New Delhi

U.S. government body wants Chief Minister Modi denied visa

New Delhi: Echoing the demand of NRI groups in North America, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has urged the State Department to “reaffirm its past decision to deny a tourist visa to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.”

Mr. Modi has been invited to attend a conference on Gujarati culture in New Jersey in August.

In 2005, the U.S. State Department revoked his tourist visa under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which prohibits foreign government officials who are “responsible for or [have] directly carried out, at any time, particularly severe violations of religious freedom” from obtaining U.S. visas.The USCIRF is a U.S. government entity created by Congress and funded by the federal budget.Its commissioners are appointed by the White House in consultation with Congressional leaders.

In a press statement issued on July 8, USCIRF chair Felice D. Gaer said there had been no changes that would warrant a policy reversal.

“As official bodies of the government of India have found, Narendra Modi is culpable for the egregious and systematic human rights abuses wrought against thousands of India’s Muslims. Mr. Modi must demonstrate to the State Department and to the American people why he — as a person found to have aided and abetted gross violations of human rights, including religious freedom — should now be eligible for a tourist visa.”

Apart from citing the findings of the NHRC, the statement noted the series of articles in Tehelka in 2007 that “documented police officers and government officials on audio and videotape confessing that they facilitated the violence, at times at the direct behest of Modi.”

“The inaction of Gujarat’s government and police force in the face of severe violence against religious minorities is an inexcusable abuse of international human rights obligations,” Gaer said.

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