NEW DELHI, 21 March 2005 — The Indian government which has asked Washington to reconsider its decision to deny Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi a visa was put in an embarrassing situation yesterday when the organization that invited Modi to the United States changed its mind.
The Asian American Hotel and Motel Owners Association (AAHOA) canceled its invitation to Modi on the basis of which the chief minister applied for a diplomatic visa.
In a display of patriotic fervor, the Indian prime minister, politicians cutting across party lines and a section of the media went overboard to support Modi after the US denied him visa last week.
Earlier, when contacted by the Indian government, the US Embassy had said that it was assessing New Delhi’s request for review of its decision. Now, with the invitation itself being withdrawn, the embassy is relieved of diplomatic pressure.
“We support the decision of the American government on this issue,” said Mike Patel by telephone from the United States. Patel is the founder chairman of AAHOA and adviser on minorities to President George W. Bush.
During his five-day US visit, beginning yesterday, Modi was scheduled to address the AAHOA in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
In an appeal to Modi, Patel has requested him to speed up the process of delivering justice to the victims of the communal riots that rocked Gujarat in 2002. The Modi government should remove obstacles to the victims getting justice expeditiously, Patel said.
Patel also pleaded with the people of Gujarat not to boycott American products. He said a lot of Gujaratis are settled in America and many are in queue for getting visas to the United States.
Modi’s Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its extremist associates —Bajrang Dal and Shiv Sena — have strongly criticized the Bush administration and targeted American products. On Saturday, around 150 activists attacked the PepsiCo warehouse in Surat, smashed bottles and set fire to the building. Protesters also demonstrated outside the US Consulate in Bombay. Some of the placards carried by them read: “Down with the United States,” and “Boycott US goods and Americans.”
But Modi still has supporters in America. A prominent Indian American physician with strong connections in Washington has written to the White House requesting a “timely remedy” of the situation.
The letter written by Akshay Desai, a prominent Florida physician, said prompt attention should be paid to “this issue for a timely remedy to avoid significant political and diplomatic damage concerning US-India relations.”
Desai is one of the 14 commissioners on the White House Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
The letter, addressed to Karl Rove, the powerful deputy chief of staff and senior political adviser to the president, says many “shocked” Indian American leaders from across the US had contacted Desai about the visa denial.
Desai said: “Modi is a democratically elected head of Gujarat state and has never been convicted of any crimes in any court. There was a systematic ‘smear campaign’ carried out by his opponents.
“Modi is a Hindu by religion and has been accused by some Muslim organizations of being anti-Muslim.”
Desai, who is president and CEO of St. Petersburg, the Florida-based Universal Health Care, went on to say: “As you know, India has over 800 million Hindus and the previous Hindu-dominated BJP government of India and its leaders were and are very close to our administration. The Indian American community in the US is also predominantly Hindu and would feel humiliated.”
He said Modi was coming to the US to address the convention of Indian American hotel and motel owners “and they all feel saddened by this decision”
“In America, we have a tradition of not acting on just ‘wild accusations’ but only on hard facts, and ‘innocent until proven guilty in court’, for our proper course of action on any matter.
“There are examples of several currently serving world leaders who have been accused of more egregious crimes, war crimes, and violations of human rights; but were allowed to visit the US and have been welcome at the White House also.”
He requested Rove to “review the facts” and “arrive at the right decision to avoid any potential setback in US-India relations.”
Desai told IANS: “I made the request to see the issue in the context of democracy. Modi is a democratically elected leader and there is a due process of law in India. I have written to explore whether there is any room for reconsideration.”
— Additional input from Indo-Asian News Service
