Coalition Against Genocide to continue Modi campaign

'Modi's ascent to the highest executive office in India is a matter of concern for all who value human rights and religious freedom,' declares Coalition Against Genocide, which has campaigned against the US granting a visa to the Indian leader.

United States-based Coalition Against Genocide, that has campaigned against the US granting a visa to Narendra Modi, has said it will welcome him if he comes to the US and ensure a 'particular' kind of attention that no other Indian prime minister has received.

The coalition, an alliance of about 40 organisations, has been campaigning against a Modi visit to the US since March 2005. "This is not a matter of the Bharatiya Janata Party winning by a huge margin, for us, it is matter of justice," said Biju Mathew, a CAG member.

"Every tyrant has had faced popularity," said Mathew. "So as human beings our job is to keep writing and keep the record alive."

"Our job is to ensure that the millions who feel insecure under this kind of rule would know that at least there is some hope," Mathew added.

When I remind him that nothing has been proven against Modi and he has been cleared by the Supreme Court's Special Investigation Team, Mathew said he has traveled to Gujarat and spent time in refugee camps there and met the victims of the 2002 riots.

"The coalition has vowed to bring the perpetrators to book and to fight fascist forces, despite the setback represented by Modi's victory in the Lok Sabha elections. The world must not forget that Slobodan Milosevic (the late president of Serbia) and Auguste Pinochet (the late Chilean dictator) also appeared invincible and above the law at some point in their lives," Mathew said.

"Justice eventually and inevitably caught up with them. Modi's imminent appointment as prime minister of India represents but one more step in his journey on the road to justice," Mathew declared.

"Modi's ascent to the highest executive office in India is a matter of concern for all who value human rights and religious freedom," coalition spokesperson Shaik Ubaid stated.

"CAG has been in the forefront of maintaining the US visa ban on Modi," another CAG member Raja Swamy said, "and we are proud of having stood up for truth and justice. A possible visit to the US by Modi on a diplomatic visa, in his capacity as prime minister, does not negate the earlier ban and the fact that he is culpable for egregious and systematic human rights abuses."