Don’t miss the latest developments in business and finance.

US rejects India's request on Modi

US decision based on selective judgment, says govt

Image
Our Political Bureau New Delhi
Last Updated : Feb 06 2013 | 8:07 AM IST
In a move that caused considerable embarrassment to the Government of India and the Prime Minister personally, The US did not budge from its original decision of denying Narendra Modi a visa to visit the US on the grounds of his role in the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat.
 
The UPA government had a flurry of meetings to work out how they could prevent India from looking like a supplicant as US Ambassador David Mulford told reporters that a review of the visa request had been denied.
 
"The ministry of external affairs requested the Department of State to review the decision to revoke his (Modi's) tourist/business visa. Upon review, the State Department re-affirmed the original decision," Mulford said.
 
He said the decision was "based on the fact" that as head of Gujarat state government between February and May 2002, "he was responsible for the performance of state institutions at that time".
 
In a starchy response to the US move, the government said that the US had disregarded the constitutional position of the chief minister of Gujarat as a democratically-elected leader. For good measure, India added that the decision was based on selective judgment.
 
"The government believes that democratic tradition and practice must uphold the dignity of political office that is the result of elections and a mandate given by the people of a country or state. While it is the sovereign right of a country to grant or deny visas, Government do not find this decision by the US in keeping with the objectives that India and US share as democratic countries," an MEA spokesman said.
 
The state department's detailed views on this matter are included in its annual country reports on human rights practices and International Religious Freedom report.
 
"Both reports document the violence in Gujarat from February 2002 and May 2002 and cite the Indian National Human Rights Commission report, which states there was a 'comprehensive failure on the part of the state government to control the persistent violation of rights to life, liberty, equality and dignity of the people of the state," he said. The US, however, maintained that the decision applied only to Modi and not to his party the BJP or the Gujarati community.
 
The US move will harden the position of lobbyists, especially in the BJP, who have been saying persistently that India's cordiality towards the United States is undesirable.
 
However, the Prime Minister is going to be damaged the most because it is he who has been dealt a rebuff by the US. It is unlikely that India will be in a position to take any tit-for-tat action or that it will persist with its demand that Modi be given a visa. Every passing day of its protest will diminish India's position further.
 
On the other hand, the US move will deepen the rhetoric of anti-US shouting squads, especially in the BJP, that India should condemn US unilateralism in holding Modi, the administrator responsible for a chain of events that culminated in the Gujarat riots.
 
What else the BJP was planning to do "� apart from its 'swabhiman rallies' "� is not yet known.

 
 

Also Read

First Published: Mar 22 2005 | 12:00 AM IST

Next Story