The Opinion Pages
The Indian Diaspora Mostly Embraces Mr. Modi Without Reservations
SEPT. 28, 2014 NYT
Editorial Observer
By VIKAS BAJAJ
After Mr. Modi’s party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, won a decisive victory in parliamentary elections in May, posters congratulating Mr. Modi could be seen in many Indian stores and restaurants in New York and New Jersey.
For his supporters, Mr. Modi represents a rejection of the plodding domestic and foreign policies of Indian governments that have hindered economic growth, reduced poverty far too slowly and, as Mr. Modi said on Sunday, had left the rest of the world with the embarrassing impression that India was a “land of snake charmers.” That line drew laughs and applause from the crowd of about 19,000.
Among them was Khandu Patel, a Long Island businessman who came to the United States more than 30 years ago and worked for years as a pharmacist and now owns five hotels in New York. Mr. Patel believes Mr. Modi will bring India’s different, and often combative, communities together. But it is hard to know how Mr. Modi might unite different religious groups since many Muslims remain fearful that his Hindu nationalist party does not care about them and believe he has inflamed sectarian tensions for political gain.
“In 10 years, India will be No. 1,” Mr. Patel predicted just before Mr. Modi stepped onto the stage, “economically, professionally, politically.”
Mr. Patel’s kind of enthusiasm filled the arena. When Mr. Modi said India had three strengths — democracy, the country’s young population and its strong consumer demand — that would help it grow fast, many in the crowd shouted back “We have Modi!” before he could say much more.
Earlier in the afternoon after a series of song and dance performances, a video introducing Mr. Modi claimed in all seriousness that “India has witnessed a century of change in his first 100 days” as prime minister. Yet even among of his supporters there has been frustration that he is taking too long to enact policy changes, like lifting restrictions on foreign investment, that he promised during the campaign.
Addressing a nearly full house, Mr. Modi, who spoke from a rotating platform, mesmerized the crowd, and offered the words people wanted to hear. For example, he promised to make it easier for Indian immigrants who are naturalized American citizens to get lifetime visas and to streamline the notoriously cumbersome application process for Americans visiting India.
Instead of using the formal Hindi that he used when he addressed the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday, he spoke in the conversational Hindi that many middle-class Indians speak at home. In some ways, Mr. Modi was received like a local politician by the crowd at Madison Square Garden; he comes from the western state of Gujarat, the home region of many Indian immigrants in the United States.
Of course, many Indian-Americans do not belong to the cult of Modi. In 2005, the State Department revoked Mr. Modi’s visa because of his handling of sectarian riots in 2002, when he was chief minister; more than 1,000 people were killed, most of them Muslims. On Thursday, the federal court in New York issued a summons to Mr. Modi asking him to respond to a lawsuit filed by a nonprofit group accusing him of human rights abuses during the riots. The summons, however, is unlikely to affect his visit because he has diplomatic immunity as a visiting head of state.
The Indian Diaspora Mostly Embraces Mr. Modi Without Reservations
SEPT. 28, 2014 NYT
Editorial Observer
By VIKAS BAJAJ
After Mr. Modi’s party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, won a decisive victory in parliamentary elections in May, posters congratulating Mr. Modi could be seen in many Indian stores and restaurants in New York and New Jersey.
For his supporters, Mr. Modi represents a rejection of the plodding domestic and foreign policies of Indian governments that have hindered economic growth, reduced poverty far too slowly and, as Mr. Modi said on Sunday, had left the rest of the world with the embarrassing impression that India was a “land of snake charmers.” That line drew laughs and applause from the crowd of about 19,000.
Among them was Khandu Patel, a Long Island businessman who came to the United States more than 30 years ago and worked for years as a pharmacist and now owns five hotels in New York. Mr. Patel believes Mr. Modi will bring India’s different, and often combative, communities together. But it is hard to know how Mr. Modi might unite different religious groups since many Muslims remain fearful that his Hindu nationalist party does not care about them and believe he has inflamed sectarian tensions for political gain.
“In 10 years, India will be No. 1,” Mr. Patel predicted just before Mr. Modi stepped onto the stage, “economically, professionally, politically.”
Mr. Patel’s kind of enthusiasm filled the arena. When Mr. Modi said India had three strengths — democracy, the country’s young population and its strong consumer demand — that would help it grow fast, many in the crowd shouted back “We have Modi!” before he could say much more.
Earlier in the afternoon after a series of song and dance performances, a video introducing Mr. Modi claimed in all seriousness that “India has witnessed a century of change in his first 100 days” as prime minister. Yet even among of his supporters there has been frustration that he is taking too long to enact policy changes, like lifting restrictions on foreign investment, that he promised during the campaign.
Addressing a nearly full house, Mr. Modi, who spoke from a rotating platform, mesmerized the crowd, and offered the words people wanted to hear. For example, he promised to make it easier for Indian immigrants who are naturalized American citizens to get lifetime visas and to streamline the notoriously cumbersome application process for Americans visiting India.
Instead of using the formal Hindi that he used when he addressed the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday, he spoke in the conversational Hindi that many middle-class Indians speak at home. In some ways, Mr. Modi was received like a local politician by the crowd at Madison Square Garden; he comes from the western state of Gujarat, the home region of many Indian immigrants in the United States.
Of course, many Indian-Americans do not belong to the cult of Modi. In 2005, the State Department revoked Mr. Modi’s visa because of his handling of sectarian riots in 2002, when he was chief minister; more than 1,000 people were killed, most of them Muslims. On Thursday, the federal court in New York issued a summons to Mr. Modi asking him to respond to a lawsuit filed by a nonprofit group accusing him of human rights abuses during the riots. The summons, however, is unlikely to affect his visit because he has diplomatic immunity as a visiting head of state.
Several hundred anti-Modi protesters were outside Madison Square Garden holding up signs like “We Will Not Forget Gujarat 2002.” But Mr. Modi made no reference to them or the sectarian killings that made him unwelcome in the United States. He had not come to talk about those issues.
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