65 Mps Write To Obama, Appeal To Continue 'no Visa Policy' For Modi

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WASHINGTON, JULY 23: [/b][/font][/color][color=#3B3A39][font=Georgia,]
As BJP President Rajnath Singh is here batting for visa for Narendra Modi, 65 Members of Parliament have written letters to President Barack Obama, urging the US Administration to maintain the current policy of denying visa to him.[/font][/color][color=#3B3A39][font=Georgia,]
“We wish to respectfully urge you to maintain the current policy of denying Mr. Modi a visa to the United States,” the MPs belonging to 12 parties have said in identical letters to Obama.[/font][/color][color=#3B3A39][font=Georgia,]
One letter was signed by 25 Rajya Sabha members and the other by 40 Lok Sabha members written on November 26 and December 5, 2012 respectively and re-faxed to the White House on Sunday.[/font][/color][color=#3B3A39][font=Georgia,]
Copies of the letters were provided by the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) as Rajnath Singh, reached Washington to meet US lawmakers, think tanks and US government officials during which he said he will urge the Americans to lift the ban on visa for Modi.[/font][/color][color=#3B3A39][font=Georgia,]
Mohammed Adeeb, Independent MP from Rajya Sabha, who took the initiative for this campaign, said they sent these letters to Obama again because of the current campaign and initiative being taken by Rajnath Singh for getting a US visa for Modi. The letters were being made public only now, he added.[/font][/color][color=#3B3A39][font=Georgia,]
Rajnath Singh told a press conference in New York on Sunday that he would appeal to the US lawmakers to impress on the Administration to remove the visa ban on Modi imposed after the 2002 post-Godhra riots. The denial came on grounds of human rights violations in Gujarat with Modi as chief minister.[/font][/color]

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[b]Yechury, Achuthan deny signing such letter[/b][/font][/color][color=#3B3A39][font=Georgia,]
The signatories to the letters include Sitaram Yechury of CPI(M) and M.P Achuthan of CPI, both Rajya Sabha members.[/font][/color][color=#3B3A39][font=Georgia,]
When contacted Yechury expressed surprise saying he had not signed any such letter. It appeared to be a cut and paste job, he said.[/font][/color][color=#3B3A39][font=Georgia,]
“I would be the last person to write to the US Administration and to do something like this. We don’t want anyone to interfere in the internal affairs of the country.[/font][/color][color=#3B3A39][font=Georgia,]
These are issues which will have to be settled in India politically,” Yechury said. Achuthan also denied writing such a letter.[/font][/color][color=#3B3A39][font=Georgia,]
However, Adeeb insisted that Yechury and Achthan had signed the letter and was surprised why they were retracting now.[/font][/color]

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[b]MPs appeal US to value human rights[/b][/font][/color][color=#3B3A39][font=Georgia,]
“Given that legal cases against the culprits including many senior officials in Mr. Modi’s administration are still pending in the court of law, any revoking of the ban at this juncture would be seen as a dismissal of the issues concerning Mr. Modi’s role in the horrific massacres of 2002,” the letter to Obama said.[/font][/color][color=#3B3A39][font=Georgia,]
“It would legitimise Mr. Modi’s human rights violations and seriously impact the nature of US-India relations by sending a message that the United States values economic interests over and above the universal values of human rights and justice,” said the letter.[/font][/color][color=#3B3A39][font=Georgia,]
The signatories include Sabir Ali and Ali Anwar Ansari (Janata Dal-U), Rasheed Masood (Congress), S Ahmed (Trinamool Congress) Asaduddin Owaisi (All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen), Thirumavalavan (Viduthalai Chiruttaigal Katchi), K.P Ramalingam (DMK) and S.S Rasmasubbu (Congress).[/font][/color][color=#3B3A39][font=Georgia,]
The MPs alleged that Modi had not only “obstructed” the course of justice but also “failed” to provide rehabilitation to the survivors of whom 16,000 continue to live in refugee colonies lacking basic amenities.[/font][/color][color=#3B3A39][font=Georgia,]
The letter to Obama about Modi’s US visa, “is a stark reminder that Modi and the divisive ideology he represents continues to be anathema to a cross section of Indians,” said Raja Swamy of the Coalition Against Genocide (CAG).[/font][/color][color=#3B3A39][font=Georgia,]
“After long having denied any desire on the part of Mr. Modi to acquire a US visa, Mr. Rajnath Singh’s visit to the US, to lobby lawmakers here for Modi’s visa reeks of hypocrisy,” he added.[/font][/color][color=#3B3A39][font=Georgia,]
Ahsan Khan of the IAMC, a constituent of the CAG coalition, said it was noteworthy that Modi evoked such strongly negative reactions from elected representatives in India as well as the US across the ideological spectrum.[/font][/color]

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New Delhi, July 24: Why was Indian MPs letter on Narendra Modi's visa recycled? Were the MPs who had signed on the petition aware of it being reissued? In fact, Rajya Sabha MP Sitaram Yechury denies signing it. But one thing is clear, the MPs seems to have allowed themselves being used by anti-Modi campaign groups. If the issue was so emotive, the signatures of the MPs should have been taken again before reissuing the letter. May be that was the reason The Washington Post called it 'unthinkable'. "It is almost unthinkable that Indian lawmakers would appeal to the United States to take a stand on an internal matter. Most Indian politicians, many of whom still nurse a Cold War-era suspicion of Washington, would bristle at the very thought of it," the newspaper's staff writer Rama Lakshmi wrote in a blog post on The Washington Post. "It couldn't have been easy, then, for 65 members of India's Parliament to fax a letter to President Obama on Sunday requesting that his government not grant a visa to Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat," the blog post said. One letter was signed by 25 Rajya Sabha members and the other by 40 Lok Sabha members written on November 26 and December 5, 2012 respectively and re-faxed to the White House on Sunday. Yechury denies signing the letter Meanwhile, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury has been denied signing the letter sent to Obama against visa to Modi. Yechury, whose name figures at number 9 on the letter written in late 2012, on Tuesday had refuted claims that he was one of the MPs who has reached out to Obama to halt Modi's visit. He had said, "I would be the last person to write to the US Administration and to do something like this. We don't want anyone to interfere in the internal affairs of the country. Secondly, it is up to the US government to decide on giving visa." Mohammed Adeeb, Independent MP from Rajya Sabha, had expressed surprise on Yechury's retraction and said that Yechury had signed the letter. He said, "Yechury must have forgotten about it as the letter is six-months-old or he must be thinking that I have written some new letter and forging his signature. This is a letter which he signed in November 2012. His name is there."

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[color=#000000]Arguing that "human rights are universal", secular Indian American groups have justified the letter written by 65 Members of Parliament to US President Barack Obama urging him to maintain the current policy of denying visa to BJP leader Narendra Modi .[/color]

[color=#000000]These Indian American groups, who have been in the forefront of the anti-Modi campaign for more than eight years now and have been successful in convincing the US to deny an American visa, however, noted that some of the politicians who signed on to the letter to Obama against Modi last year, now have come under pressure to deny having signed it.[/color]

[color=#000000]One letter was signed by 25 Rajya Sabha members and the other by 40 Lok Sabha members written on November 26 and December 5, 2012 respectively and re-faxed to the White House on Sunday.[/color]

[color=#000000]Meanwhile, the MPs decision to write a letter to Obama on an internal issue, has been described by The Washington Post as, almost unthinkable.[/color]

[color=#000000]"It is almost unthinkable that Indian lawmakers would appeal to the United States to take a stand on an internal matter.[/color]

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[color=#000000]Most Indian politicians, many of whom still nurse a Cold War-era suspicion of Washington, would bristle at the very thought of it," The Washington Post reported.[/color]

[color=#000000]"It couldn't have been easy, then, for 65 members of India's parliament to fax a letter to President Obama on Sunday requesting that his government not grant a visa to the controversial Hindu nationalist politician Narendra Modi, the chief minister of the state of Gujarat," the daily said.[/color]

[color=#000000]The group of Indian Americans, who worked for several years convincing MPs for such a move, have justified writing a letter to Obama.[/color]

[color=#000000]"Human rights are universal. The victims of Gujarat have not received justice even after a decade while the person responsible might become the candidate for PM," said Shaik Ubaid president of ImanNet and one of the founder of the Coalition Against Genocide.[/color]

[color=#000000]"India took a moral stand in "internal affairs' of other countries, such as against apartheid in South Africa and even after riots against Indians in Fiji, so why cannot President Obama be involved.[/color]

[color=#000000]After all Mr Rajnath brought the issue to the US, coming with a begging bowl for visa and a laundry bag with Modi's dirty linen," he said.[/color]

[color=#000000]Ubaid brushed off the BJP attacks on the letter that one MP has backtracked.[/color]

[color=#000000]"It is a desperate diversionary tactic by the Modi camp.[/color]

[color=#000000]Politicians "flip flop" even in the US, I was expecting more to come under pressure. The issue is Modi. The whole episode shows Modi is a stigma and liability for India, Gujarat, Hinduism and even for BJP," Ubaid said.[/color]

[color=#000000]In another statement, the Coalition Against Genocide, hailed the letters.[/color]

[color=#000000]"The letters represent an unprecedented move by MPs from various parties belonging to both houses of Parliament, in writing a candid missive to the US President on gross violations of human rights violations committed within India's borders," it said.[/color]

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superbb post bhayya... nene veddam anukunna..

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[font=Roboto, sans-serif][size=4]The latter includes the signature of Sitaram Yechury of the CPI; however, he told NDTV that this appears to have been "a cut and paste job."[/size][/font]

[font=Roboto, sans-serif][size=4]He added, "I would be the last person to write to the US Administration and to do something like this. We don't want anyone to interfere in the internal affairs of the country. These are issues which will have to be settled in India politically."[/size][/font][/background][/size][/font][/color][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]
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Don't give US visa to Narendra Modi, 65 MPs urge President Obama[/size][color=#000000][font=arial][size=2]
[color=#545454]PTI[/color] WASHINGTON, JULY 23, 2013 | UPDATED 20:08 IST[/size][/font][/color][color=#000000][font=arial][size=3][background=rgb(240, 240, 240)]




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As BJP President Rajnath Singh is here batting for visa for Narendra Modi, 65 Members of Parliament have written letters to President Barack Obama, urging the US Administration to maintain the current policy of denying visa to him.

"We wish to respectfully urge you to maintain the current policy of denying Mr. Modi a visa to the United States," the MPs belonging to 12 parties have said in identical letters to Obama.

One letter was signed by 25 Rajya Sabha members and the other by 40 Lok Sabha members written on November 26 and December 5, 2012 respectively and re-faxed to the White House on Sunday.

Copies of the letters were provided by the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) as Rajnath Singh, reached Washington to meet US lawmakers, think tanks and US government officials during which he said he will urge the Americans to lift the ban on visa for Modi.

Mohammed Adeeb, Independent MP from Rajya Sabha, who took the initiative for this campaign, said they sent these letters to Obama again because of the current campaign and initiative being taken by Rajnath Singh for getting a US visa for Modi. The letters were being made public only now, he added.

Rajnath Singh told a press conference in New York on Sunday that he would appeal to the US lawmakers to impress on the Administration to remove the visa ban on Modi imposed after the 2002 post-Godhra riots. The denial came on grounds of human rights violations in Gujarat with Modi as chief minister.

The signatories to the letters include Sitaram Yechury of CPI(M) and M P Achuthan of CPI, both Rajya Sabha members.

When contacted Yechury expressed surprise saying he had not signed any such letter. It appeared to be a cut and paste job, he said.

"I would be the last person to write to the US Administration and to do something like this. We don't want anyone to interfere in the internal affairs of the country. These are issues which will have to be settled in India politically," Yechury said. Achuthan also denied writing such a letter.

However, Adeeb insisted that Yechury and Achthan had signed the letter and was surprised why they were retracting now.

"Given that legal cases against the culprits including many senior officials in Mr. Modi's administration are still pending in the court of law, any revoking of the ban at this juncture would be seen as a dismissal of the issues concerning Mr. Modi's role in the horrific massacres of 2002," the letter to Obama said.

"It would legitimise Mr. Modi's human rights violations and seriously impact the nature of US-India relations by sending a message that the United States values economic interests over and above the universal values of human rights and justice," said the letter.

The signatories include Sabir Ali and Ali Anwar Ansari (Janata Dal-U), Rasheed Masood (Congress), S Ahmed (Trinamool Congress) Asaduddin Owaisi (All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen), Thirumavalavan (Viduthalai Chiruttaigal Katchi), K P Ramalingam (DMK) and S S Rasmasubbu (Congress).[/font][/color]