Modi arrives in UK to bouquets, brickbats

The protesters and supporters who gathered in the rain ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Downing Street on Thursday reflected the extreme opinions on his visit within the British Indian community.

Under a heavy police presence, the two groups gathered on opposite sides of Downing Street.

The anti-Modi group, which numbered a couple of hundred, gathered under banners such as ‘Modi not welcome’ and chanting slogans such as “David Cameron, Shame, Shame, inviting Modi not in our name” and “Modi, Modi you can’t hide you committed genocide”.

One of the protesters, Harjinder Sandhu of the Indian Workers Association in London, said he had come to “highlight the crimes of Modi” and “expose the so-called Gujarat model”.

Former Bradford MP George Galloway, who was among the protesters, said he was there because “the same people who murdered (Mahatma) Gandhi are today in power. It is not just his (Modi’s) historical crimes but blood has been shed even today”.

Across the road supporters of Modi waved Indian flags and banners welcoming him. Madhuva Turumella, also from London, said he was there to support Modi’s ‘Make in India’ drive, which, he said, was essential for driving millions out of poverty.

The protests reflected the two sides of Modi’s visit. While he is set to receive a hero’s welcome at a gathering of 60,000 at Wembley on Friday, his visit has also been met with dissent.

Various groups across the country have spent months preparing for his arrival, with one group of supporters even launching a “Modi express bus” to travel around London in commemoration of the Indian Prime Minister’s visit.

Another group of women is readying a special crocheted ‘Unity in Diversity’ blanket.

Jayu Shah of the Friends of India Society said he was there to support the Prime Minister “in the first economic progress made in India in 60 years”.

At the same time 200 writers, including Salman Rushdie, Nikita Lalwani, and Ian McEwan have written to British Prime Minister David Cameron, expressing concern about the “rising climate of fear, growing intolerance and violence towards critical voices who challenge orthodoxy or fundamentalism in India”.

The letter, published by PEN International, called on Cameron to engage with Modi publicly and privately on the issue to ensure the protection of writers, artists and critical voices. “Without these protections a democratic, peaceful society is not possible.”

They highlighted the murder of three writers and intellectuals, and the decision by over 40 Indian novelists, poets and playwrights to return their Sahitya Akademi awards. The letter was among several critical voices expressed ahead of Modi’s visit.

One letter published by a group of academics in the Guardian expressed deep concern that his visit would “mask acknowledgement of what’s happening in India today”, pointing, among other things, to the position of women, the treatment of religious minorities and stifling of dissent.