Congressman Joseph Pitts and 26 co-signers urged the State Department, in the letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, to take note of the serious human rights violations, persecution of minorities and total disregard of religious freedom practiced in direct contravention of International Human Rights norms and treaties by the BJP Government in Gujarat. They drew specific attention to the plight of the 100,000 victims of genocide unable to return to their homes, followed by the continuous attempts to obstruct a legitimate and fair trial to bring the perpetrators of the 2002 communal genocide to justice. “Mr. Modi and his administration closed the files on over 2,000 police cases where the victims filed reports of rapes, killings and destruction of their property,” noted the letter.
27 US LAWMAKERS WANT MODI’S VISA BAN EXTENDED
Washington D.C. based Coalition Against Genocide (CAG) which is widely campaigning on Capitol Hill has bagged support from 27 more US lawmakers in urging the State Department to continue the ban on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi from entering the United States. In an important rebuke to Mr. Modi,
Washington D.C. based Coalition Against Genocide (CAG) which is widely campaigning on Capitol Hill has bagged support from 27 more US lawmakers in urging the State Department to continue the ban on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi from entering the United States. In an important rebuke to Mr. Modi, 27 prominent lawmakers led by Congressman Joseph Pitts (R-PA) have urged the State Department to once again reaffirm its decision to keep Mr Modi from entering the United States. It was reported earlier that the Gujarat Chief Minister might apply for a visa to attend the World Gujarati Conference in New Jersey from August 29 to 31 on the invitation of Gujarati businessmen with strong ties to extreme Hindu nationalist ideologies, a CAG statement said on August 9.
The letter also drew attention to the State Department Report on the Gujarat Government’s promotion of Nazi Ideology “The role of Chief Minister Narendra Modi and his government in promoting attitudes of racial supremacy, racial hatred and the legacy of Nazism through his government’s support of school textbooks in which Nazism is condoned. For example, in a high school social studies textbook, the “charismatic personality” of “Hitler the Supremo” and the” achievements” of Nazism are described at length. The textbook does not even acknowledge Nazi extermination policies or concentration camps except for a passing reference to a policy of opposition towards the Jewish people and [advocacy for] the supremacy of the German race”.
This letter comes close on the heels by similar letters written by Congresswoman Betty McCollum (D-MN), Congressman Joe Sestak (D-PA) and the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) urging similar action against Mr. Modi, who has been characterized as the architect of the pogroms in 2002 against the Muslim community by several Citizens’ panels and Human Rights organizations in India and abroad.