People's Democracy

 Angry Protestors Ask Modi To Go Back

 From Nagen Das

In London

IF the Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi had thought that his visit to Britain would go unnoticed like that of his mentors, Advani & Co, probably he had been misled by his advisors. Modi was taken to task by the residents of Britain for having allowed the killings of over two thousand people in Gujarat last year, when he reached here on Sunday (August 17).

Protestors from all parts of the country had gathered outside the Wembley Conference Centre in London, where Modi was to speak at a function organised by the Friends of BJP (mainly Gujarati BJP cadres settled here). The protest had been organised by many organisations, who had since last year’s rights been consistently raising voice against the “planned ethnic cleansing” in Gujarat. These organisations included the Council of Indian Muslims and the Indian Workers’ Association (IWA).

Even though keeping in tradition of peaceful protests of this country, there was no violence during the protest, but anger among them who had come to register their protest against the man known to be responsible for the organised murders of about two thousand Muslims in Gujarat, could be clearly seen.

Placards with slogans such as “Murderer Modi go back” and “don’t make London another Gujarat”, were there to greet Modi. The impact of opposition to Modi’s London visit even forced the British government to issue a clarification saying that the British government has nothing to do with Modi’s visit, he was here on a private visit. 

The British government  statement  said “We are aware he’s visiting the UK.  He is not visiting at her majesty’s government’s invitation nor does the government plan to have any contact with him when he’s here.  “We do understand the concerns expressed but there were no appropriate grounds to refuse Mr Modi a visa”, the statement said. “We are concerned by a report that the state government of Gujarat did not do as much as it could to prompt an end to the violence.” Modi was forced to alter his path to the function venue and reached late, to minimise the impact of the protestors.

Among the protesters was Bilal Dawood, 34, whose family lost two members in last year’s violence. His brother Faeed, 41, and his cousin Shakil, 38, were on holiday in Gujarat when a mob stopped their car and they were set ablaze with petrol. A 17-year-old cousin of Mr Dawood escaped but has been left

severely traumatised by the attack. Mr Dawood, of Batley, West Yorkshire, said: “All we want is a proper investigation to get justice for what happened to them.”

Asked if he would like to see Mr Modi arrested in London, Mr Dawood said: “I would like to see the possibility of him being arrested... but what we are after is the specific people who did this. There have been six people arrested but then released and no one has been charged.”

MEDIA ANGER

He is blamed for the death of 2,000 Muslims in India. So why is Narendra Modi in Wembley? – Read the headline on page three of the Guardian (Monday August 17) “Instead of trying to prevent the slaughter, Mr Modi - a member of India’s right-wing Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) - instructed his

administration to do nothing” said the Guardian story. 

There was a profile of  Modi in this paper which compared him to Adolf Hitler. In fact, this is the type of image that the BJP and its leaders have, and Britishers say that nothing more is expected of this party. 

Whatever may L K Advani and senior leaders of the BJP say about their foreign trips and increasing the image of India abroad, either their visits go unnoticed or they are exposed to reality !

When Advani himself was here, there was almost no mention of his visit in the mainstream press and that frtustration was visible, when in the reception organised by the Indian High Commissioner, Advani publically expressed his displeasure at not having been introduced to the eminent personalities !