VANCOUVER, Canada (April 12, 2015)—Dozens of organizations are collaborating to protest the arrival of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Ross St. Gurdwara in Vancouver, Canada.
The protest will take place on April 16th, 2015 at the Khalsa Diwan Ross St. Gurdwara, located on 8000 Ross Street, cross street South East Marine Drive.
A growing movement under the name of “Communities United Against Narendra Modi” has already found support from various organizations. On its Facebook page, the activist group announced that it has support from the following organizations -
Gurduara Sahib Dasmesh Darbar
Gurduara Sahib Baba Banda Singh Bahadur
Sikhs For Justice
North American Sikh Activist Network
Shiromani Akali Dal Amritsar (Mann) Canada
Ghadar Party Celebrations Committee
Tarksheel Cultural Society of Canada
East Indian Defense Committee
Azaadi Canada
Color Connected Against Racism UBC
Critical Muslims
Gurdwara Dashmesh Culture Centre
OnePanth
Trikone Vancouver
Coalition of South Asian Women against Violence
Siraat
Salaam Vancouver
South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy
No One Is Illegal-Vancouver Coast Salish territories
Interfaith Institute for Justice
Peace and Social Movements
Student Sikh Association SFU
Organization for Minorities of India
Committee of Progressive Pakistani Canadians
The activist group made the following statement on Facebook -
Communities United Against Narendra Modi,” are a coalition of concerned community groups protesting and bringing attention to the upcoming visit of India’s current Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, to the Lower Mainland.
Modi will be visiting Canada from April 14th to 16th with stops in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver. Even though one-third of his cabinet faces criminal charges for rape, kidnapping, attempted murder, and inciting riots/communal disharmony, the corporate media, Harper government, and elite sections of the Indian diaspora are all rolling out the red carpet. But any glance at this man’s history, and his actions since taking office, prove that he is a violent fascist that should be opposed.
During his time as Chief Minister of the state of Gujarat from 2001-2014, more than 2000 Muslims were massacred and over 200,000 internally displaced, raped and looted in programs in 2002. On the eve of the ‘riots’ – which experts say meets the legal definition of genocide – Modi was quoted as telling a top police officer to “let Hindus vent their anger” and “teach a lesson” to Muslims. Modi’s role in the 2002 atrocities led to widespread international condemnation, including travel bans by Britain, the European Union, and the U.S. However, with key witnesses being murdered extrajudicially, Modi managed to evade justice despite these global pressures for his indictment. Human Rights Watch (HRW) reports, “Communal violence against Muslims in Gujarat is intimately connected to a rise of Hindu nationalism in the country and the state, a phenomenon that is also responsible for attacks against Christians over the last several years in the state and around the country.”
Modi is a longtime key member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a well-funded violent Hindu nationalist political organization whose founders admired Hitler and Mussolini. The RSS upholds a twisted ideology of Hindu and Brahman supremacy known as Hindutva that states that religious minorities in India must assimilate or be stripped of all their rights. This right-wing fascist organization is responsible for hundreds of attacks against Christians, Muslims, Sikhs and Dalits. HRW reports that according to the RSS, “Religions such as Islam and Christianity are depicted as alien to India.” While Chief Minister of Gujurat, Modi implemented a violent go-back-to-Punjab program, including freezing assets and serving eviction notices, against Sikhs in Gujarat who were living as farmers for nearly 50 years in the state.
Since he has become Prime Minister of India under the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, Modi is pushing laws like the Land Acquisition Bill that makes it easier for companies to steal land from poor peasants and tribals. He is ramping up the brutal military occupation of Kashmir and denying the right of self-determination for various groups. To enforce his mantra of “India Shining” to attract economic development, he has poured billions of dollars of weapons and troops into Operation Green Hunt – which has seen thousands of Adivasi civilians and activists murdered, tortured, and falsely imprisoned. People are now being arrested for simply criticizing the Prime Minister under sedition laws. Documentaries like ‘India’s Daughter’ – the BBC documentary on the Mumbai gang-rape – are banned.
Modi is also taking steps to remove secularism from the preamble of the Indian constitution and has argued that, other than Islam, all other religions are “sects” of Hinduism and forced conversions to Hinduism are on the rise across the country. Human rights organizations like Amnesty International are noting the increase in communal and casteist violence (i.e. attacks on Muslims, Christians, and Dalits) since Modi took office, and the “expanded large-scale surveillance of telephone and internet communications”.
While condemning Narendra Modi’s extremist violence, we are also demanding accountability from the Conservative government that has invited Modi. Prime Ministers Stephen Harper and Narendra Modi will be attempting to finalize negotiations for the Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement and the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between Canada and India. These agreements are designed to promote the rights of multi-national corporations at the expense of the rights of local communities to make their own decisions about social, cultural, environmental and economic policy.
Similarly, the Conservative’s recent storm of anti-privacy laws (guised as anti-terrorism policies) in Bill C-51 stifle the democratic right to dissent much like Modi’s war on dissidents. In fact, there are stark similarities between Harper’s recent racist dangerous anti-niqab statements and Modi’s nationalist Islamophobic agendas.
On April 16th we will stand together as “Communities United Against Narendra Modi”.
For more information on the upcoming protest, please visit https://www.facebook.com/communitiesunitedagainstnarendramodi