By Rajeev Khanna
Ahmedabad : Indian American astronaut Sunita Williams’ uncle Vithal Pandya, father of slain minister Haren Pandya, has expressed fears that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi will try to politicise his niece’s visit beginning Thursday.
Modi is expected to confer an honour on Sunita at a function organised by the Gujarat University during her four-day visit to her ancestral land.
“I do not want to politicise the event but knowing Narendra Modi he is bound to make capital of the situation. He will try to whip up Gujarati pride and then lash out at his political opponents,” Pandya told IANS. The function is scheduled for Sep 24.
However, Pandya said he would be attending the function as it is meant to honour Sunita for her achievement and is being organised by an academic institution.
The decision to pay tribute to Sunita has surprised the Pandya family as Modi has consistently refrained from acknowledging her achievements at any public forum.
In fact, his conspicuous silence on Sunita’s record 194-day stay in the space shuttle Atlantis drew flak from the Congress party. Many people were of the view that it was because of Modi’s personal rivalry with her cousin, the late Haren Pandya.
But just last week, Modi issued a statement saying that Sunita would be a state guest and be provided requisite security.
“He now wants to play host to Sunita because he doesn’t want to get caught on the wrong foot in the political arena in the year when Gujarat will be going to polls,” said a Congress leader.
Pandya has been an outspoken critic of Modi for the “treatment” meted out to his son Haren Pandya, who was assassinated on March 26, 2003 in Ahmedabad when he was out on a morning walk.
Haren Pandya, who was a former state home minister and a political rival of Modi, was denied ticket to contest the Gujarat assembly polls in 2002, allegedly at the chief minister’s behest.
According to Pandya, Sunita’s Gujarat trip will begin Thursday at Ahmedabad with a visit to Mahatama Gandhi’s Sabarmati Ashram where she will be attending the evening prayers.
Thereafter, she will proceed to pay respects to her cousin Haren by garlanding his statue in the Nehrunagar locality.
From there she will proceed to Vithal Pandya’s home for a family reunion. Her father Deepak Pandya has already reached Ahmedabad.
“We will give her a rousing welcome in our small but dignified Brahmin home. I plan to decorate the house with green leaves and flowers. She will be treated to Gujarati cuisine, particularly the samosas that she always relished and she even took with her aboard the shuttle Atlantis,” said Pandya.
“I am longing to talk to her about her experiences, the difficulties she faced and how she overcame them while in space… The only one missing would be Haren.”