Sikhs in America controlling which Hindu politicians enter their Democratic country... :


Washington DC, USA - The US Sikh community took active part in protesting the visit of Indian Chief Minister Narendra Modi to Washington DC. The US Department of State refused to issue a diplomatic visa to Modi for his role in the “serious violation of religious freedom” during riots in his home state of Gujarat two years ago.

Since October 7, 2001, Modi has pursued a campaign of extremism targeting religious minorities in Gujarat. The most egregious violation of religious freedom under Modi's stewardship of Gujarat was the orchestrated attacks in Gujarat in 2001 in which more than 2,000 Muslims were killed. The Indian Supreme Court, in 2004, stated that trials in Gujarat would never be fairly held due to Modi's state leadership.

Modi was to be the chief guest at the 2005 Annual Convention and Trade Show of the Asian American Hotel Owners Association in Fort Lauderdale, Florida to be held on March 24-26 and had a scheduled speech at Madison Square Garden on March 20th.

The Coalition Against Genocide had planned a demonstration in front of Madison Square Garden, New York, on March 20, if his visit had materialized.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, following a campaign led by the Institute on Religion and Policy and several other organizations and members of the US Congress has also withdrawn his tourist and business visas.

Ben Marsh, the resident fellow on South Asia at the Institute for Religion and Policy said, "This ban is against an individual. We are incredibly happy at the action of the US State Department. Other offenders of Human Rights should consider this as a message."

Voices For Freedom represented the US Sikh community in a signature campaign urging the Department of State to reject Modi's visa under Section 604 of the US. International Religious Freedom Act which makes any foreign official who has engaged in "particularly severe violations of religious freedom" inadmissible to the United States.

Within two days, more than twenty gurdwaras, including the gurdwaras of Fremont (California), San Jose (California), Sacramento (California), Stockton (California), Washington DC, New York, Detroit (Michigan) and Dallas (Texas), endorsed the signature campaign.

Other Sikh organizations that supported the campaign were Khalistan Affairs Center (Washington DC), Sikh Youth of America, Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) and ENSAAF. These organizations endorsed the letter to deny Modi the visa.

Other than the carnage of Muslims during his leadership of Gujarat, Modi made derogatory remarks about Sikhs, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He also cancelled the National public holidays of Sikhs and Christians, to mark the birth anniversaries of Sikh Guru Nanak and Good Friday, respectively, in the state of Gujarat. Modi was subsequently forced, under public pressure, to reinstate these public holidays.

Voices For Freedom Director, Ranjit Singh, said, "This is the right thing to do. The U.S. State Department has expressed and has defended the rights of the minorities. All such oppressors need to be tried and punished. The original International Religious Freedom Bill only allowed consideration of acts committed in the previous 24 months, it was amended by the Intelligence Reform legislation passed in December 2004 to include violations that occurred at any time."

Twenty US Congressmen, led by Joseph Pitts, also supported the signature campaign. The Department of State's deputy spokesman, Adam Ereli, said in his press briefing, "The terms for issuing that [diplomatic] visa under US law had not been met, and so we decided not to issue the visa, based on US law and based on findings of fact by the Indian National Human Rights Commission pointing to comprehensive failure on the part of the state government of Gujarat to control persistent violations of rights. We determined that an existing visa that Modi had -- an existing tourist business visa -- should be revoked under Section 212(a)(2)(G) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which says that any foreign government official who is responsible for or directly carried out at any time particularly severe violations of religious freedom should not be eligible for a visa."

Congressman Pitts said, "This decision tells people still suffering in Gujarat that we believe they all deserve the right to equal treatment under the law and we're willing to stand up to people who deny it to them. And it tells foreign leaders that we will not stand for religious persecution."