By IndiaTomorrow.net,
New Delhi, 26 Sep 2014: Just a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi was to arrive United States on five-day visit, a court in the Southern District of New York on Thursday issued summons to Modi acting on a lawsuit that accuses him of human rights abuses during the anti-Muslim riots in 2002 in Gujarat. Modi was chief minister of the state at that time.
The lawsuit has been filed by American Justice Center (AJC), a non-profit human rights organization established to bring to justice perpetrators of mass violence and genocide. In a media statement soon after the court issued summons on Thursday, AJC said it filed the suit along with two survivors of the horrific and organized violence of Gujarat 2002. The suit has been filed under the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) and the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA).
Seeking compensatory and punitive damages, the twenty-eight page AJC complaint charges PM Modi with committing crimes against humanity, extra-judicial killings, torture and inflicting mental and physical trauma on the victims, mostly from the Muslim community.
Around 2000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed during the month-long riot following a train carnage at Godhra railway station in the state of Gujarat. India’s Supreme Court had set up enquiry into some horrific incidents of the riots. The enquiry absolved him of all charges. However, it was challenged in court.
“The Tort Case against Prime Minister Modi is an unequivocal message to human rights abusers everywhere,” said Dr. John Bradley, a Director at the AJC, a veteran activist from the civil rights era. “Time and place and the trappings of power will not be an impediment to justice,” added Dr. Bradley, a known associate of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Soon after the Gujarat riots 2002, United States had imposed a visa ban on Modi, which has not yet been revoked.
Prime Minister Modi is going to address 69th Session of United Nations General Assembly on 27th Sep morning.
The summons requires him to respond within 21 days. According to New York Times, the court notice is unlikely to have any concrete effect on Modi’s high-profile visit, which includes his meeting with US President Obama, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and numerous other political and corporate leaders.
