 2
April, 2005: Modi
isn't India and India isn't Modi. Like Indira wasn't
India and India wasn't Indira, contrary to some
Congressmen's claim to that effect.
So when Advani claimed that Gujarat is one of India's
best administered states, it was just plain rhetoric to
save the skin of his one-time protégé from the
factional wars that threaten to erupt in Gujarat unit of
the BJP.
And an attempt to drive home a point to Modi also
that the Party president is his saviour - a grim
reminder that the belligerent Gujarat chief minister
shouldn't rise above his parochial Hindutva political
laboratory of Gujarat to challenge Advani's coveted
numero uno position in the party, notwithstanding the
supposed masked stature of Vajpayee.
In short, the message to all and sundry is that
Advani calls the shots, as far as party is concerned. So
that could be the reason why Advani and his cohorts
didn't make a noise when the US embassy reportedly
tipped him that Modi is going to be denied entry to
the US for a proposed business trip. Advani can't stop
that. So he can at least pretend that he is saving
Modi's chair, using the US snub as a tool against the
CM's detractors in Gujarat unit of the BJP.
Do not read much into the Union Government's summons
to US Embassy's Charge D' Affairs in New Delhi, Robert
Blake, to express its displeasure against the
cancellation of Modi's business visa and denial of
diplomatic visa. It is in a way bound by protocol to
express its displeasure and urge a reconsideration of
the issue, since the visa was sought by a note verbale
(Official government to government request) by the
Indian External Affairs Ministry.
Modi, after being closeted in his Gandhinagar to
prepare his response for close to four hours, chose to
slam US president George Bush and its line on Iraq and
its policies vis-à-vis the heads of Pakistan and
Bangaldesh, where, religious minorities are butchered on
a day to day basis, according to the fire-brand Hindutva
leader.
Modi left no chances to close the door on any chance
for the US to reconsider its decision. What he wanted
was not a US trip to bag some FDI. He wanted to preserve
his chair, which was under renewed threat from dissidents
in Gujarat unit of the BJP led by arch-rival Keshubhai
Patel, who was dethroned by the BJP leadership to pave
way for Modi.
Now the Tri-State Coalition Against Genocide (TSCAG),
formed by some human rights bodies in the US states of
New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, which campaigned
against Modi and the Asian-American Hotel Owners
Association (AAHOA), which extended an invitation for
Modi's business trip are not the best of pals.
The AAHOA, unlike what its name suggests, is a
predominantly Gujarati body, which has only its business
interests in mind. In the communally polarised Gujarati
scenario, a Gujarati body essentially means a body of
Hindu Gujaratis and not the one that represents the
residents of Gujarat, which may include Muslims. In
Gujarat, there are only Gujaratis (read Hindus) and
Muslims.Or rather, the religious divide just can't be
done away with.
The AAHOA would not have an iota of concern about
riots that ravaged their home state. Traders' bodies
would only please the respective ruling parties in their
states, especially if they function abroad. At the most
they would be friendly to opposition, but they can never
be seen as voicing concern about the riots, whose
victims are predominantly Muslims. Dropping a word of
concern about the riots would be construed as
anti-Gujarat and thereby anti-Modi. Remember even the
Congress adopted a soft-Hindutva line in the polls which
followed the riots, lest it should be seen as anti-Hindu
(read anti-majority). The AAHOA cancelled the invitation
to Modi, after pressure from US administration. Founder
chairman of the AAHOA and advisor on minorities to Bush
announced this, saying Gujaratis of US has decided to
stand by the US government decision. The AAHOA, which
has till now not uttered a word about riots and had
claimed that Modi's visit had nothing to do with
politics went a step ahead and urged Modi to expedite
the process of justice for riot victims of
Gujarat. Another plea was to the people of Gujarat (read
Sangh Parivar) not to boycott goods of American firms as
many Gujaratis are settled in US and many are in queue
for visas. So Modi's American hosts proved as
opportunistic as Modi.
The Association of Indian Americans of North America
(AIANA), which had organised a public meeting in Madison
Square for Modi, had also rejected the criticism of Modi
saying the visit has nothing to do with politics in a
press conference in which members of the overseas
friends of BJP (OFBJP) were present. So the link between
these associations is very clear.
Everything has something to do with politics.
Business and politics and politics and religion are all
linked. So OFBJP and AIANA are linked and AIANA and
AAHOA are linked. The link is called Narendra Modi. Now,
all these bodies are also linked, albeit
antagonistically, to TSCAG.
So the TSCAG played its well with the US Congress.
The rival bodies, which laid out a red carpet to Modi
couldn't do that.
The Gujarat Sangh Parivar units have now rallied
behind Modi to slam the US. The Congress-led opposition
in Gujarat too condemned the US move, though it
distanced from Modi's brand of politics. The dissidents
in Gujarat are the real ones who have been hit by the US
move to revoke Modi's visa. Not the Centre, not the
Congress, not the AIANA or AAHOA. And not at all Modi.
Modi retains his position as the poster boy of Hindutva,
thanks to George W Bush, another warmonger like Modi.
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