Trump names Harmeet Dhillon, critic of India, supporter of farmers’ protest, as top civil rights official- Updates
New York, Dec 11: President-elect Donald Trump has named Republican Party activist Harmeet Dhillon, who is a supporter of the farmers’ protest in India and raised aallegations of “Indian death squads”, to be the assistant attorney general for civil rights.
“In her new role at the DOJ (Department of Justice), Harmeet will be a tireless defender of our Constitutional Rights, and will enforce our Civil Rights and Election Laws FAIRLY and FIRMLY”, Trump said on Truth Social announcing on Monday.
Trump also noted that she “is a respected member of the Sikh religious community”.
On social media X, Dhillon who goes as “@pnjaban”, has expressed support for the farmers’ protest and raised what she said were “apparently Indian death squads operating in North America targeting Sikh activists”.
In a criticism of the administration of President Joe Biden, she virtually accused it of a cover-up, writing, “Our government refuses to provide details. Why”?
The mention of “death squads” was an apparent reference to the case filed against an Indian citizen and a former RAW official accusing them of plotting to kill a Khalistani activist in the US and echoes Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s accusations against India.
Mentioning her family’s agrarian roots, another post by Dhillon said, “I stand with the #FarmersProtests”!
In yet another post she urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to meet with the protesters and make a compromise.
“As the Punjab-born descendant of farmers, my heart breaks to see Punjabi farmers assaulted for protesting Indian gov't's pro-big-corporation farm bill that will destroy their farms, way of life, and culture. Hear them, meet with them, & compromise, PM Modi”, she posted.
The post of assistant attorney general for civil rights, for which she has been named, does not directly have international responsibilities and it does not oversee the two controversial cases involving India.
The ongoing case alleging the conspiracy against the Khalistani will not come under her purview as it will be the domain of the assistant attorney general of the national security division.
The case alleging bribery by Indian business leaders is under the deputy assistant attorney general in charge of the Criminal Division.
Trump has not announced names for those positions.
“Throughout her career, Harmeet has stood up consistently to protect our cherished Civil Liberties”, Trump said in his Truth Social post.
He added, “Harmeet is one of the top Election lawyers in the Country, fighting to ensure that all, and ONLY, legal votes are counted”.
If her appointment is approved by the Senate, Dhillon will become the second Indian American to hold the top civil rights position after Vanita Gupta, who held that position in former President Barack Obama’s administration and was the associate attorney general for two years under President Biden.
Dhillon ran unsuccessfully for the chair of the Republican National Committee last year.
She has been a member of the Republican National Committee and said a Sikh prayer at the Republican National Conventions in 2016 and 2024.
In the 2020 election, she was a legal adviser to the Trump campaign.
She was the co-chair of the Women for Trump, a group mobilising women’s support for his election.
Her career as a civil rights career has focused on the rights of conservatives and their causes, which she is expected to bring to the DOJ.
Trump said that she took on Big Tech for censoring our Free Speech, representing Christians who were prevented from praying together during COVID, and suing corporations who use woke policies to discriminate against their workers”.
During the Covid pandemic, she sued California, New Jersey, and Virginia against their lockdown rules that prevented churches from holding worship services.
She also sued the University of California Berkley on behalf of a youth group for preventing a right-wing activist from speaking there.
Another case she took up was that of a White man who alleged that he was fired by Google for writing a memo crticising the company’s diversity programmes.
She has also sued the extreme leftist group, Antifa, for allegedly attacking a journalist.
Another case she has filed is against a California hospital group on behalf of a woman who said that the doctors there gave her sex change treatment when she was a minor.