Muslim leaders in India have condemned Britain’s decision to lift its ban on contact with Narendra Modi, blamed by many for the 2002 state-led Gujarat riots which left more than 1,000 dead. Since 2002, Modi has been shunned by several countries including the United States, which denied him an entry visa in 2005 and Britain which cut all official contact with his government. The Muslims are now angry over hypocrisy of Britain which has asked its High Commissioner to visit Gujarat to meet Modi to explore opportunities of closer cooperation.
Modi hailed the move and said, “It was better late than never,” however Tanveer Jafri, son of Ehsan Jafri, who was brutally and burnt during the Gujarat pogrom, termed it as double standards of Britain. “We must not forget how many ministers and police officers are in jail for killing innocents during his rule. Hundreds of innocent Muslims are behind bars just because they are Muslims and living in Modi’s Gujarat,” he said.