In UK, Modi hooks protest bouncer

Evokes Gandhi, Buddha to uphold rule of law in India & eschew 'intolerance' cry

Narendra Modi on Thursday dealt directly with the "anti-intolerance" protests from different groups in the United Kingdom by upholding the rule of law in India.
 

Glitz and pomp - along with brickbats - greeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he embarked on his three-day visit to the country on Thursday. The welcome carpet rolled out for him by the UK is reserved for heads of state. He was greeted with a guard of honour and will stay at Chequers, the country home of the British Prime Minister on Thursday night. On Friday, he will have lunch with the Queen.

However, the hospitality and conspicuous warmth extended to him - Prime Minister David Cameron even had a short video film commissioned to "welcome" Modi - was tempered by questions relating to intolerance: in India, and specifically during Modi's tenure as the chief minister of Gujarat.

Various groups, such as 200 writers, including Salman Rushdie and recently Booker-nominated Neel Mukherjee, urged Cameron to remind Modi about the democratic ideal of India.

Asked about a rising crescendo of protests against an atmosphere of intolerance in India, Modi evoked Mahatma Gandhi and Gautama Buddha and said: "Every incident taking place in any corner of the nation is a serious incident, law takes its course, strict action is taken."

He also refuted a journalist, at the joint press conference with Cameron at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, who suggested that he had been barred from visiting UK for 10 years after the Godra riots in 2002. Modi said there was no bar and he had visited the country in 2003.

Thursday was a busy day for the PM.

He held bilateral talks with his UK counterpart David Cameron. A civil nuclear deal was signed between India and Britain. A new fast-track mechanism for UK investments in India has been launched.

The India-UK CEO Forum has been revived. India will issue a Railways rupee bond in London to raise money for Indian railways "fittingly" the PM said. Both countries pledged to fight forces of terrorism. Later, Modi spoke to a group of invited Members of Parliament.

There was a brief stop at the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Parliament square. A reception by the Lord Mayor of London at Guildhall in the financial hub of London was also held. British telecom group Vodafone committed investments totalling Rs 13,000 crore in India for capacity augmentation and new business initiatives.

The investment was committed to by Vittorio Colao, CEO of Vodafone Group Plc, in his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Since starting operations in India in 2007, Vodafone has already invested over Rs 111,000 crore and over Rs 100,000 crore contributed to the exchequer and is today the largest FDI investor in the country," the company said in a statement.

The voices of protests, however, were heard loud and clear on the streets of London. As Modi arrived at 10 Downing Street - the official residence of the UK PM - protestors screamed: "Go Home Modi!" and "David Cameron shame shame". The open letter issued by PEN, an organisation that defends the rights of writers around the world, was sharp in its criticism:

"As writers and writers' organisations committed to protecting and defending freedom of expression around the world, we, the undersigned, are extremely concerned about the rising climate of fear, growing intolerance and violence towards critical voices who challenge orthodoxy or fundamentalism in India. As the three-day state visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the United Kingdom between 12 and 14 November draws near, we urge you to engage with Prime Minister Modi both publicly and privately on this crucial issue. Please speak out on the current state of freedom of expression in his country, urging him to stay true to the spirit of the democratic freedoms enshrined in India's Constitution."

This mood was echoed in a letter for several academics to the Guardian. The letter alleged that "inflammatory hate speech and violent acts against Christian and Muslim minorities" have "steadily increased", the signatories said Modi's "silence and delayed response to all these crimes does nothing to stem the violence". Supporting recent statements by scientists and academics in India, they said, "In the past year, various freedoms have been attacked, including what people may think, eat, wear, and whom they choose to love. Three secular critics have been brutally murdered and these crimes are linked to extreme rightwing groups."

However, the ecstatic welcome planned by the community of Indian origin at the Wembley stadium in north London for Friday also suggested that while the Modi regime might have its critics, its admirers were many.