- Tuesday, February 25, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
WHILE Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s seventh visit to the US that kicked off on Thursday (23) saw enthusiastic Indian-Americans braving the sun to greet the former at the airport, there were also dissenting voices as dozens gathered at the Lafayette Square in front of the White House later in the day to protest the visit of the Indian leader.
The protesters were seen chanting slogans and holding placards that read “Save India from fascism”, accusing Modi’s government of violating human rights, persecuting Muslims and other minorities, new farm laws and controversial actions in Jammu and Kashmir, Al Jazeera reported.
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Modi, who has been in power since 2014, has been accused of engineering an unprecedented religious polarisation in India with several laws allegedly discriminating against the minority Muslims, numbering 200 million.
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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader’s latest visit to the US aims at strengthening bilateral ties with the host nation besides consolidating the Quad platform and cementing ties with countries like Australia and Japan, which are also part of the Quad that targets checking China’s growing military and economic power across the globe.
Indian Americans register a strong protest against PM Narendra Modi’s visit to the United States. #StopHindutvaFascism pic.twitter.com/EYJjsTrLp3
— HindutvaWatch (@HindutvaWatchIn) September 23, 2021
Modi is also set to address the ongoing United Nations General Assembly session in New York before returning to India.
The Indian prime minister was scheduled to meet US president Joe Biden on Friday (24) and before their scheduled meeting, the protesters outside the White House asked the latter to keep his campaign promise of making human rights a central issue of the US foreign policy.
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Biden and his deputy Kamala Harris have in the past targeted New Delhi over its actions in Jammu and Kashmir, the controversial citizens list in the north-eastern state of Assam and a citizenship law which many alleged to be anti-Muslim and caused nationwide protests and riots in the national capital.
Al Jazeera spoke with Victor Begg, a 74-year-old community leader and activist who travelled from Florida to DC to register his protest against Biden’s meeting with Modi.
“What Modi represents is totally against American values. By allowing him into the United States and hosting him in the White House compromises our democracy as well,” he said.
“Right now, we are witnessing a slow genocide of minorities. The lives of India’s 200 million Muslims are at stake, and the Biden administration can no longer afford to stay silent. This meeting is the right time to send a stern message to India,” Syed Ali, president of advocacy group Indian American Muslim Council, told Al Jazeera.
Linda Cheriyan, a 25-year-old activist with Black Lives Matter of Greater New York who took part in the protest, said the US president must deliver on his campaign promises of promoting democracy and human rights globally, with India being no exception.
“Fascist regimes can’t be America’s strategic partners,” she told Al Jazeera.
Protests also happened over a meeting of Atul Keshap, the US acting ambassador to India, with Mohan Bhagwat, India’s Hindu right-wing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, an ideological mentor of the BJP. The meeting took place in New Delhi on September 8. Keshap tweeted about the meeting saying, “Good discussion with Shri Mohan Bhagwat about how India’s tradition of diversity, democracy, inclusion and pluralism can ensure the vitality and strength of a truly great nation.”
Good discussion with @RSSorg Shri Mohan Bhagwat about how India's tradition of diversity, democracy, inclusivity, and pluralism can ensure the vitality and strength of a truly great nation. pic.twitter.com/FB5gizzFuI
— U.S. Ambassador to India (@USAmbIndia) September 8, 2021
The US state department refused to divulge details about the meeting saying American officials meet leaders from the world of politics, business, religion and civil society in India and across the world.
