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Narendra ModiNarendra Damodardas Modi (born September 17, 1950, Gujarat, India) is the chief minister of the state of Gujarat in India since October 7, 2001. He was born in Vadnagar town of Mehsana district of Gujarat. He represents the Bharatiya Janata Party. He became the 14th Chief Minister of Gujarat when Keshubhai Patel resigned from office following the loss of 2 Assembly bypolls and 1 Lok Sabha seat. He is a strong supporter of Hindutva. Modi and Gujarat violence of 2002 Modi is controversial due to a vicious anti-islamic platform, that has yielded rich electoral dividends for his party in Gujarat, a state with a long history of communal violence. He allegedly masterminded the bloody mob attacks on Muslims that followed an alleged Muslim attack on Hindu pilgrims in 2002. Modi handily won subsequent Gujarat elections with 126 seats in the 182-member assembly. To quote from a letter that 22 U.S. congressmen sent U.S. secretary of state Rice, http://us.rediff.com/news/2005/mar/18pitts.htm "Numerous inquiries by Indian officials and non-government organisations have determined that the state government in Gujarat, led by Chief Minister Modi, provided leadership and material support for the rape and murder of over 2,000 people, including women and young children, and the destruction of homes, businesses and resources primarily belonging to Indian Muslims. Mr Modi made public statements and directed official actions seemingly calculated at justifying his orders to increase attacks on and kill religious minorities while ordering the police not to interfere." Visa controversy On March 18, 2005 he was denied a diplomatic visa by the US and his business and tourist visa were also cancelled under a law that bars such a privilege to "anyone who carries out severe violations of religious freedom". This decision was taken based on a report by the National Human Rights Commissionhttp://in.rediff.com/news/2005/mar/19modi.htm that said his state administration failed to control persistent violations of rights. This decision has created a controversy with the Indian government expressing displeasure at the development and describing the action as "uncalled for" and saying that the action displayed a lack of courtesy and sensitivity towards a constitutionally-elected Chief Minister of an Indian state. Taking a bipartisan position Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh took strong exception to the denial of visa to Modi in Parliament and said it was not appropriate to make a "subjective judgement" to question a Constitutional authority in Indiahttp://www.hindu.com/2005/03/19/stories/2005031907380100.htm. The American Embassy in India has stated that they are assessing India's request for reconsideration of the decision to deny visa. http://us.rediff.com/news/2005/mar/19modi8.htm It was alleged that the Asian American Hotel Owners Association in the United States had decided to cancel the invitation given to him and have decided to stand by the decision of the US administration on the visa issue.http://us.rediff.com/news/2005/mar/20modi.htm But this was denied by the Chairman of the association. http://us.rediff.com/news/2005/mar/21modi1.htmhttp://specials.rediff.com/news/2005/mar/21sld6.htm Modi addressed another gathering through video conferencing in Madison Square Garden and stated he had no grievance against Americans. http://us.rediff.com/news/2005/mar/21modi.htm External links Modi, Narendra Modi, Narendra
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