The Hindu : International / India & World : Pressure on U.K. to revoke Modi's visa

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Thursday, Mar 24, 2005

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International - India & World

Pressure on U.K. to revoke Modi's visa

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, MARCH 23. Pressure is mounting on the British Government to follow the U.S. ``lead'' and revoke the Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi's visa ahead of his planned visit to Britain at the weekend.

Cross-community Asian groups have united behind the demand for a ban on Mr. Modi's visit arguing that allowing him to enter Britain would run contrary to the Government's own strong line on the Gujarat administration's role in the widespread communal violence in the State in 2002.

A spokesperson for the Foreign Office told The Hindu that the British Government did ``not plan to have any contact with him while he is here''. She said Mr. Modi had not been invited by the Government. ``Indeed we have no contact with the Government of Gujarat because of our concerns (over the 2002 events),'' she said.

Apparently, Mr. Modi is coming on the visa issued to him during his last visit in 2003. The spokesperson said that it was issued because he ``did not meet the criteria for refusal''.

Several protests are planned outside the Royal Albert Hall where Mr. Modi is expected to attend a ``Vibrant Gujarat'' cultural programme on Saturday. One organisation, ``Awaaz'', was reported to be considering mounting a legal challenge, though a similar attempt during Mr. Modi's last visit had failed.

The South Asia Solidarity Group, which is leading a campaign against Mr. Modi's visit, said there was a ``contradiction'' between the British Government's condemnation of the Gujarat events and its reluctance to bar his entry into Britain, effectively allowing him to use the British soil for ``political propaganda''.

``While it is true that the British High Commission in India has condemned, and to some extent exposed some aspects of what happened in Gujarat three years ago, prominent figures in New Labour are known for their support to Hindutva groups,'' said its spokesperson Amrit Wilson. The Group alleged that Mr. Modi was guilty of ``crimes against humanity'' and the victims of the 2002 carnage were ``still living in terror''.

The Council of Indian Muslims (U.K.), in an open letter to the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, recalled the comments of a senior British High Commission official in India, following the Gujarat violence that it was ``planned... (and) carried out by an extremist Hindu organisation with the support of the State Government''.

Pointing out that three British nationals were among those killed in the violence and that many British families of Gujarati origin were ``directly or indirectly'' affected by the incidents, the Council's chairman, Mohamed Munaf Zeena, said that Mr. Modi's visit would be ``tantamount to insensitivity towards their relatives''.

``We ask you whether it is in the British interest to allow such a person (Mr. Modi) to visit the U.K. as a guest of our country? Is it not time that we make a stand for justice and send a clear signal that the likes of Mr. Modi are unacceptable not just to the people of the U.S. but also to the people of the U.K.,'' the letter said.

Irfan Mustafa, general secretary of the Indian Muslim Federation said Mr. Modi's visit would ``inflame passions''.

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Pressure on U.K. to revoke Modi's visa