By IndiaTomorrow.net,
New Work/New Delhi, 16 Nov 2015: The Alliance for Justice and Accountability (AJA), an umbrella coalition of rights organizations across the United States, held protests in multiple cities across the US over a wide range of issues including “rising fanaticism” of Hindutva-based nationalist movements in India. Protests were held in New York City, Boston, Washington DC and Chicago.
AJA demanded Modi to suspend his “world tour” and “lead the way, in both word and deed, in upholding the Indian Constitution’s safeguards for freedom and religion and thought, and for equality of all citizens before the law.” “This includes cleansing his administration of fanatical elements and taking stern action against bigots in his own party,” demanded AJA protesters.
“Our protest is dedicated to all the victims of violence in India. We stand in solidarity with the hundreds of intellectuals, writers, artists and scientists who have courageously spoken truth to power, including many who have returned their awards” said Dr. Shaik Ubaid, one of the organizers of the protest in New York City.
In New York City, the protesters were joined by groups expressing solidarity with the victims of the terror attacks in Paris. Joe Lombardo, national coordinator for the United National Antiwar Coalition addressed the gathering, which observed a minute of silence in commemoration of the victims of ISIS attacks in Paris and Beirut.
“These protests in four US cities represent disgust and outrage not only across the Indian diaspora but also in the international community over the Modi administration’s attempts to turn a mandate for development into an opportunity to subvert India’s secular polity into a religio-fascist state,” said Sana Qutubuddin, one of the spokespersons of the alliance.
“Appointment of Hindutva ideologues with dubious credentials to key educational and cultural institutions is resulting in the distortion of history in textbooks, the mainstreaming of a discourse of hate and demonization and the normalization of violence against Dalits and women,” said Parminder Singh, a leader of the AJA protester of Chicago.
“If this is left unchecked, India could degenerate into a dystopian society where minorities, Dalits, women and intellectuals can function only within parameters defined by Hindutva supremacists,” added Singh.
