Modi’s
Operandi: American Business and Genocide Linked
Again?
By Dr Muqtedar Khan
The Brooking Institution
Washington, DC
The Asian American Hotel Owner
Association (AAHOA), despite strong protests from
several civil rights organizations and the Coalition
Against Genocide, is determined to honor Narendra
Modi at their annual convention in Ft. Lauderdale,
FL (March 22-24, 2005). Narendra Modi was indicted
by many international humanitarian organizations
for perpetrating a pogrom of mass murder, rape
and arson against religious minorities in Gujarat
in 2002 while he was the Chief Minister of that
state in India. Even India’s Supreme Court
acknowledged his complicity in the pogrom against
minorities.
It is a shame that an American business organization,
motivated by ethnic loyalty and greed, has decided
to overlook heinous crimes against humanity to
honor him in exchange for investment opportunities
in India. It is particularly hard to imagine such
callous institutions in our midst even as we lecture
the world on freedom, democracy and the rule of
law. The AAHOA is sending a signal that while
the Bush administration is determined to spread
democracy they are determined to do business with
mass murderers who have absolutely no regard for
human life or rule of law.
Fortunately there are many concerned citizens
in this country who have raised a hue and cry
about the Modi affair. At the forefront are the
Indian Muslim Council [www.imc-usa.org]
and the Coalition against Genocide [http://coalitionagainstgenocide.org].
These groups, along with several secular Hindu
organizations, have not only raised awareness
of this alliance between Indian fascism and American
business, but have succeeded in delegitimzing
the event to some extent. One outcome of their
activism has been the withdrawal of Chris Mathews,
the host of hardball on MSNBC, from the event’s
program. We hope that other sponsors of this celebration
of evil will also wake up and withdraw their support.
The organizers continue to show a ruthless face.
They are determined to honor Modi no matter what
his crimes. In response to the growing criticism
of this shameful act, Danny Patel the treasurer
of AAHOA said to an Indian newspaper: “We
have invited Modi to our annual convention at
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, from March 24 to 26.
And we will honor it. There is no question of
canceling it now… We want to hear him on
investment opportunities in the state. After all,
95 per cent of AAHOA members are of Gujarati origin.”
Their motivation, even in the light of the fact
that Modi allowed the systematic, rape, arson,
murder and pillage of Muslims in 2002 in his State,
the state of Gujarat, is greed and ethnic solidarity.
Apparently as far as the members of AAHOA are
concerned, Modi is a fellow Gujarati, and he is
the leader of the state many of them come from.
But above all he is seen as a great friend of
foreign investment and these American businessmen
are happy to overlook a genocide or two as long
as they can invest overseas and increase their
profits.
This must come as a shock to those Americans who
believe that their country stands for freedom
and is at war against terrorism, oppression and
tyranny. But those of us who have long memories
[or knowledge of history] are not surprised that
once again American business is hand-in glove
with those directly or indirectly guilty of genocide
and crimes against humanity.
In 1998, The Justice Department declassified information
that exposed the complicity of many American corporations
in the Nazi Holocaust. Many of them like IBM cooperated
with the Nazis while others profited from slave
labor in Nazi Germany. The outcry and the billions
of dollars worth of settlements have not yet receded
from our memory and once again we witness American
businesses – The Asian American Hotel Association
– eager to honor and work with the new Hitler
from India.
Modi is known for his admiration of Hitler and
the Nazi regime. Textbooks in the State of Gujarat
of which he is the Chief Minister, present a very
uncritical picture of Nazi fascism and even applaud
its economic efficiency. It does not come as a
surprise that AAHOA, many of whose members come
from Gujarat, should overlook crimes against humanity
to pay homage to economic efficiency. Gujarat
is one of India’s economic powerhouses,
and also a state ruled by Hindu nationalists who
periodically unleash violence against their Muslim
and Christian minorities.
One of the most outstanding films of this year
was Hotel Rwanda. It gives a glimpse of the horrors
of genocide in Rwanda and also reminds us that
we did nothing while that happened. If Americans
continue to patronize mass murderers like Narendra
Modi from India, it is just a matter of time when
we will be watching Hotel Gujarat.
Hotel Gujarat, a film about genocide in India,
will open perhaps with a shot of Narendra Modi
being honored by the Asian American Hotel Owners
Association.
(Dr. Muqtedar Khan teaches at Adrian College and
is a Nonresident fellow at the Brookings Institution
[www.glocaleye.org].
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