Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India emphasized inclusivity when he appeared before a yoga class on the United Nations lawn in Manhattan on Wednesday, praising Hindu discipline as an act of “unity.” .
But Indian-Americans are deeply divided over Modi’s visit.
“Inviting him to a state party and giving the appearance of two democracies – the world’s largest and the world’s oldest,” said Sunita Viswanath, chief executive of the Hindu. – about everything that’s good and good in both democracies, it’s a charade.” for Human Rights, an organization set up to fight against Mr. Modi’s policies.
She spoke while standing in front of the White House at a rally on Thursday, calling on President Biden to call for India’s anti-democratic change, even as he flirted with its leader.
“If we were friends, the best kind of friend we could be is someone who knows how to ask the hard questions — and tell the truth,” Ms. Viswanath said, holding a sign that reads, “True Hindus no lynch,” referring to the mob violence against Muslims in India that has increased under Modi’s regime.
Still others welcomed Modi’s visit to the United States – some literally: On Tuesday, the mayor of Edison, NJ, Sam Joshi, personally greeted the prime minister at John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens, part of the official welcome delegation, and later did yoga with him.
In Manhattan, where the yoga session was held, several trucks laden with questions about his human rights record and hashtags ##CrimeMinsterOfIndia raced through Times Square.
In an interview, Joshi focused on the bridge-building possibilities of the visit, which the mayor, who is of South Asian descent, said he was invited by the president.
“I know that this is a step for the United States and India to move in a better direction,” he said on Thursday from Washington, where he was attending Modi’s congressional speech. “That’s why I’m here.”
A handful of members of Congress, including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York City, have pledged to boycott the prime minister’s speech to Congress, citing confusion. Mr. Modi’s troubles with freedom of religion and the press.
“I encourage my colleagues, advocates of pluralism, tolerance and press freedom, to join me in doing the same,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement.
In New York City, three elected officials of South Asian descent urged their colleagues to condemn the visit to the city.
“Modi is reshaping the nation from a secular democracy to a right-wing Hindu nationalist,” New York City Council members Shekar Krishnan and Shahana Hanif and members of Congress New York State Zohran Mamdani wrote in the joint statement. “Prime Minister Modi’s oppressive and unjust policies go against all the values New York City holds dear.”
On Friday, Mr. Modi’s schedule called for him to speak to about 1,100 Indian-Americans in Washington. “There is a large portion of us from all over the United States,” said Amitabh VW Mittal, secretary general of the American Indian Community Foundation, a nonpartisan organization created for the purpose of community events. wanted to see him on this tour. .
Mr Mittal dismissed criticism of the prime minister’s policies as unfair. He said, Mr. Modi has supported innovation in the technology sector, creating more jobs and promoting modernization of the country’s infrastructure for all Indians regardless of sect.
Mr. Mittal said he welcomes other opinions and that people of different faiths will attend the event his team organizes. “Every good leader has good opposites,” Mr. Mittal said. “If he doesn’t have a good opposition, that’s not good for democracy.”
