ANHAD,
4, Windsor Place, New Delhi-10001
Tel-23327366/ 23327367
e-mail: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
PRESS STATEMENT: PROTEST AGAINST NARENDRA MODI AT THE
WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM, NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 24, 2003
There was a massive protest organized by Anhad (
Act Now for Harmony and Democracy) at Taj Palace
Hotel in Delhi, the venue for the World Economic
Forum summit against Gujarat chief minister
Narendra Modi and the state-sponsored genocide in
Gujarat. The summit had just about begun and
while the delegates were waiting for Modi, there
was a sudden and huge upsurge of activists from
various organizations who assembled at the foyer
and blocked the escalator and the main entrance
to the summit hall. They were shouting slogans
against Modi and the killings in Gujarat,
including the crude manner justice has been
denied to thousands of victims by the BJP-led
Modi government. Modi is shielding the
killers,
they said.
The slogans included: Mass Murderer of Gujarat Go
Back, World Economic Summit and Narendra Modi
Down Down, CII and Corporate India Shame Shame,
Brand India, Genocide India. The peaceful protest
went on for more than an hour with the protestors
singing songs at the main entrance to the summit
hall, despite the police and security presence.
�How can the World Economic Summit entertain a
man and give him a platform who openly flaunted
and celebrated the mass murder of hundreds of
innocent people and the rapes of women after the
tragic Godhra killing,� shouted the protestors.
�Has corporate India become totally blind to such
blatant injustice?� �Money + Murder = Modi, said
a placard. Other placards compared Hitler with
Modi.
The protestors included Harsh Mander, Nafisa Ali,
Shabnam Hashmi, John Dayal, Apoorvanand and
others.
o o o
The Hindustan Times
November 25,
2003
Protests greet Modi at CII meet venue
HT Corporate Bureau
(New Delhi, November 24)
Social activist Nafisa Ali along with
representatives from the Safdar Hashmi Trust,
Action India, Ahad and Basix raised slogans
against the decision of Confederation of Indian
Industry (CII) and World Economic Forum (WEF) to
invite Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi to
speak on The Competitiveness of States: Sharing
Best Practices.
About 40 activists trooped into the lobby of the
Taj Palace hotel just before Modi was to address
the meeting and sang, "We shall overcome".
Shouting slogans like "Modi go back", "Khooni"
and "Man who instigated the communal riots", the
activists alleged that Modi was responsible for
the communal violence and killings in Gujarat
last year.
The main demand of the protesters was that Modi
should not have been invited. They also said that
progress in Gujarat was a sham. Nafisa Ali
criticised the CII for inviting Modi. Coming as
this episode does after CII director general
Tarun Das apologising to Modi earlier this year,
the CII-Gujarat CM relationship remains strained.
Later, answering queries from the participants,
Modi refuted the charges that there was any
victimisation in Gujarat and referred to the fact
that Muslims in the state had the highest per
capita income. He, however, admitted, "Whatever
happened in Gujarat one-and-a-half years ago
should not have happened in a civilised society."
Earlier, the chief minster told the conference
that Gujarat was the best destination for
investment that gave unlimited opportunities to
industrial houses.
Do you Yahoo!?
Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now
