Faizel Patel, 2016-07-08
As Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi begins his official state visit of South Africa, a number of organisations say he shouldn’t be welcomed with open arms or given the red carpet treatment because of his human rights track record.
Modi arrived in the country yesterday to boost ties between India and South Africa.
Modi will also attend a thousand-strong Indian diaspora gathering hosted by the SA Welcomes Modi committee at the Ticket Pro Stadium in Johannesburg before visiting Durban, the heart of the Indian community in South Africa, on Saturday.
Media Review Networks (MRN)’s Ibrahim Vawda says they want President Jacob Zuma to address a number issues when he meets with Narendra Modi including human rights abuses, the independence of Kashmir and the right of minorities in India.
Vawda says Modi’s visit must not be seen as a visit by a Hindu leader of the state of India but rather as a political leader.
“We want to appeal to him that as a politician, not as a Hindu nationalist nor as a Muslim because he holds the reign of power in India and because of the powerful position that he finds himself in were are expecting him to improve the human rights issues on the sub-continent.”
At the same time, historian Vashna Jagarnath says, Modi is a fascist.
“He himself has read Hitler’s book Meinkampf. He belongs to an organisation that is incredibly fascist. It seeks to marginalised and oppress and remove various groups of people from Indian society. He sees them as the enemy, fellow Indian citizens as the enemy.”
Modi’s detractors say he’s not been an inclusive head of state, and that while he was governor of the Indian state of Gujarat in 2002, mobs dragged Muslims into the streets, many of whom were raped and killed.
Islamic Scholar Moulana Khalid Dhorat says Modi on his part looks like a compassionate grandfather and an overprotective guardian over his children but beneath the looks is an ugly mask.
“Till today the Muslims are suffering due to these riots The murdering campaign was so brutal that at one stage a 6-month old baby was taken out from a woman’s womb, it was kept on the tip of the sword and ‘Jai Ram’ was chanted.”
Up until to 2006 Modi was banned from entering European countries as well as the UK and USA because of his complicity in the Gujarat massacre.
After his visit in South Africa, Modi will head on to Tanzania and Kenya on an itinerary aimed at demonstrating India’s engagement in the continent.
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