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Indian American Muslim Council
March 17, 2005.
Coalition Against Genocide, representing a wide spectrum of over 35 organizations, has called on the management of California State University to revoke its decision to invite Narendra Modi to inaugurate the Yadunandan Center for India Studies at the Asian and Asian American Studies Department of California State University, Long Beach on March 22, 2005.
Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister of the Indian state of Gujarat, had been indicted by various Indian and International human rights organizations for his role in the pogroms directed at the Muslim community in Gujarat in 2002. Under Mr.. Modi’s leadership, more than 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed. In the aftermath, 200,000 people have been displaced and rendered homeless. Mr. Modi not only failed to take preventative measures against those who were planning the violence with his knowledge, but undertook a series of actions which either tacitly or explicitly condoned the brutal violence, which included torture of children and mass rapes of women.
The Government of Gujarat under Narendra Modi continues to harass and discriminate against its Christian and Muslim minority populations, as well as other marginalized groups with new policies and skewed application of existing laws. All of these actions are in violation of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 and other international laws.
The Coalition Against Genocide (CAG), of which IMC-USA is a founding member, is campaigning against Narendra Modi’s felicitation in US. Please contact the President of Cal State University and the professors of the Asian and Asian American studies department and politely request them to withdraw their invitation to Narendra Modi.
ACTIONS REQUESTED
Please Call/Email/Fax to:
Dr. Charles B. Reed, Chancellor, California State University
401 Golden Shore, Long Beach, CA 90802-4210
Tel: 562/951-4000; Fax: 562/951-4986
Robert C. Maxson, President
California State University, Long Beach
1250 Bellflower Boulevard, Long Beach, CA 90840-0115
Tel: (562) 985-4121; Fax: (562) 985-5419; E-mail: rmaxson@csulb.edu
John N. Tsuchida, Professor and Chair of Asian and Asian American Studies
California State University, Long Beach
1250 Bellflower Boulevard, Long Beach, CA 90840-1002
Tel: (562) 985-8085; E-mail: jtsuchid@csulb.edu
Arnold P. Kaminsky, Professor of Asian and Asian American Studies
California State University, Long Beach
1250 Bellflower Boulevard, Long Beach, CA 90840-1002
Tel: (562) 985-5279; Fax: (562) 985-1535; E-mail: akamin@csulb.edu
Send copies of correspondence to info@coalitionagainstgenocide.org
Please copy and distribute this alert. The petition can be downloaded from http://www.coalitionagainstgenocide.org
TALKING POINTS
# Narendra Modi is the Chief Executive of the Gujarat State Government that was complicit in the massacres and rapes of thousands of people as documented by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the Indian National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). The Supreme Court of India’s bench statement has rebuked him calling him a ‘modern day Nero’ for his actions during the pogroms.
# The 2002 Gujarat pogroms specifically targeted women and children and used sexual mutilation as an ethnic cleansing tool.
# Narendra Modi’s Government is still persecuting religious and ethnic minorities in Gujarat and was criticized by the US State Department of International Religious Freedom report. Mr. Modi has utilized his position as Chief Minister to foment hatred, mobilize violence, organize police, and intimidate the press. He has enacted and violations of, and disregard for, human rights. He hardly represents the kind of image a university should project to its students, faculty and the larger campus community.
# By inviting such a person to inaugurate an India Studies Center, the California State University, Long Beach is endorsing Mr. Narendra Modi’s actions and is suggesting he is a model to be emulated. The university is not only dishonoring the victims of the Gujarat genocide, but our common humanity.
# By inviting an elected official and a member of extremist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) who has been indicted for genocide and crimes against humanity in India to inaugurate the India Studies program, the University is unwittingly helping to sanitize Mr. Modi’s image. This action is also compromising the academic integrity of the new Program in India Studies.
# An existing Resolution 160 introduced in the United States Congress by Congressperson John Conyers and Congressperson Joseph Pitts has condemned the conduct of Chief Minister Narendra Modi for his actions to incite religious persecution.
SEE ALSO:
US Congressmen commended for anti-Modi resolution
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1284102,00050001.htm
