A major controversy has erupted, with 65 MPs from both Houses of Parliament reportedly writing to US President Barack Obama to maintain the current policy of denying visa to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
The development came a day after BJP president Rajnath Singh said he would appeal to the US Administration to grant a visa to Modi.
The BJP slammed these MPs for lowering the dignity of the country and said they were trying to take on Modi on foreign soil after failing to challenge him in India.
However, the authenticity of the letter has been questioned with CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury disowning his signature on it. “This appears to have been a cut and paste job,” Yechury said.
“I would be the last person to write to the US Administration and to do something like this. We don’t want anyone to interfere in the internal affairs of the country. These are issues which will have to be settled in India politically,” he added.
The BJP has slammed the MPs who signed on the letter. “People who wrote to Obama about Modi are ones who run away from real issues. How can they write to the US about own Chief MinisterIJ” tweeted Shahnawaz Hussain of the BJP.
Hussain told The Pioneer that it was highly improper for the MPs to approach a foreign nation with domestic issues. “It lowers India’s image internationally,” he said, adding “these are the same elements who cannot take on Modi on our soil.”
Another BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy said that Modi-baiting was becoming an obsession for several “frustrated” people, but this time they have indulged in an action which is highly deplorable. “They should realize that such acts can never be justified,” he said. In their letter to Obama the MPs said: “We wish to respectfully urge you to maintain the current policy of denying Modi a visa to the United States.”
Two letters signed by 25 Rajya Sabha members and 40 lok Sabha members written on November 26 and December 5, 2012 respectively, were re-faxed to the White House on Sunday, PTI reported.
Copies of the letters were provided by the Indian American Muslim Council as Rajnath Singh, reached Washington to meet US lawmakers, think-tanks and US Government officials during which he said he will urge the Americans to lift the ban on a US visa for Modi.
Mohammed Adeeb, Independent MP from Rajya Sabha, who took the initiative for this campaign, said they sent the letters to Obama again because of the current campaign and initiative being taken by Rajnath Singh for getting a US visa for Modi. The letters were being made public only now, he added.
Rajnath Singh told a Press conference in New York on Sunday that he would appeal to the US lawmakers to impress on the Administration to remove the visa ban on Modi imposed after the 2002 post-Godhra riots. The denial came on grounds of human rights violations in Gujarat with Modi as its Chief Minister.