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NEW DELHI: The US State Department has for the first
time since 2007 dropped all references to Prime
Minister Narendra Modi with regard to the 2002
Gujarat riots in its annual International Religious
Freedom Report. This can hardly be a coincidence
ahead of secretary of state John Kerry and commerce
secretary Penny Pritzker arriving in New Delhi for the
strategic dialogue between the two countries.
The religious freedom report for 2013 was released by
Kerry in Washington DC on Monday, two days before
his India visit. This shift can only be characterised as
a major effort to engage with the Indian Prime
Minister who had been denied a visa by the US for a
decade over the riots, official sources said. The visa
denial had soured ties between Modi and the US, up
until the latter was forced to change its position given
his sweeping victory in the general election.
The latest report, however, does mention that
hundreds of cases related to the burning of a railway
coach and the subsequent violence in Gujarat remain
pending.
"Muslims were
accused of
setting fire to the
train (in Godhra),
killing 58 people,
while in the anti-
Muslim violence
that followed,
790 Muslims and
254 Hindus were
killed," the report
says. Earlier
reports have
contained similar
references.
The latest report
refers to Zakia
Jafri's persistent
attempts since 2006 to register a complaint against
60 officials of the Gujarat government for their alleged
role in the violence in 2002.
Jafri's husband Ehsan Jafri was killed along with
several others when a mob attacked the Gulberg
Society housing complex in Ahmedabad. The reports
published in 2010 and 2011 had mentioned that Zakia
had been trying "to register a complaint against Modi
and the 60 others for complicity in the communal
violence".
This year's report goes on to say: "After years of
investigation, the SIT (special Investigation team)
decided in 2012 not to pursue any charges. In
December (2013), a magistrate court rejected a
protest petition filed by Jafri and upheld the SIT
decision. Jafri said she intended to appeal to a higher
court."
The 2002 report referred to the National Human Right
Commission's June 1, 2002, report holding the
"Gujarat government responsible for the riots" and
accusing it of "a complicity that was tacit if not
explicit".
The State Department had in March 2005 revoked the
visa issued to Modi in view of his alleged role in the
2002 riots in Gujarat. They referred to sections 212
(a) (2) (g) of the US Immigration and Nationality Act,
which makes any foreign government official who
"was responsible for or directly carried out, at any
time, particularly severe violations of religious
freedom" ineligible for a visa. Modi's application for a
diplomatic visa was also turned down by the State
Department.
US diplomats in India hardly engaged with Modi over
the past decade even as several US allies courted him,
particularly after his 2012 victory in the Gujarat
assembly elections. But soon after Modi led BJP to a
resounding win, President Barack Obama invited him
to Washington. The PM will be visiting the US in
September to meet Obama and to address the UN
General Assembly.
Meanwhile, at Thursday's strategic dialogue, Kerry will
press India to liberalise its economy — open it up
further to foreign investments, tighten the intellectual
property rights protection regime and end subsidies
that discourage competition.
The US has been disappointed with India's
determination to block the proposed trade facilitation
agreement at the World Trade Organisation demanding
that a permanent solution on public stockholding for
food security needs to be found. Modi has asked
finance minister Arun Jaitley and foreign minister
Sushma Swaraj to make sure that India's stand at the
WTO is explained and defended to the outside world
US drops Prime Minister Narendra Modi from its Religious Freedom Report - The Economic Times on Mobile
time since 2007 dropped all references to Prime
Minister Narendra Modi with regard to the 2002
Gujarat riots in its annual International Religious
Freedom Report. This can hardly be a coincidence
ahead of secretary of state John Kerry and commerce
secretary Penny Pritzker arriving in New Delhi for the
strategic dialogue between the two countries.
The religious freedom report for 2013 was released by
Kerry in Washington DC on Monday, two days before
his India visit. This shift can only be characterised as
a major effort to engage with the Indian Prime
Minister who had been denied a visa by the US for a
decade over the riots, official sources said. The visa
denial had soured ties between Modi and the US, up
until the latter was forced to change its position given
his sweeping victory in the general election.
The latest report, however, does mention that
hundreds of cases related to the burning of a railway
coach and the subsequent violence in Gujarat remain
pending.
"Muslims were
accused of
setting fire to the
train (in Godhra),
killing 58 people,
while in the anti-
Muslim violence
that followed,
790 Muslims and
254 Hindus were
killed," the report
says. Earlier
reports have
contained similar
references.
The latest report
refers to Zakia
Jafri's persistent
attempts since 2006 to register a complaint against
60 officials of the Gujarat government for their alleged
role in the violence in 2002.
Jafri's husband Ehsan Jafri was killed along with
several others when a mob attacked the Gulberg
Society housing complex in Ahmedabad. The reports
published in 2010 and 2011 had mentioned that Zakia
had been trying "to register a complaint against Modi
and the 60 others for complicity in the communal
violence".
This year's report goes on to say: "After years of
investigation, the SIT (special Investigation team)
decided in 2012 not to pursue any charges. In
December (2013), a magistrate court rejected a
protest petition filed by Jafri and upheld the SIT
decision. Jafri said she intended to appeal to a higher
court."
The 2002 report referred to the National Human Right
Commission's June 1, 2002, report holding the
"Gujarat government responsible for the riots" and
accusing it of "a complicity that was tacit if not
explicit".
The State Department had in March 2005 revoked the
visa issued to Modi in view of his alleged role in the
2002 riots in Gujarat. They referred to sections 212
(a) (2) (g) of the US Immigration and Nationality Act,
which makes any foreign government official who
"was responsible for or directly carried out, at any
time, particularly severe violations of religious
freedom" ineligible for a visa. Modi's application for a
diplomatic visa was also turned down by the State
Department.
US diplomats in India hardly engaged with Modi over
the past decade even as several US allies courted him,
particularly after his 2012 victory in the Gujarat
assembly elections. But soon after Modi led BJP to a
resounding win, President Barack Obama invited him
to Washington. The PM will be visiting the US in
September to meet Obama and to address the UN
General Assembly.
Meanwhile, at Thursday's strategic dialogue, Kerry will
press India to liberalise its economy — open it up
further to foreign investments, tighten the intellectual
property rights protection regime and end subsidies
that discourage competition.
The US has been disappointed with India's
determination to block the proposed trade facilitation
agreement at the World Trade Organisation demanding
that a permanent solution on public stockholding for
food security needs to be found. Modi has asked
finance minister Arun Jaitley and foreign minister
Sushma Swaraj to make sure that India's stand at the
WTO is explained and defended to the outside world
US drops Prime Minister Narendra Modi from its Religious Freedom Report - The Economic Times on Mobile
