Massive US Protests Send Clear Message to Modi

Massive US Protests Send Clear Message to Modi: End Suppression of Minorities

The Alliance for Justice and Accountability has demanded justice for the victims of Gujarat 2002 pogrom

NEW YORK – The Alliance for Justice and Accountability, a broad coalition of organizations and individuals, announced that the Sunday rally in New York City during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s much publicized event at Madison Square Garden, was a huge success.

Hundreds of people, including human rights activists, professionals, students and people from all walks of life attended the rally. Protesters were a large and spirited group of Indian Americans comprising of people of all faiths and ideological persuasions, with one thing in common: they were demanding justice and accountability in the case of Modi in the 2002 Gujarat pogrom and an end to repression of minorities and crony capitalism in India.

 “The protests have demonstrated the rejection of a leader who represents a hateful and divisive agenda, ” said Robindra Deb, a key AJA organizer of protest on September 28. “We represent the 70% of Indians that did not vote for Mr. Modi,” added Mr. Deb.

AJA protesters were required by law to share protest space with all other groups protesting at MSG. “While we share human rights concerns, AJA does not endorse separatist calls by other groups protesting outside of MSG. These groups were not part of the Alliance” said Dr Shaik Ubaid, a spokesperson for the Alliance.

“The first 100 days of Modi’s tenure as the Prime Minister have shown to the world the grave dangers posed by the Hindu nationalist ideology to pluralism and the rule of law. Since the national elections that brought Modi’s party to power, the northern state of Uttar Pradesh alone has witnessed over 600 incidents against the Muslim minority. Mr. Modi has imposed severe restrictions on civil society institutions including world-renowned organizations like Amnesty International and Greenpeace, and is using India’s Intelligence Bureau to tarnish reputed NGOs in India and the diaspora as “anti-national groups,” said a statement by AJA.

Placards could be seen in the large crowd, demanding that Mr. Modi himself be brought to justice and demanding an end to the sectarian agenda of the Hindutva ideology he espouses. Protesters also expressed determination that they would not let the victims of the Gujarat pogroms of 2002, or the subsequent extra-judicial killings and illegal detentions in Gujarat be forgotten.

The anti-conversion agenda espoused by Modi’s party has now spiraled into major polarization campaigns led by Hindu nationalist militias to restrict the religious freedoms of minority communities.

Modi was banned from entering the US by the State Department, under the International Religious Freedom Act for his “egregious violations of religious freedom.” With his election to the post of Prime Minister, the US decided to lift the travel ban, an exemption often given to heads of state.

Massive-protests-send-clear-demands-to-Indian-PM-Modi Protesters also referred to the report released by the Ghadar Alliance (a constituent of AJA) that evaluated Modi’s first 100 days in office. The meticulously researched report details the ways in which the new government has increased repression of minorities through brazen violations of human rights and religious freedom, dismantled democratic protections, while increasing corporate giveaways. The full report can be found at: http://www.modifacts.org/

“The protests have sent a clear message. The so-called ‘welcome’ given to Mr. Modi by the Indian diaspora is far from being uniform,” said Sonia Joseph, an organizer with SASI in NYC. “On the contrary, a large section of the diaspora has decided its time to stand up and be counted among those who will defend secularism and pluralism in India against the onslaught of Hindutva,” she added.

“Economic development on the graveyard of human rights and rule of law can never go right” said Parchi Patankar, another spokesperson for the Alliance.

Protesters came from all over the US, with the majority having arrived through chartered buses from New Jersey, Baltimore, Washington DC, Boston and Philadelphia.

The Alliance for Justice and Accountability is a US-based coalition of a diverse range of Indian/South Asian organizations and individuals.

http://caravandaily.com/portal/massive-us-protests-send-clear-message-to-modi-end-suppression-of-minorities/
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Minorities, victims to protest on Modi-Obama meeting
APP
September 29, 2014, 10:45 pm

WASHINGTON – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is due to meet US President Barack Obama at the White House, amidst protests from India’s religious minorities against his party's extremist views and the Gujarat government's alleged collusion in the 2002 massacre of Muslims.

Modi, whose US visa was revoked on grounds of religious intolerance in 2005, is in Washington for his first visit since he assumed charge as the prime minister after his party’s victory in national elections in May. He is scheduled to attend a private dinner with President Obama on Monday evening. On Tuesday, President Obama will hold formal Oval Office talks with Modi on advancing US-India relations.

According to a White House statement, President Obama looks forward to welcoming Prime Minister Modi. Besides discussing bilateral relations, Obama and Modi will also focus on regional issues, including current developments in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq, where India and the US can work together with partners towards a positive outcome.

Human rights groups and minorities have stepped up a drive to speak out against the Indian leader’s human rights record and his disregard for excesses committed against the minority communities. Modi is a lifelong member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a militant Hindu group. Critics say he represents a threat of Hindu extremism, rather than a promise of modernization, The Washington Post newspaper noted. The Indian leader is drawing both cheers and criticism from Indian Diaspora.

Modi began his visit with an address to the UN General Assembly and drew cheering crowds in a Madison Square rally in New York. But the rally was also marred by protests and display of banners condemning his human rights record. The series of protests against Modi will culminate with displays of concerns outside the White House on Tuesday.

The protests and the White House talks coincide with a reminder of Modi's dark past chapter in Gujarat, where 140 people were arrested following outbreak of Hindu-Muslim violence in the state on Sunday. Modi was chief minister of Gujarat when religious riots killed more than 1,000 Muslims, provoking widespread international condemnation.

In an open letter to Obama last week, members of US House of Representatives Keith Ellison and Joe Pitts asked the president to raise the issue of protection of religious minorities in his meetings with Modi, noting that attacks on Christians and Muslims in India have increased since Modi took office in June. Modi may claim to have reinvented himself, but he has not changed his violent supremacist ideology, said Ubaid Shaikh, 52, an Indian Muslim neurologist in New York who heads a group that pressed for the 2005 visa denial.

Modi's religious agenda, Shaik said, is very dangerous for any country, especially a huge rising power like India. In Manhattan, a federal court on Friday issued a summons for Modi, for failing to stop the 2002 riots. A human rights group in New York is seeking damages from the prime minister on behalf of riot victims for crimes against humanity and other abuses.

Sikh for Justice, a human rights advocacy group, has planned a Citizens Court to indicate Modi at a park in front of the White House on Tuesday when Modi would be meeting with President Obama. The indictment proceedings, which organisers say will be attended in large numbers, will be telecasted live throughout the US, according to the group’s Facebook page.

The Kashmiris based in the United States will also hold a candle light vigil to remind President Obama of his promise to push for a resolution of the decades-old Jammu Kashmir conflict. An advertisement by the Kashmiri-American Council published in The Washington Times drew attention to the urgency of alleviating the sufferings of the people in the disputed state where the people are struggling for their UN-recognized right to self-determination.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/foreign/29-Sep-2014/minorities-victims-to-protest-on-modi-obama-meeting