhi. Her grandfather, Hifzur Rahman Seoharwi, was a prominent politician and freedom fighter who fought alongside Mahatma Gandhi for India's independence from British rule, for which he was imprisoned for almost eight years. After independence, she served in the Indian parliament for two consecutive terms.
“Everything has changed in the last 10 years. There is so much hate. No member of the minority community is safe today,” Rahman tells Al Jazeera. “A possible third term of the BJP will be extremely frightening. It is like a nightmare for Indian Muslims. I am afraid for my extended family, who still lives in India. It is no longer the type of country for which my grandfather sacrificed his life.”
Devendra Makkar, 67, left India in December 1996, four years after the demolition of the historic Babri mosque in 1992, when a mob of Hindu nationalists rampaged through the shrine with bare hands and primitive tools. Modi inaugurated a temple built on the ruins of the mosque in January.
“Nothing was ever the same in India after that criminal demolition. I had decided that I would not stay in India,” recalls Makkar. Twenty-eight years later, Makkar, sitting in his home in Edison, New Jersey, drinking tea, believes he was right in his decision. “No one would want to grow old in a country where its leaders make people hate each other and, in the process, murder the constitution and democracy. Another five years of Modi government will break the soul of India.”
However, many in the Indian diaspora do not share that view.
'Modi has a vision'
Modi enjoys great popularity within a segment of the Indian-American diaspora. During the 2014 election campaign, his supporters launched initiatives such as “NaMo for PM” (Narendra Modi for Prime Minister) and “Global Indians for Bharat Vikas” to organize phone banks to persuade voters, while others traveled to India to participate in grassroots campaigns.
A decade later, his followers in the diaspora remain loyal, motivated and more optimistic than ever. On April 28, around 300 non-resident Indians (NRIs) from the US, UK, Canada, Europe and Africa gathered on the banks of the Sabarmati River in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. They arrived in more than 100 cars adorned with flags of their countries, stickers with the BJP's electoral symbols and photographs of Modi.
These cars then embarked on a 270-kilometer (168-mile) rally from Ahmedabad to the city of Surat, demonstrating their support for another mandate from Modi and his party. Among them was Jagdish Sewhani, a founding member of the New York OFBJP and a lifelong supporter of the BJP.
In the third week of April, he took a break from work, packed his bags and flew to India to campaign for the BJP. “People told me that coming from the US to campaign for the BJP shows how much passion we have for India. It was an incredible experience. Modi is going to win big,” says Sewhani.
“What he has done in the last 10 years has changed the face of India. There is infrastructure, electricity, water, gas, houses for the poor and free health insurance. Modi has a vision. He has taken India to the next level.”
Srujal Parikh, an IT administrator at the New York City Police Department who first met Modi in 2014, agrees with Sehwani and believes that a third term for Modi would be good for India.
“The Indian diaspora has love, affection and admiration for Modi. They want to see the country grow, be safe and in good hands, and that is why they are involved in ensuring his victory. He has done a wonderful job,” Parikh tells Al Jazeera.
“India just needs a leader like him,” he adds after a pause.
Al Jazeera contacted Vijay Chauthaiwale, head of the BJP's External Affairs Department, to seek more details on the extent of diaspora supporters' participation in the ongoing elections, but he declined to comment.
