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Yesterday's New York Times has a report on Gujarat elections by Amelia Gentleman “Bloodshed in ’02 Shadows Indian Politician in Race That Tests Nationalist Party”It notes the divisive environment in the state after the 2002 violence that left around 1,000 Muslims dead, position of Mr. Modi as a cult figure and dilemma face by the Congress party on the issue of using the sectarian violence as a campaign issue.
Arun Jaitely praises Mr. Modi’s record on “Hindutva” but listen to a victim of violence Feroza Banu who a lost her husband due to the riots “I believe that the government was responsible for this,” she said. “The police wouldn’t have acted without support from above. They were shooting anyone with a beard.”
While Modi supporters in Gujarat are using YouTube, Mobile phones to help his campaign, supporters in the United States are also getting busy.
NDTV reported on Nov 17 on the NRIs campaigning for Narendra Modi. Rajdeep Sardesai at IBNLive also has a very interesting piece on the topic “Dr Modi and Mr Hyde”. India Times posted question “Is it true that most NRIs are with Modi?” for its readers at “My Times My Voice” section, it is worth going over the readers response.Groups like Support Gujarat Progress Group, Overseas Friends of BJP are drumming up support in North America.
Support Gujarat Progress Group warns that if Congress comes to power Gujarat could face dire consequences. At their website: supportgujarat.org, they say “Here are some of the consequences if Congress comes to power:- The appeasement of minorities by suppressing the majority population.
- Insults to Hindus & Hindu ethos
- Inequality in jobs and education through reserved quotas
- Accelerated conversion of Hindus
- Thousands more Hindu temples will come under government control
- Rising terrorism. (In the last four years, 5,619 innocents were killed in India, and over 90,000 innocent Indians have been killed in the past 17 years!)”
