World News
Narendra Modi draws huge crowd, protests at Madison Square Garden
September 29, 2014 | By Sikh Siyasat Bureau
New York, USA: Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s address at Madison Square Garden attracted thousands from the Indian community in the United States. The address also witnessed protests outside the venue by activists who reminded Indian Prime Minister’s controversial past, as they accused him for mass murder of Muslim minority in Gujrat state in 2002.
A report by The Guardian says: India’s new prime minister, Narendra Modi, has walked into storms of praise and protest on his first official visit to the US, attracting both a sold-out crowd for a speech at Madison Square Garden and a lawsuit from a human rights group which is attempting to hold him ultimately responsible for a massacre of Muslims in 2002.
The grand reception on Sunday (Sept. 28), filled with dance and Bollywood tunes, was a reflection of the mood among much of the Indian American community that sees Mr. Modi as a once-in-a-generation leader who can at last fix the entrenched problems that have held India back while other Asian nations have sped ahead.
Narendra Modi at Madison Square Garden
Narendra Modi’s address at Madison square reminded his election speeches earlier this year giving an impression that India would soon rise as a global super-power.
“I live thousands of miles away, but I know the things that bother you,” Mr. Modi said to them in colloquial Hindi. “I will make the India of your dreams.”
He vowed to kick-start economic growth and modernize India by building much-needed infrastructure and removing bureaucratic hurdles to business.
The event marked a dramatic personal moment for Narendra Modi, who was banned from traveling to the U.S. in 2005, a few weeks before he was to arrive in Florida to address a much smaller gathering of Indian American hoteliers.
His visa was revoked over allegations that he didn’t do enough to stop deadly riots in the state of Gujarat in 2002 when he was chief minister there, which he denies. The riots left at least 1,000 people, the majority of them Muslim, dead. An Indian court last year said there wasn’t sufficient evidence to prosecute Modi.
A protester with the Alliance for Justice and Accountability shouts slogans during a demonstration against Modi outside Madison Square Garden
Protesters outside Madison Square Garden said they wanted to draw attention to the Hindu nationalist groups that back Mr. Modi’s party and their fundamentalist agenda.
“It is to protest against the massacre in Gujarat and how the victims still have not received any justice. We are also protesting against the ongoing atrocities and hate mongering [against minorities] that is going on in India… We will not allow him to destroy India’s secularism and pluralism”, Dr Shaik Ubaida 52-year-old neurologist who is part of a group called the Alliance for Justice and Accountability.
“We want to make sure everyone knows that those celebrating Modi do not represent the entire Indian American community,” Shaik Ubaid added.
Another view of protest outside Madison Square Garden
Protesters stage a demonstration across the street from Madison Square Garden.
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Related Topics: India, Indian State, Narendra Modi, United States of America
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