The Hindu : A `gaurav yatra' in New York?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 09, 2003

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National

A `gaurav yatra' in New York?

By Manas Dasgupta

AHMEDABAD Jan. 8. A "Gujarat gaurav rath yatra'' on the streets of New York city? This is the suggestion given to the Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, by a section of the Non-Resident Gujaratis settled in the United States to "improve'' the soiled image of the State abroad.

Mr. Modi, however, avoided a specific commitment to the suggestion but gave an assurance that he and his Government would ensure that the image of the State was not spoiled again in future.

The occasion was felicitation of Mr. Modi and other members of his Cabinet and some senior BJP leaders by a U.S.-based organisation of the non-Resident Gujaratis, India-American Forum for Political Education, here on Tuesday for the massive victory of the BJP in the State Assembly elections and his return as the Chief Minister.

The president-elect of the organisation, Sudhir Parikh, a consulting allergist in the U.S., expressed concern over the soiled image of Gujarat abroad following the communal riots and suggested that Mr. Modi take out "gaurav rath yatras'' on the streets of New York and other cities in the U.S. to help improve the State's image.

He claimed that Mr. Modi enjoyed "huge support'' among the NRGs in the U.S. and would be "too eager'' to support such a "rath yatra'' if acceptable to the Chief Minister.

The Gujaratis in the U.S. feel concerned over the deterioration of the image of their homeland abroad and Mr. Modi during his second stint need to take necessary steps to improve it, he said.

He and other members of the NRG delegation, who would participate in the three-day convention of the Non-Resident Indians beginning in Delhi tomorrow, also expressed the hope that the "total saffronisation of Gujarat'' as reflected from the Assembly elections would be further extended to other parts of the country.

Several of the non-BJP invitees present on the occasion felt embarrassed over a simple felicitation function taking a political colour where Mr. Modi was compared not only with Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel calling him the "Chhote Sardar'' but also with Swami Vivekananda, just because both shared the same first name, Narendra.

Not to be undone, Mr. Modi said Mahatma Gandhi and Shri Aurobindo were NRIs who had shown to the world what contributions the NRIs could make in the freedom struggle of their homeland.

"Don't think that because you are away from your motherland, you can do nothing for your country, the NRGs have tremendous potential to contribute for the development of the country,'' he said.

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