(WASHINGTON, DC, 5/22/2023) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group, today called on the Biden administration to drop plans to honor far-right, anti-Muslim Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a state dinner during his upcoming U.S. visit in June.
In a statement, CAIR National Deputy Executive Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said:
“Narendra Modi’s future India is not the world’s largest democracy. It is a fascist, intolerant, Hindutva nationalist state in which Christians, Dalits, Muslims, Sikhs, and other minorities face unjust discrimination and wanton violence.
“Hosting Narendra Modi for a state dinner at the White House would be an insult to the victims of his fascist movement and their families, including many Indian American Muslims. President Biden can meet with foreign leaders like Modi without validating, celebrating and honoring them with state dinners.”
Mitchell added that under Modi, Indian politicians have imprisoned a popular opposition leader, banned young Muslim women from wearing hijabs at school, ignored widespread lynchings of Muslims, censored a BBC documentary about Modi’s role in anti-Muslim pogrom, and even whitewashed school textbooks to remove the role of the Hindutva movement in the assassination of Gandhi.
Mitchell noted that CAIR continues its call for the Biden Administration to designate India as a Country of Particular Concern.
SEE: India’s Modi to visit White House in June as Biden seeks stronger ties amid competition with China
The U.S. Department of State’s recent Report on International Religious Freedom expressed concern regarding the treatment of Muslims, Christians and other religious minorities in India and highlighted violence by law enforcement and pro-government Hindu nationalists targeting Muslims. A few weeks earlier, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom’s (USCIRF) “2023 Annual Report” again recommended that State designate India as a “Country of Particular Concern.”
This year, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) rated journalism in India as less free than under Afghanistan’s strict authoritarian regime. RSF reports, “all the mainstream media are now owned by wealthy businessmen close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.” RSF adds, “At the same time, Modi has an army of supporters who track down all online reporting regarded as critical of the government and wage horrific harassment campaigns against the sources.”
SEE: Asia – Pacific Sclerotic one-party regimes and media control by oligarchs
BACKGROUND
Hindutva movements are at the core of anti-Muslim, anti-Christian, and anti-minority persecutions in India. They have also stoked hatred between Muslim and Hindu groups in the U.S.
Last week, two Muslim organizations condemned the screening of The Kerala Story, an anti-Muslim Indian film, in American theatres. The film has been widely criticized for its reportedly bigoted depiction of Islam and Muslims.
SEE: CAIR, IAMC Condemn Screening of Anti-Muslim Indian Film in U.S. Theaters
Last year, U.S. groups protested speaking engagements featuring anti-Muslim, anti-Christian Hindu extremist leader Sadhvi Ritambhara. Ritambhara’s hate speeches have been described as “the single most powerful instrument for whipping up anti-Muslim violence” in various Indian states, leading to communal riots and thousands of deaths. Ritambhara is also well known for her anti-Christian hate and bigotry. She has suggested that if Christian missionaries were attempting to convert people in India and that if even a “single Hindu is converted, Christians will be wiped out from the face of India.”
In New Jersey last year, the Indian Business Association (IBA), organized an India Independence Day parade in Edison and Woodbridge which featured a bulldozer, which has become a symbol of anti-Muslim animus in the context of India. Following local condemnations, IBA issued an apology.
In 2005, the State Department denied Modi a visa to visit the U.S due to his persecution of minority faiths in Gujarat, where he served as Chief Minister.
SEE: CAIR Applauds Denial of Visa To Narendra Modi
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com, CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com