NRI groups write to Rice, say deny visa to Narendra Modi

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Keywords: Condoleezza Rice, Visa

Washington: Indian Muslim Council-USA, President Rasheed Ahmed has urged the State Department to refuse US visa to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for his alleged denial of religious freedom in his state.

In a letter addressed to the Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, Ahmed detailed the institutionalised nature of the violations of the religious freedoms in the State.

The IMC has learned that the Chief Minister is actively trying to obtain a US visa to attend the World Gujarati Conference in New Jersey in August.

Meanwhile, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has also urged the US State Department "to reaffirm its past decision to deny a tourist visa to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

The USCIRF recalled that Modi was "previously denied entrance to the US due to his role in riots that overtook the Indian state of Gujarat from February to May 2002 in which reportedly as many as 2,000 Muslims were killed, thousands raped, and over 2 lakh displaced."

There was no immediate response from the State Department weather there is any change in the US policy on granting visa to Modi.

Coalition against Genocide, a representative body of some 25 Indian American organisations, had a successful public campaign against Modi's visa application in 2005 when he was scheduled to attend the annual convention of Asian American Hotel Owners Association.