Dear President Obama,
I volunteered for your campaign, and voted for you.
I am not naïve, I understand that real change is hard. I understand that you have to balance multiple factions and multiple interests. I know that an emotionally stirring speech cannot change the world any more than the wave of a wand can. I understand that Republicans in Congress have been against you every step of the way. I understand that you have to compromise for political expediency.
But I thought you would not fundamentally go against your character. Which is why I do not understand your endorsement of Indian Prime Minister Modi.
Maybe you had to ignore the blood on his hands from the 2002 Gujarat riots because the US needed to engage with India when he became prime minister.
But your continued warm encouragement, endorsement, and ‘friendship’ with him is not acceptable.
The right wing pro-Hindutva groups are gaining more and more prominence. He and his administration support their actions, turning a blind eye to even the most inflammatory events. Free speech is being eroded. Heads of key institutions are being changed. He and his supporters want to re-write history and change the fundamental fabric of the nation as a secular country with great tolerance for every culture and with a voice for everyone. It attacks the very foundation of India. This will impact India for generations to come.
As one example, here is a recent article in a well-respected newspaper (which also highlights his silence on the lynching of a Muslim in September): http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/18/world/asia/india-writers-return-awards-to-protest-government-silence-on-violence.html?_r=0
Your endorsement carries great weight in India. You chose to visit India under PM Modi on Republic Day, when the Modi administration policies are attacking the very values enshrined in the constitution that made India a Republic. Your welcome of him in Spring 2015 played a large role in India’s excitement with Modi. These actions are cited by Modi supporters as Modi’s successes. Your support of PM Modi in the Times influential people’s list, by writing a warm personal profile, was the last straw. These actions shut the voices of people who are trying to highlight actions by Modi and his administration.
You might have to engage with him as a leader, but to support him as warmly as you have been doing?
You once said if you had a choice to have dinner with someone it would be Mahatma Gandhi. At the dinner Mahatma Gandhi would have asked you, “My dear Barack, how can you endorse him?”
I hope it is not your character that says you should support him, but your politics. I would be even more disappointed if you truly believed that PM Modi is a great man.
It is good that you are not running for office again. You have lost my vote.
I volunteered for your campaign, and voted for you.
I am not naïve, I understand that real change is hard. I understand that you have to balance multiple factions and multiple interests. I know that an emotionally stirring speech cannot change the world any more than the wave of a wand can. I understand that Republicans in Congress have been against you every step of the way. I understand that you have to compromise for political expediency.
But I thought you would not fundamentally go against your character. Which is why I do not understand your endorsement of Indian Prime Minister Modi.
Maybe you had to ignore the blood on his hands from the 2002 Gujarat riots because the US needed to engage with India when he became prime minister.
But your continued warm encouragement, endorsement, and ‘friendship’ with him is not acceptable.
The right wing pro-Hindutva groups are gaining more and more prominence. He and his administration support their actions, turning a blind eye to even the most inflammatory events. Free speech is being eroded. Heads of key institutions are being changed. He and his supporters want to re-write history and change the fundamental fabric of the nation as a secular country with great tolerance for every culture and with a voice for everyone. It attacks the very foundation of India. This will impact India for generations to come.
As one example, here is a recent article in a well-respected newspaper (which also highlights his silence on the lynching of a Muslim in September): http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/18/world/asia/india-writers-return-awards-to-protest-government-silence-on-violence.html?_r=0
Your endorsement carries great weight in India. You chose to visit India under PM Modi on Republic Day, when the Modi administration policies are attacking the very values enshrined in the constitution that made India a Republic. Your welcome of him in Spring 2015 played a large role in India’s excitement with Modi. These actions are cited by Modi supporters as Modi’s successes. Your support of PM Modi in the Times influential people’s list, by writing a warm personal profile, was the last straw. These actions shut the voices of people who are trying to highlight actions by Modi and his administration.
You might have to engage with him as a leader, but to support him as warmly as you have been doing?
You once said if you had a choice to have dinner with someone it would be Mahatma Gandhi. At the dinner Mahatma Gandhi would have asked you, “My dear Barack, how can you endorse him?”
I hope it is not your character that says you should support him, but your politics. I would be even more disappointed if you truly believed that PM Modi is a great man.
It is good that you are not running for office again. You have lost my vote.
