www.sacw.net | March 24, 2005

Text of citizens statement re the Indian Prime minister's comments in the Rajya Sabha following refusal of US Visa to Narendra Modi

We express our shock and anger at the stand taken by the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in the Rajya Sabha on the issue of refusal of visa to Mr. Narendra Modi by the USA. He has said that it is not proper for any agency to form its opinion on the role of Sh. Modi in the 2002 Gujarat genocide based on mere allegations. Sh. Singh needs to be reminded that it was the NHRC which had castigated Mr. Modi and his state government for having aided and abetted the act of genocide of Muslims in Gujarat in 2002, and it was the SUPreme Court of India that had opined that the Modi government cannot be relied UPon to bring about justice to the victims of the carnage. More than 50 national and international agencies of high credibility with their painstaking investigation had held Mr. Modi directly responsible for the act of genocide. The Prime Minister needs to come clean on this issue. Does he hold a considered opinion that the observations made by the NHRC and the Supreme Court of India are to be treated with contempt as shown by him in his Rajya Sabha speech?



Mr. Modi's policies of hatred should not be legitimised even by association. Mr. Modi is no ordinary elected leader. He has become infamous for his active abetment in the most brutal massacre since India became free, of a segment of the citizens of his state. His notoriety has deepened in the past 3 years because he remains completely unrepentant for these crimes, including the mass slaughter and rape of hundreds of innocent women and children, and instead has openly fought elections from a platform of hate. He has deliberately subverted the process of justice, that have attracted unprecedented structure from the Supreme Court of India.



We continue - to harbour grave disquiet about the militaristic and chauvinistic policies of the current US government itself, most notably in Afghanistan and Iraq. George Bush and his cohorts cannot be the arbiters of human rights.



We commend the untiring efforts of NRIs and human rights activists in the US and in India who mobilized public opinion and pressurized the US administration which led to the denial of Modi's visa. For those who claim that the international community has no role to play in the Gujarat carnage since it is a matter internal to the Indian nation, we would like to remind them that by the same logic, the entire world should have remained a mute spectator as millions of Jews were imprisoned and executed in concentration camps by the Nazi government. For those who claim that any insult to any elected official is an insult to the entire nation, we would like to remind them that Hitler, who is reviled even today, was also an elected official. There is nothing more insulting to the Indian nation than the pogroms that took place in Gujarat, and the fact that their main architect, Sh Narendra Modi, still continues to enjoy the powers and privileges of the Chief Minister in that state, while the Prime Minister of the country rushes to his defence.



It is a matter of great shame that even 10 months after having assumed power the UPA government has done nothing to ensure justice to the victims of Gujarat genocide. It has taken no steps to instill a sense of security and confidence among the displaced, raped, and maimed minorities of Gujarat who have been left to fend for themselves. No financial and legal aid has been arranged by the Central government for them and it is treating the whole Gujarat genocide as a routine state matter.



The statement by Dr. Manmohan Singh adds insult to the injury suffered by the Genocide victims of Gujarat, and is an affront to those NRIs and human rights activists in the US whose unflagging pressure on the US administration resulted in the denial of Mr. Modi's visa. That Dr. Singh should feel compelled to come out openly to speak for an organizer of mass murder who feels no remorse for his role shows that Dr. Singh has lost all sense of propriety. The statement also shows that the government wants to remain neutral on the question of communalism.



We, as people who are committed to secularism and human rights in India, feel betrayed and would like to take this opportunity to express our sense of despair that the political formation which is in power at the centre lacks any sense of moral responsibility and moral courage.



On behalf of the dead and living victims of Gujarat genocide and on behalf of the sections of civil society which have worked for the defeat of the communal forces we demand an apology from Dr. Manmohan Singh for having humiliated the wronged citizens of India by issuing a highly insensitive and irresponsible statement defending Mr. Narendra Modi.

March 21, 2005

Released by

Shabnam Hashmi - ANHAD, Delhi <anhad_delhi@yahoo.co.in>>



On behalf of:



1. Aamir Khan- Actor, Mumbai

2. Aditya-Ceo, Ekgaon Technologies

3. Admiral Ramu Ramdas- Member, National Integration Council

4. Adv. Aradhana Bhargava- Mahatama Gandhi Sansthan, Madhya Pradesh

5. Adv. Rajendra K. Sail-Pucl, Chattisgarh

6. Agnesh Murmu-Gram Sabha Seva Sansthan,Jharkhand

7. Ajeet Caur, Writer, Delhi

8. Ajit Kumar-Arise, Aurangabad

9. Akshay Sail -Rcdrc, Raipur

10. Alladi Sitaram-Emeritus Professor, Indian Statistical Institute

11. Allwyn D' Silva- Documentation Research And Training Centre,Mumbai

12. Amal Charles -,Step, Secundrabad

13. Amar Farooqui- Reader, History Dept, Delhi University, Delhi

14. Amar Jyoti- Activist, Chennai

15. Amita & BCF Team

16. Amrit Gangar-Film Critic, Curator,Mumbai

17. Amrita Chhachhi, Delhi

18. Anand Kumar- Ncdhr

19. Anand Patwardhan-Film Maker, Mumbai

20. Anant Krishna-Researcher, Hyderabad

21. Aneesh Pradhan-Musician, Mumbai

22. Angana Chatterji-Professor of Anthropology, San Francisco, USA

23. Anil Chaudhary-Indian Social Action Forum, Delhi

24. Anjum Rajabali-Script Writer, Mumbai

25. Anu Chenoy- Academician,JNU

26. Anup Sanda- National Alliance of People's Movements, Sultanpur, UP

27. Anurag Chaturvedi-Journalist, Mumbai

28. Anwar Ahmad

29. Apoorvanand- Reader, Delhi University

30. Aradhana Seth- Vienna. Austria.

31. Arjun Dev- Historian, Delhi

32. Arpana Caur- Painter, Delhi

33. Arundhati Dhuru - National Alliance of People's Movements, Lucknow, UP

34. Arvind Krishnaswamy- Insaaniyat, Mumbai

35. Arvind Kumar- National Alliance of People's Movements, Mau , UP

36. Ashis Nandy-CSDS, Delhi

37. Ashish Garg- Regional Coordinator-India, World Links, New Delhi

38. Ashok Kumar Dalai-Maitree Samaj, Orissa

39. Ashok Vajpeyi, Writer, Delhi

40. B.Mahesh

41. Bhashwati- Activist, Hyderabad

42. Bishakha Datta-Documentary Filmmaker And Writer, Mumbai

43. Cedric Prakash - Director, Prashant(Centre For Human Rights Justice And Peace, Gujarat

44. Chandita Mukherjee-Film Maker, Mumbai

45. Chitra Singh- Animal Rights Activist, Bhopal

46. Chitranjan Singh-PUCL, Allahabad

47. Colin Gonsalves-Human Rights Law Network

48. Damini Tiwari- Student, Mumbai

49. Dayamani Barla -Freelance Journalist, Jharkhand

50. Deepak Singh-Managing Director - Iram, Executive Member - I-Congo (Indian Confederation Of NGOs)

51. Digant Oza- Senior Journalist, Ahmedabad

52. Dilip Kumar- Veteran Film Actor, Mumbai

53. Dilip Simeon-Academician, Delhi University

54. Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan- Editor, The Milli Gazette Newspaper, New Delhi

55. Dr. Amar Jesani- Medico Friend Circle, Forum For Medical Ethics Society, Mumbai

56. Dr. Seema Parveen-Institute of Social Sciences, Lucknow

57. Dr. Umakant-Ncdhr

58. Dr. Virendra Vidrohi -MMSVS, Rajasthan

59. Dr.Saroop Dhruv -,Darshan , Ahmedabad

60. Farah Naqvi- Independant Writer And Activist, Delhi

61. Farida Khan

62. Firozkhan Pathan-Dallas, Taxes, USA

63. Francis Parmar, Principal, St Xaviers College, Ahmedabad

64. Gauhar Raza-Documentary Film Maker, Poet, Delhi

65. Gorakshnath Dhanwate-Prerna Krida Mandal, Maharashtra

66. Govind Singh Mahra-Uttarakhand Van Panchayat,Sarpanch Sangathan,Uttranchal

67. Harsh Kapoor-South Asia Citizens Web, France

68. Harsh Mander-Writer, Social Activist, Delhi

69. Hema B.Rajashekhar

70. Hemant Tiwari, Uttranchal

71. Henri Tiphange, People's Watch, Chennai

72. Hiren Gandhi,Theatre, Samvedan Cultural Programme, Ahmedabad

73. Hyder Khan, Chairman, Supporters Of Human Rights In India (SHRI), Minneapolis

74. I.M.Bhana

75. Imtiazuddin- Exec Dir, Coalition For A Secular And Democratic India, Chicago

76. Indira Arjun Dev-Acaedemician, Delhi

77. Irfan Ahmed ,Lok Manch, Aurangabad

78. Irfan Habib-Historian, Delhi

79. Jaba Menon- One Worldnet, Delhi

80. Janette Sunita- Tarshi, Delhi

81. Jaswinder Singh Mand, Journalist, Nawa Zamana, Jallandhar

82. Javed Akhtar-Lyricist, Mumbai

83. Jawed Naqvi-Journalist, Delhi

84. Jaya Sharma

85. Juli Queen Mary Selvakumar,-Arise, Tamil Nadu

86. Jyoti Bose, Principal, Springdales School, Delhi

87. K. L. Moyo -Save The River Movement, Nagaland

88. K.N.Sasi -Vaikom, Kerela

89. Kabir Vajpeyi-

90. Kalamani-

91. Kalyani Upendranath Baske-Nagpur Diocesan Dev. Assn. (Ndda), Maharashtra

92. Kamal Mitra Chenoy- Professor, JNU

93. Kandala Singh- Youth For Peace

94. Karthik Bezawada,Principal, Crictv Llc

95. Karuppan-

96. Khalid Azam-Coalition Against Genocide, USA

97. Kiran Shaeen- Head Communication, New Delhi

98. KN Panikkar-Academician, Trivendrum

99. Lahrc, Surat

100. Lalit Babar- Dalit Activist, Mumbai

101. Lalita Ramdas-Activist, Maharashtra

102. Laxmaiah of CDS

103. M. J. Jose-Dawn Trust . Kerela

104. M.Mandal-Activist, Hyderabad

105. Mahesh - National Alliance Of People's Movements, Lucknow

106. Mahesh Bhatt, Producer & Director

107. Manas Jena- Development Initiative, Orissa

108. Manasa Patnam-Youth Forpeace

109. Manjula Sen-Freelance Journalist, Mumbai

110. Manoj Kumar- Belgium

111. Mansi Sharma-Anhad

112. Marry E.John-Women's Studies Programme, JNU

113. Martin J Shah- Prog Officer, RUPcha, Delhi

114. Martin Macwan- Navsarjan, Gujarat

115. Meera Velayudhan-Utthan

116. Mitu Pati-Suprabat, Orissa

117. Molana Hanif -,Mewat Vikas Shiksha Samiti, Rajasthan

118. Mouttoucannou , PUCL, Kerela

119. Moyna Manku-Youth For Peace, Hyderabad

120. Mrinalini Tiwari, Student, Mumbai

121. Mukul Dube, Free Lance Writer, Delhi

122. Mukundan C. Menon,Secretary General,(CHRO)

123. N.D.Pancholi- The Amiya & B.G.Rao Foundation, New Delhi

124. Nafisa Ali, Actress, Activist, Delhi

125. Nandita Das-Actress, Delhi

126. Nandlal Master- National Alliance Of People's Movements, Varanasi

127. Nanjundaiah,Nisarga Foundation, Mysore

128. Nasirriddin Haider Khan,

129. Naveen Siromoni,Creative Director,Karpediem Design Pvt Ltd

130. Neha Patel, TARSHI, Delhi

131. Osama Manzar- Director, Digital Empowerment Foundation

132. P. Joseph Victor Raj,Holistic Approach For People'S Empowerment,Hope, Pondicherry

133. Paul Divakar, NCDHR, Hyderabad

134. PD John- Policy Institute, Washington DC

135. Prabha,-Tarshi, Delhi

136. Praful Bidwai, Senior Journalist, Delhi

137. Pramila Loomba- Vice President, NFIW, Delhi

138. Prashant Bhushan-Advocate Supreme Court, Delhi

139. Praveen Mote,Samatha, Hyderabad

140. Priti Verma- Human Rights Law Network

141. Prof. Dipankar Home,Dept. of Physics, Bose Institute, Kolkata

142. Ra Ravishankar, University of Illinois

143. Ra Ravishankar, University of Illinois, USA/St1:Country-Region>

144. Raghu Tiwari ,Aman

145. Rahul Ram, Singer

146. Rajim Tandi,Mukti - Niketan, Chattisgarh

147. Ram Kumar-

148. Ram Punyani, Ekta, Mumbai

149. Ramesh Ali Beasant , Ambedkar Lohia Vichar Manch , Cuttack

150. Reuban Raj-Center For Education & Social Services, Madurai

151. Rish Raj Singh, Entrepreneur, Bhopal

152. Ruchira Gupta, Executive Director,Apne Aap Women Worldwide

153. Ruth Manorma- Dalit Activists, Tamil Nadu

154. S Faizi, Environmentalist, Thiruvananthapuram

Dr. Henry Thiagaraj, Managing Trustee, Dalit Liberation Education Trust & Founder Of Human Rights Education Movement

155. S K Thorat- International Institute of Dalit Studies

156. S. Sreekant, Deed - Development Through Education, Karnataka

157. Saeed Patel, NRI-SAHI

158. Sahir Raza-Youth For Peace

159. Sameer Singh, Media Planner

160. Sandeep Pandey- National Alliance of People's Movements, Lucknow, UP

161. Sangram Keshari Mallik,Manav Adhikar, Orissa

162. Sanjay Singh- National Alliance of People's Movements, Sutanpur, UP

163. Sarup Dhruv -Theatre, Darshan, Ahmedabad

Utkarsh Kumar Sinha-Ccrs (Centre For Contemporary Research & Studies), Lucknow

164. Sarup Dhruv, Darshan, Ahmedabad

165. Sehba Farooqui- Gen-Sec, National Federation Of Indian Women (NFIW), Delhi

166. Shabnam Hashmi -Social Activist, Member, National Integration Council,Delhi

167. Shalini Gera-Activist, USA

168. Shamanthaka David,Cord, Karnataka

169. Sharda, Deed, Karnataka

170. Sheba George, SAHR WARU

171. Shekhar,Samvad, Jharkhand

172. Shiamala Baby ,Forum For Women's Rights & Development (Forword), Chennai

173. Shibi Peter,Youth Institute For Leadership Training, CSI Youth, Kerela

174. Shivali, University of Illinois,USA

175. Shoba Ramachandran, Books For Change, Bangalore

176. Shubha Mudgal, Musician, Delhi

177. Snehaprabha Mallick,Sc - St Village Welfare Dev. Yojana, Orissa

178. Sofia Khan, Advocate, Ahmedabad

179. Sohail Hashmi, Documentary Filmmaker

180. Sonia Jabber, Film Maker, Delhi

181. SP Udayakumar, South Asian Community Centre For Education And Research, Nagercoil

182. Stalin K., Filmmaker.

183. Subhendu Bhadra- Promise of India

184. Sujata Tiwari, Anticounterfieting, Mumbai

185. Suma Josson, Mumbai

186. Sunil Deshmukh36 Northwind Drstamford, Connecticut, USA 06903

187. Sunil Kumar Singh , Lok Manch, Aurangabad

188. Suresh Wasnik,Peace - Peoples Education Association For Community And Environment, Karnataka

189. Swami Agnivesh

190. T.Jayaraman, Scientist, TIFR

191. Tarun Tejpal, Tehelka, Delhi

192. Than Singh

193. Thomas Pallithanam

194. Tk Ramachandran-Kerala

195. U. Radha Priyadarshini, Sabala, Kurnool

196. Uma Ashish Nandi

197. Vijay Pratap Singh , Social Activist, Delhi

198. Vimal Thorat, Ncdhr, Delhi

199. Vinay Kumar Dalit Bahujan Samaj

200. Vincent Manoharan, NCDHR, Hyderabad

201. Vishwanath, Judav, Jharkhand

202. Wilfred,INSAAF, Ahmedabad

203. Yunus Khimani, Professor, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad

204. Zubair Patel, Gujarati Muslim Association of America

