However, this article makes a good point about the fact that the US is being hypocritical and using a different set of policies by denying him a visa while people with equivalent or worse misdemeanors to their name come and go as they please. In fact, Larry Pressler makes a similar point in the NYT when he states that the US foreign policy has it all wrong- it is courting religious dictators (of the benevolent and malevolent kind) and not giving a religion-neutral('secular 'is so cliched) elected democracy with one-sixth of the world's population the respect it deserves. (I can almost see the twin jellyfish in Shark Tale going "Respect!").
I disagree with the article partially though. It doesn't state up-front that Modi is guilty. (The judicial enquiry is one thing - the rhetoric of the man itself tells us enough). And there is another problem. Just because most guilty people go scot-free and that the US visa issuing system is being selective in its enforcement of rules, doesn't mean anything. If he was in breach of a US rule or law, he better shut his trap and get a life. There are other diaspora to please. The pot can call the kettle black. Especially when the pot is the one issuing the visa, and the kettle is interested in the pot's dollars in FDI.
Apparently, the Indian radio station (1680 AM in Central New Jersey for those who are interested) in the area was fielding calls on the issue. Most calls were in support of Mr. Modi. When one man called up in support of the denial, his call was cut short. "We lost him" was all they had to say. How convenient.
8 comments:
Difficult to give respect to a country when half the time they are begging for your $
Don't know who this Modi guy is but seems to me that we have the right to keep thrash outside...india seems to be the right "dustbin" for these kinda guys.:)
Difficult to give respect to a country when half the time they are begging for your $
Don't know who this Modi guy is but seems to me that we have the right to keep thrash outside...india seems to be the right "dustbin" for these kinda guys.:)
FDI means Foreign Direct Investment. It's an investment, not a loan, and no company would anyway invest unless they had a way of recovering it with a handsome margin.And no one's 'begging' for anything. Otherwise, Michael Dell wouldn't be in India, saying "hello" in an Indian language as he set up a new office there.
Also, if you read the first article, there are words there that Americans dont like to hear - "Gitmo" and "Abu Ghraib". Maybe you can explain how the US gets the leaders it does, and then goes ahead and re-elects them? Please be careful before calling a country anything, especially one you seem to know nothing about. A country is made by its people, and I feel the people of both India and the US deserve better.
" A country is made by its people, and I feel the people of both India and the US deserve better."
So you feel India and US deserver better people.What kind of narcissistic comment is that ?
And as a FYI,I visited India last summer...and always had beggars surround me...also got my bottom pinched upteen times.I think the whole country needs urgent sex therapy
I mean better leaders.And I'm sorry your India experience wasn't pleasant. There are a lot of poor people in India. So you cannot escape beggars, especially if you are in a tourist place or a big city. As for the bottom-pinching, as an Indian, I can only apologize. That is something that shouldn't happen to anyone.
Why don't people debate on matter of the post instead of arguing on tangential or unrelated issues.
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Both articles quoted examples of other people who were given visas. So?
Is each visa to be processed on its merit or on basis of history? Aren't visas independent events?
IMHO, any sovereign country has a RIGHT to deny ANY alien a VISA, under whatever label he might brand himself. Because before he becomes a diplomat, tourist, guest-worker he is an individual and a country can stop certain individuals from entering if they choose.
As an Indian I would like to have a RIGHT to deny any alien who I don't see fit to enter my country for ANY reason even if he may be the Head of State.
Hey Ajay, No need to apologise...it wasn't your fault.
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