Echoing the hope and optimism many Americans expressed when President Barack Obama won his first term, Indian Americans across the U.S. hailed BJP candidate Narendra Modi’s win in India’s elections last week, terming the future a “Golden Era for India.”
Former Gujarat Chief Minister Modi — who won in a landslide by capturing four times the number of votes the Congress Party received — is scheduled to be sworn in as India’s 14th prime minister on May 26 (see separate story).
“Six months ago, I would never have expected that this would happen,” Narendra Kataria, who is organizing a Modi “victory party” in New York May 24, told India-West. “Three hundred and thirty-nine seats have never happened before and may never happen again,” said Kataria, noting the number of Lok Sabha seats won by the BJP and its ally, the NDA. “This is not a Modi wave, it is a tornado,” he said enthusiastically.
More than 5,000 NRIs went to India to volunteer for the BJP over the nine phases of the election, which began April 6 (I-W, April 25)
In an op-ed this week, The Economist – which last month gave a non-endorsement to Modi – summated the world’s largest election, saying the results gave Modi “a huge mandate for his rule.”
Displaying the anti-secularism that has made many minority communities in India wary of a Modi win, Kataria told this publication: “We just want to live peacefully in our own country. Why shouldn’t we? Christians have ruled our country. Muslims have ruled our country, but Hindus feel it is our country, and we will rise again.”
The Indian American believes that the Modi administration will have a place for minority voices to be heard, but added that minorities should receive no special benefits, and that a uniform civil code must be restored.
“The Golden Era of India has started. We will be treated with respect and dignity throughout the world,” stated Kataria.
In Sacramento, Calif., physician Bhavin Parikh held an ad-hoc victory party for Modi at his capacious home on the outskirts of the state’s Capitol. The event, titled “Chai ki Chuski” – a sip of tea – was organized over social media and attended by over 200 people. Rep. Ami Bera, D-Calif., attended the event, and told the gathering briefly that he was very excited about India’s prospects. Bera’s family hails from Gujarat.
“Modi has given us a lot of hope for the growth of India,” said Parikh, noting that Modi has given subsidies to local farmers, and introduced standard pricing for the crops they produce, resulting in richer harvests. The chief minister’s administration has aggressively marketed Gujarat’s products throughout the world, said Parikh, adding that Modi has also sought out national and international business interests and welcomed them to his state.
Asked about farmers having to sell off their legacy lands, Parikh, who is from Baroda, stated it was a win for both sides as rising land prices have made farmers incredibly wealthy. Parikh’s father, who lives in Gujarat and retired last year, sold the family home for a phenomenal price, according to the physician, and now lives solely off the proceeds of the sale. “He doesn’t have to rely on my brother and me,” joked Parikh, who also hailed Modi’s “Save Our Daughters” initiative, which jails doctors who perform ultrasounds related to sex selection.
The latter initiative has been successful. The 2001 Indian census noted that Gujarat had a sex ratio of 848 girls for every 1,000 boys. But the last census revealed that statewide, that gap had narrowed to 919 girls for every 1,000 boys. Interestingly, sex ratios are narrowed to almost equal levels in the coastal areas of Gujarat.
USINPAC held a webinar the day after election results were announced to discuss trade and diplomatic relationships between the U.S. and India, and concluded that overall strategic aims must not take a back burner to the trade relationships benefitting a few small corporations.
“The U.S. repeatedly tells us that economic relations are only one part of the broad strategic relations between our two countries, thus implying that trade is secondary to the overall bilateral relationship,” said India’s former foreign secretary, Kanwal Sibal.
“However, we often find that commercial interests of one or two U.S. companies become more important and cloud the whole relationship – thus implying that narrow business interests matter more than strategic relations.”
“The U.S. must demonstrate a larger view of India”, said Sibal at the webinar.
Sanjay Puri, chairman of USINPAC, said there is much speculation as to what happens next with a new Indian government.
“There is growing sense in India that the current U.S. administration has dropped the ball in this relationship. A new stable government in India is the right occasion for the U.S. to take steps to dispel this impression,” said Puri, noting that the two countries are scheduled to hold a round of strategic dialogues shortly after the new government is seated. The dialogues are expected to be contentious, as long-standing provocations between the two countries are laid threadbare, said Puri.
Ashley Tellis, senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said at the USINPAC webinar that India and the U.S. must move forward towards establishing a free trade relationship.
Indian American organizations in the Silicon Valley also organized two days of rallies to celebrate the Modi victory.
About 280 people gathered in front of Milpitas, Calif. City Hall on May 16 – the day election results were announced in India – and sang shlokas as a Hindu priest offered blessings to the new government.
Nilesh Pathak, one of the organizers of the event, told India-West that the huge BJP win will guarantee a stable government which can make its own decisions without needing approval from other parties. Asked if this model represented a true democracy, Pathak said the needs of India’s people could be addressed at a more rapid pace.
Pathak advocated for an “e-government,” where all bureaucratic transactions are computerized, lending transparency and ease to dealings with the government. “We will know who is responsible for a job, and how long it will take,” said Pathak, noting that the excuse of “lost files” could no longer be used.
“I cannot say confidently that Modi will be able to translate his success in Gujarat across the country, but we are hopeful he can create a national model for success,” said Pathak.
A separate event was held the following day as participants walked or bicycled from Milpitas High School to the India Community Center in Milpitas, where a large victory celebration was held, according to Pathak.
Several Indian American organizations also congratulated Modi on the unprecedented win.
“We applaud the Indian people for voting in record numbers in democratic elections that were widely regarded as free and fair,” said Samir Kalra, director and senior fellow for Human Rights at the Hindu American Foundation.
“We look forward to working with representatives of the new government to strengthen U.S.-India relations, promote human rights and pluralism, and address issues of concern to the Hindu diaspora,” said Kalra.
But the Coalition Against Genocide said in a press statement that it would continue to pursue its struggle to make Modi accountable for the 2002 mass riots in Gujarat.
“The coalition has vowed to bring the perpetrators to book and to fight fascist forces, despite the setback represented by Narendra Modi’s victory in India ‘s national elections.”
“The world must not forget that Milosevic and Pinochet also appeared invincible and above the law at some point in their lives. Justice, eventually and inevitably, caught up with them. Modi’s imminent appointment as prime minister of India represents but one more step in his journey on the road to justice,” said the Coalition.
“We continue to believe Modi is responsible, not only for the brutal pogroms of 2002 that claimed over 2,000 lives, but also for the denial of justice to the victims, harassment of human rights activists and fake police encounter killings pursued in Gujarat as a matter of state policy. Modi’s ascent to the highest executive office in India is rightly a matter of concern for all who value human rights and religious freedom,” said CAG spokesman Shaik Ubaid.
The Indian American Muslim Council – which has also been involved in a decade-long struggle to make Modi accountable for the Gujarat riots — had not issued a press statement regarding Modi’s victory.
Source: Indiawest