[Reader-list] LET INDIA JUDGE MODI

[Bipin Trivedi]

It's been eight years since the event. The Supreme Court of India is
conducting trials and supervising the cases against Modi. Modi has been
reinstalled twice as the chief minister of Gujarat by thumping victories in
two fair elections. In this context it's difficult to understand the need
for such a powerful official delegation to pass a judgment on the state and
reiterate that Modi continues to be persona non-grata in the European Union
and they want trials against him to be completed soon.

The whole idea of denying a US visa to Modi has also been rendered pointless
by the fact that he has become more popular in the US than any other
Gujarati chief minister! The Gujaratis and Indians in the US are coming in
hordes to meet him! Even non-hardliner Gujaratis, who don't sympathise with
Modi, clearly feel that the executive head of their state has been slighted.

The standard sentiment doing the rounds in Gujarati drawing rooms for the
past few years sees the denial of a US visa to Modi as a little more than
targeting an individual for his crimes. "Have they stopped the Chinese, who
did the Tiananmen Square crackdown, from coming to the US? Pakistan's role
in global terrorism is known. Is a single Pak military officer or politician
denied a visa to the US? If Modi is not a bigger criminal than either of the
two, why is he denied a visa?" THE DENIAL OF A VISA MAKES THE ISSUE TRANSCED
INDIVIDUALCHATISEMENT AND BECOMEA COLLECTIVE INSULT FOR A STATE, FOR A
PEOPLE.

Read the whole article bellow.

http://www.dnaindia.com/blogs/post.php?postid=260

 

No thanks, we don't need German help on Modi 

Narendra Modi, Gujarat and 2002 riots provoke a myriad reactions the world
over and at home. No wonder a delegation of German MPs that visited
Ahmedabad on April 7 and 8 ended up stirring a hornets' nest when they chose
to speak about Modi. It's perfectly okay in a democracy to loathe Modi for
what happened in Gujarat in 2002 during his reign. He can be also prosecuted
for all the wrongs he committed. He can be voted out of power by the very
people who elected him.

But even though the English press is much maligned and abused by Modi as
pseudo-secular and he misses no opportunity to bring it to heel, the German
criticism has not gone down well with many individuals and civil society.
The strong feeling is that there is no need for outsiders to reprimand any
state or the country. India can cope with this issue on its own. So, Frau
Ute Granold, the senior German parliamentarian who was heading the
delegation, much as we would love to welcome you again and again and host
you for dinner, your observations on Gujarat have not gone down well.

As a developing nation we are keen on building a lasting bond with Germany
and encouraging a bigger economic and cultural tie-up. We also admire
Chancellor Angela Merkel and her leadership qualities that the entire
European Union looks up to. But it certainly doesn't go well with our Indian
sensibilities to see a delegation of German MPs and the foreign policy
advisor to the chairman of the ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Party
and director of the German human rights organisation MISSIO coming on a
two-day visit of Gujarat to study the human rights situation and impact on
the society after the 2002 communal riots.

It's been eight years since the event. The Supreme Court of India is
conducting trials and supervising the cases against Modi. Modi has been
reinstalled twice as the chief minister of Gujarat by thumping victories in
two fair elections. In this context it's difficult to understand the need
for such a powerful official delegation to pass a judgment on the state and
reiterate that Modi continues to be persona non-grata in the European Union
and they want trials against him to be completed soon.

If the report they wanted to prepare was for internal consumption of the
German government or political parties, probably the delegation should have
met parties with opposing views for a more mature perspective and avoided a
public statement. After all, Modi is not an incidental chief minister but
voted to power by millions, not once but twice.

The whole idea of denying a US visa to Modi has also been rendered pointless
by the fact that he has become more popular in the US than any other
Gujarati chief minister! The Gujaratis and Indians in the US are coming in
hordes to meet him! Even non-hardliner Gujaratis, who don't sympathise with
Modi, clearly feel that the executive head of their state has beenslighted.

The standard sentiment doing the rounds in Gujarati drawing rooms for the
past few years sees the denial of a US visa to Modi as a little more than
targeting an individual for his crimes. "Have they stopped the Chinese, who
did the Tiananmen Square crackdown, from coming to the US? Pakistan's role
in global terrorism is known. Is a single Pak military officer or politician
denied a visa to the US? If Modi is not a bigger criminal than either of the
two, why is he denied a visa?" The denial of a visa makes the issue
transcend individual chastisement and become a collective insult for a
state, for a people.

This piece is not to defend Modi or oppose global initiatives on human
rights, as many would love to interpret it. Such initiatives are welcome and
have been a great deterrent in preventing a recurrence of events like '2002'
that would be regrettable for the collective conscience of the nation. The
media has been unequivocal in criticising him for 2002 and his
heavy-handedness towards his critics. Sometimes it does this even at great
personal and professional risks, which will remain untold to the nation.

But there is a need to draw a line between fighting your own battles and
seeking external support for the same. Earlier this week the nation was
equally shocked when a US court issued a notice for union commerce minister
Kamal Nath during his US visit for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi. It
left a big question-mark on why after a quarter of a century, a US court had
to summon Nath.