By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: The New Delhi Embassy of the Sultanate of Oman has been filed with a public petition urging their government to rescind the likly visit of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to Oman later this year.
The petitioners have reminded the Oman Embassy and their government that Modi is being investigated for his role in the 2002 pogrom in Gujarat in which thousands of innocents were killed with the help of government machinery.
Due to global condemnation due to the pogrom, “Mr. Modi is desperately courting foreign investments and collaboration to mend his image as a progressive in an effort towards a political restitution. The U.S. and many countries in Europe have banned his entry, by denying him visa. The question is – Will Oman and other Muslim nations of the Gulf region offer Mr. Modi that restitution, by legitimizing his record of promoting hatred and violence against the minority Muslims and Christians of Gujarat,” asked the petition sent to the New Delhi Embassy of Oman.
“We the signatories to this petition humbly request your government to reconsider the invitation extended to the Gujarat Chief Minister Mr. Modi, as a mark of respect for humane values enshrined in all religions and the declaration of universal human rights under the UN Charter.”
“We sincerely hope that with your leadership the Sultanate of Oman and other Gulf States will use their influence to ensure justice for the suffering Muslims and Christians of Gujarat. It will be very helpful if the invitation of to Mr. Modi is rescinded and all investments and collaborations with the Gujarat government are made contingent on the justice to the innocent victims of the Gujarat Massacre,” the petition reads.
Recalling the 2002 pogrom, the petition said: In February-March 2002, as Chief Minister of Gujarat, Mr. Modi presided over and orchestrated widespread riots in which about 2000 hapless Muslims were massacred and more than 200,000 were rendered homeless. It was widely reported as a pogrom against the Muslim minority in Gujarat.
As a reproach, the Indian Supreme Court compared Mr. Modi with the infamous Roman Emperor Nero. International human rights organizations, including the Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch, held him directly responsible for orchestrating that gory mob violence in which about 2000 innocent Muslims were butchered, burnt alive and many women were gang-raped.
The petitioners have put the petition online for people to visit and sign it to build up pressure on the Oman government to cancel Modi’s visit.
Link of petition:
http://www.petitiononline.com/modi2009/petition.html
Meanwhile, the Government of Oman in an advertisement published in The Hindu and Asian Age today has clarified that Modi has been invited by a private company and government of Oman has nothing to do with the visit. But petitioners have refused the clarification.
“The clarification is a plain lie. Modi was invited by Oman’s minister of trade. He was not leading a private company. Moreover, the visa issuing authority is also not private. And lastly he was never given visa even for private visits in US and UK,” one of the signatories to the petition told TCN.