By IANS
New York : Several Indian American organisations including the Indian National Overseas Congress (INOC) have demanded immediate dismissal of the Narendra Modi government in Gujarat following revelations of a sting operation carried out by the Tehelka newsmagazine on the communal violence of 2002.
They have also urged the Indian community to boycott those groups in the US that allegedly raise funds for the Hindu rightwing organisations in India.
The Non-Resident Indians for a Secular and Harmonious India, the South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy, the Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations of North America, the American Federation of Muslims of Indian Origin, the Gujarati Muslim Association of America, the Association of Indian Muslims, the Indian American Coalition for Pluralism and other organisations Saturday issued a joint statement seeking Modi’s removal.
“We the representatives of the Indian diaspora in North America express our outrage at the impunity with which Narendra Modi and his cronies who were involved in the Gujarat pogrom, mass rapes and ethnic cleansing, have been operating.
“We demand immediate dismissal of the Modi government. We also demand that the central government take steps to arrest those who are seen proudly admitting on camera to these crimes against humanity,” the statement said.
It urged the Indian diaspora in the US to write to the Indian prime minister and the home minister to dismiss the Modi government.
The signatories also urged the NRIs to unite against supporters of Modi and the Rashtriya Swayamseak Sangh (RSS) “who have been infiltrating the institutions run by the Indian diaspora as well as gaining and buying influence in the political, media, educational and economic spheres of the US.”
The INOC has demanded that, “the people responsible for these crimes (in Gujarat) should be dealt with until justice is done not only for the sake of the victims but also to protect the constitution that guarantees due process of law.”
INOC’s statement warns the NRI community against the activities of the Hindutva groups in the US “including their alleged fundraising on behalf of the Sangh Parivar which seems to be aimed at replicating Gujarat elsewhere and marginalizing the minority citizens with the express intent of doing away with the pluralistic society that was envisaged by the founding fathers of modern India.”
Tehelka Thursday released footage prepared by an undercover reporter in which several leaders and activists of Gujarat’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allied organisation claim that Modi had sanctioned the communal carnage that claimed more than 1,000 lives.