India's Modi Kicking Up U.S. Controversy—Again

Human rights groups and U.S. lawmakers are determined to deny a visa to Gujarat's nationalist Chief Minister, but the economic fallout should be minimal

by Lawrence Delevingne

Controversial rising star: hard-line Indian nationalist Narendra Modi. RAVEENDRAN/AFP/Getty Images

Narendra Modi, the controversial Indian politician, is creating headlines again--without doing much at all. As Chief Minister of Gujarat, an industrial state in northwestern India, Modi is admired for his economic savvy but criticized for his hard-line, nationalist politics. The Hindu leader, blamed by critics for allowing anti-Muslim violence in 2002 that left between 1,100 and 2,000 people dead and more than 150,000 displaced, won reelection last December and is a leading figure in the opposition to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Congress Party-led coalition government.

So when a group of business-minded Gujaratis in the U.S. invited him and other prominent Indians to a conference in New Jersey scheduled to begin on Aug. 29--as they had in 2005--passions were stirred. A collection of Indian and American nongovernmental organizations called the Coalition Against Genocide has lobbied Washington to again deny Modi a travel visa should he seek it, and 27 U.S. lawmakers have signed on to back the effort. "A visit to the U.S. by Chief Minister Modi will provide tacit approval of his reprehensible statements, policies, and actions," wrote Representative Joe Sestak (D-Pa.), in a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. "I respectfully request your leadership in publicly condemning his actions and policies by once again denying Chief Minister Narendra Modi the right to enter this country." Modi's personal spokesman did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

That upsets those close to Modi. "Mr Modi has not accepted any invitation to speak anywhere, and all of this is a way for NGO's all over the world to become famous by insulting him," says IK Jadeja, a spokesman for the Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP, the Chief Minister's political party. "Narendraji [Modi] has made only one thing clear: he will not go to any place where Gujarat is being insulted."

Modi has maintained that the 2002 riots were spontaneous and that the police did everything they could to stop attacks on Muslims. Still, he's never apologized and said that he understood the crowd's anger, which was triggered when 59 Hindus were burned to death when a Muslim mob set fire to a train. And human rights groups say he's obstructed investigations into the violence.

But Modi has laid low on issues of religious tensions since then, instead focusing on his political career. Gujarat's government points to Modi's December reelection as a sign that the people have issued their verdict on the Chief Minister's rule. "The victory of 2007 is a reaffirmation of the people's faith in his leadership, statesmanship, and governance, which he displayed in last six years as Chief Minister," the state claims on its Web site. "Modi's model of good governance is being applauded within the country and beyond. The way he has won the hearts of people of Gujarat and his popularity at the national level show that 'Good governance is also good politics.'" The U.S. State Dept. said it cannot comment unless Modi formally applies for a visa, which he appears unlikely to do without the promise of approval.

A Region of Entrepreneurs

The disdain for Modi among his critics conflicts with otherwise strong ties between the U.S. and Gujarat, the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi. As many as one in five Indian-Americans, many of them entrepreneurs, hail from the region. And big U.S. companies like DuPont (DD), and GM (GM) have operations in the Indian state, which outpaced India as a whole (BusinessWeek.com, 12/11/07) in gross domestic product growth in 2007, 13% to 9%. Still, it is unlikely any economic repercussions will be felt in either country if Modi isn't allowed to visit the U.S.