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Much is being said about denying Narendra Modi a visa to visit America. As Yashwant Sinha rightly says, granting a visa is a sovereign right of any nation but the way it was handled smacked of hypocrisy. Narendra Modi, the much-maligned chief minister of Gujarat when the post-Godra riots occurred (ever notice how everyone talks about post-Godra when in fact, what occurred at Godra was equally heinous). Make no mistake, I too believe that Narendra Modi is a crackpot and doesn’t deserve any sympathy. But at the same time, he is a democratically elected chief minister of one of India’s prosperous states. By denying him a visa, America dusted off the cobwebs from an archaic law that states - “any government official who was responsible for or directly carried out at any time, particularly severe violations of religious freedom, ineligible for a visa“. That law is as open to interpretation as India’s aspirations to call itself a secular nation. Of course, Saudis and other Islamic heads of states regularly visit America for no apparent reason in spite of blatant religious intolerance in their countries. Shouldn’t they be routinely denied visas too?
America in fact is making a political statement by ignoring Indian sentiments. They had earlier not commented on the Gujarat riots – an internal matter. But this is a shift in attitude. Most of Indians do not believe in Narendra Modi but I will not deny him the right to travel anywhere he wishes. Was Salman Rushdie denied entry because of his so-called sacrilegious book? Protest all you want wherever he goes, stage a dharna at his meetings, write editorials criticizing his actions but making India feel inadequate for electing such a leader by denying him a visit doesn’t befit a global power. Surely security couldn’t be an issue; after all many controversial leaders visit America all the time. Christian evangelicals twist the rules to obtain a visa to convert Indians; surely that is a greater problem. Victory for pluralism, BS! It should be called minority appeasement.
If you read the letter that is supposed to have caused a change in policy, it is an example of blatant interference and judgment by an external entity. If we begin to point out the inadequacies in American congressmen beginning from immoral indulgence that is against “Indian culture” and other war crimes in Islamic countries, then it wouldn’t be possible for any American lawmaker to visit India. But I doubt India has the guts; afterall they have invited the perpetrator of Kargil to watch a silly cricket match and is giving his mom royal treatment.
So America, stop judging us (although we deserve it). If you want to deny Modi a visa, deny him on valid grounds (are any grounds valid?), not on the accusation of “religious intolerance”. That is for us to decide. But I can’t stop you from doing whatever you please, can I? I hope I can rant or will my visa be revoked too?
PS. It is a free-for-all at Sepia Mutiny but The Acorn is restrained in its commentary. Saurav rightly observes that the US is clear in its choices for appeasement.
by Patrix | on Saturday, March 19th, 2005 at 8:00 am | 
Rants, United States . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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March 19th, 2005 at 8:16 am reply
Choose more carefully the people you defend.
March 19th, 2005 at 10:36 am reply
Oeth - Ah-ha! therein lies the difference. I do not defend the man, I protest the actions against him.
March 19th, 2005 at 10:42 am reply
Beyond US’ myopic decision is an even harsher reality — that many secular Indians think nothing of embarrasing India in pursuit of their tunnel-visioned, and frequently stupid, orthodoxies.
At http://secular-right.blogspot.com/, we are secular, have repeatedly condemned Mr. Modi, but are aghast at this US decision at the behest of a few vocal Indian-Americans. More than condemning the US decision, we really have to look at our own secular Ayatollahs whose hatred of Indian nationalism is destroying the credibility of saner secular Indians.
See also:
http://secular-right.blogspot.com/2005/03/secular-shouldnt-have-to-mean-stupid.html
March 19th, 2005 at 10:58 am reply
Primary Red - Exactly my point! The so-called secularists find their ideal defense in bashing up India whereas the rights of minorites are best protected in India (as compared to its immediate neighbors). I find this hypocricy appalling. I am against Modi and whatever he propogated in the name of Hinduism but I don’t want the US to judge us on “religious freedom” when in fact they have conservative evangelists trying to influence political opinion.
March 19th, 2005 at 10:54 pm reply
Narendra Modi: Hypocrisy abound
India does not think Narendra Modi is a criminal, and hence he was eligible to contest the elections and become Chief Minister. But the fact that India is a democracy and has a judicial system does not really matter to…
March 20th, 2005 at 1:26 am reply
I hate Modi and his policies and everything. BUT this was just ridiculous - I mean really - what are these guys trying to prove? their morality? righteousness?
just making an ass of themselves, again.
March 20th, 2005 at 3:49 am reply
You are falling off your rocker, young man. Hitler too was popularly elected. Mr. Modi symbolizes the worst elements of human kind. He should not be let into any decent group of people anywhere in the world. The fact that his bigoted followers are the majority in one of India’s prosperous states, actually defines the problem that India faces. Advances in technology and education have not refined the deep, entrenched bigotry that exists in Indian culture. I for one would support the US if it banned anyone who supported Modi or Advani from ever entering the US. That would be a clear statement that could be sent to the bigots in the RSS, that their view of the universe makes them ineligible to be members of civilized society.
March 20th, 2005 at 9:18 am reply
totally agree with you patrix…i detest NM from the bottom of my heart but THIS smacks of hypocrisy in the EXTREME! they’ve perpetrated worse crimes else where…hell…just the fact that they support Musharref is the biggest hypocrisy of their so-called democratic ideals…but this is like a smack in the face.
March 20th, 2005 at 11:30 am reply
Soleil - I am glad you agree and refuse to be a part of the self-righteous group of Indian-Americans who know nothing about India.
Credible Word - So you need the US to give you a clear statement to the “bigots in the RSS”? I thought democracy was self-correcting. I guess we should not invite Bush and his cronies (he too was elected fair-n-square)over for their “war crimes” in Iraq but heck no, we go a step further and invite apna Kargil trigger-happy Musharraf. We do pander for external approval.
Ashi - Musharaf is the biggest example of hypocricy perpetrated by India and US. Lack of a better head of state or moderate among fundamentalists is not an excuse to humor him.
March 20th, 2005 at 11:36 am reply
everytime i read them/ esp their comments on India..i go through a damn identity crisis! I mean imagine..20 years down the line ill either talk bullshit like them - or worse still, i wont talk about things at all. its an ugly imagination, to say the least!
March 20th, 2005 at 11:55 am reply
Following these strings of posts and comments on various sites, it seems to me that everybody agrees that what Modi did was despicable and inhuman, but they just don’t like that fact that the US rejected his visa, not that his visa was rejected, but the fact that it was America.
However much this reeks of hypocrisy, I think Modi got what he deserved. Now it’s another issue that he’s still a democratically elected minister. Maybe there should have been a lot more outrage that he’s still in power, and not because of his visa rejection.
Not coming to the defense of what the US has done, i think we should clean out our own garbage.
So America, stop judging us (although we deserve it). If you want to deny Modi a visa, deny him on valid grounds (are any grounds valid?), not on the accusation of “religious intolerance”. That is for us to decide
what have we decided?
March 20th, 2005 at 1:00 pm reply
Patrix,
Your defense of bigotry is what shames India in the eyes of the world. Narendra Modi is the modern day equivalent of Stalin or Hitler. And sorry, democracy is not self correcting if the entire state of Gujarat is dominated by bigots of the worst kind. Unfortunately, this is the pathetic reality of Gujarat. Prosperity, hand in hand with pogroms of the worst kind, and worser still - with popular support. Hopefully, this should send a message to the hundreds of thousands of bigoted Modi supporters in the US, that if they want to introduce their brand of horror to the US, they can return their US citizenships and go back to where they came from. I am glad that after 9/11, it is legal in the US to deport naturalized US citizens for egregious behavior.
I am in no way a supporter of Bush and the Iraq war. Bush has shown clear similarities to Mr. Modi. The Iraq war was a good example. If Modi was more powerful he would have done something much worse – maybe shot every Muslim in India and celebrated it on TV.
The withdrawal of Modi’s visa is one of the few good things that the Bush administration has done. It is definitely not slap in the face of Indian democracy, if at all it is a slap in the face of those of you to support Hitler and Abu Gharaib. If Modi was a US politician and he carried out policies like he did, he and his supporters would be in jail (regardless of how popular he is). The American system still works. The US may be unfair in the way it conducts its foreign policy, but we do not want filth like Modi polluting US democracy and the civilized debate that it should engender.
It is a disgrace that criminals like Modi enjoy popular support in India and this might be the one Achilles heel that prevents a true democracy from taking root in India. When the people call for deaths of the minority, that is not democracy - that is mob rule.
So all of you apologists for Modi, imagine if you were victims of his terror regime and your fathers and sisters were murdered by the mob that he led, you may think twice about letting his voice be heard in the US. The fact that fundamentalists Christians and Muslims exist is no excuse. Not a single one of them has butchered as many as Modi and his mob.
This should be a loud and clear message to the murderous mobs that elect criminals to power in India – “You can elect who you want, but electing folks like Modi will eliminate you as participants in any civilized global discourse”
And I wish those bigoted US hotel owners would all be subjected to the treatment Modi gave his victims. This fake defence of democracy that you folks are engaging in, is disgraceful.
March 20th, 2005 at 6:30 pm reply
Soleil - 20 years is a long time and I don’t think you would ever fall in that trap if you don’t want to.
D - Repuation-wise or even elevation at the national level politics, Modi is finished. He is tolerated by the BJP just because he won the elections in Gujarat last time. What have we decided? hmmmm…in a extremely pluralist society that India is, it is often difficult to achieve consensus even on simple issues. Democracy is a great leveller; it is becoming increasingly clear in Gujarat that Modi doesn’t really have substance beyond spewing hatred against Muslims and come next elections, his defeat will effectively clip his wings forever. Make your protest against his policies clear, voice your opinion at every given opportunity…just don’t feel gratified when Americans do it for us. That is shameful.
Credible Word - Comparing Modi to Stalin and Hitler is elevating his status multifold. Communal and racial violence has happened/happening everywhere in the world. I repeat one more time, I don’t support his bigotry. I detest his actions in Gujarat.
As D points out, we should be shocked when the state of Gujarat reelected him but then American red states elected Bush so it just doesn’t happen in India. Hate politics is an aspect of politics everywhere, even in America (heard of Trent Lott, Strom Thurmond, Tom Delay) but no one stops them from speaking their mind.
The fact that fundamentalists Christians and Muslims exist is no excuse. Not a single one of them has butchered as many as Modi and his mob. - Guess you haven’t heard of Rwanda, Sudan, Serbia-Bosnia, Kashmiri pandits, Klu Klux Klan, your oft-cited Hitler, etc. Heck, even Bal Thackray would take offense to that statement albeit in a wierd sense. He was booted out by the electorate long time back and is now merely a shrivelled tiger in his Matoshri den. So democracy does work. Remember Congress’s Aam Aadmi campaign agains BJP’s feel-good and India Shining.
And lastly, stop looking towards the US for approval. Have enough conviction to call on someone on your own. I protested against the tendency of the US piggyback riders.
March 21st, 2005 at 5:28 am reply
For once I disagree with soleil. Of course this move smacks of hypocrisy. When has the U.S. not been a hypocrite when it comes to their international policy? But then you have to consider that if you don’t punish something wrong that happened within your country, something as serious as government support for killing of people - ultimately someone outside WILL comment on it, whether they are being hypocrites about it or not. The fact that Modi has not been indicted for anything raises serious questions about the credibility of the Indian judicial system.
And I find it highly unlikely that the US did this without consulting our current government. I am pretty sure Congress knew about this before this came out in the public at the very least. I suspect they might even have had a hand in this. This makes it very hard if not impossible for Modi to ever become a national leader considering that America has now publicly chastised him and this certainly helps the Congress. And even though I support neither the Congress nor the BJP, ultimately I consider this to be a good thing. I don’t want someone who was complicit in killings of innocent to ever be a leader of my country.
March 21st, 2005 at 3:09 pm reply
Ajju - Of course, the fact that the Congress government has a role in this affair is evident to all. The fact that we need an external agent to point out the malaise in our nation is a deplorable fact. Let the UPA government dismiss the Gujarat government on grounds of “religious intolerance and human rights violations”. Why do we need America to fight our internal battles? Will America tolerate us passing judgment on their discriminatory policies? No nation will. Modi is just given too much importance than he deserves; he will never rise in national politics i.e. beyond Gujarat…just as Thackeray packs no punch beyond Bombay.
March 22nd, 2005 at 9:32 am reply
I will not deny [Modi] the right to travel anywhere he wishes.
Maybe, but actually he does not have that right, as none of us have that right. We have to apply for visas to travel to pretty much every country in the world, and those other countries have the right to deny us such visa on whatever ground they choose. India has that right too. That’s the essence of the visa regime.
Why do we need America to fight our internal battles?
I haven’t understood how a country refusing a man a visa — something that must happen hundreds of times daily for various reasons — amounts to that country “fighting our internal battles.” Perhaps you will explain to me. Thanks.
March 22nd, 2005 at 11:15 am reply
See more at my post.
March 22nd, 2005 at 5:05 pm reply
Dilip - I may agree on the visa issue as each country has a sovereign right to deny a person a visa to keep its country “pure and pristine”. But blatantly using reasons of “religious intolerance” and human rights reports to make a political statement about India’s incapability to rein in its bad apples, is what I voiced protested against. I see no such action taken against Musharaff or Chinese leaders in spite of much worse human rights issues. The poltical parleys effectively made Modi a martyr, something that nobody wanted.
Ashish - Thats off-topic. I have already trackbacked to that entry in a different post.
April 1st, 2005 at 2:43 am reply
Robi & Nitin’s Indian Ocean Horizons: 2005-04-1
In this briefing: The Eternal Triangle (or Square?); Peeling the Skin off the Pakistani Onion; Peeling the Skin off India-Pakistan Relations; India, Energy, and Security; India - a Million Matinees Now; Keeping a Eye on Khan; The FBI is a Trusted Brand…