Gujarat Is Yours, Modi Tells Indian Americans

EDISON, New Jersey â€"Gujarat’s controversial chief minister, Narendra Modi, unfurled his definition of secularism, addressing hundreds of Indian-Americans in New Jersey and Chicago through a live telecast from Ahmedabad on Sunday.

“India first,” he bellowed in English, during a speech that he was delivering in Hindi. “We must never let India, her honor, or the dreams of the people be adversely affected - our country is above all religions,” he continued in Hindi.

Organized by the Overseas Friends of Bharatiya Janata Party, the event Sunday was kicked off with a series of high-octane speeches from Modi enthusiasts.

They included Ramesh Patel, the chairman of the Federation of Indian Associations, who took the opportunity to speak out against organizers of the Wharton India Economic Forum, who canceled Mr. Modi’s keynote address, slated for March 23, because of questions about his human rights record â€" an issue that also cost him a visa to the United States almost eight years ago.

Mr. Modi, who is regularly accused of having taken insufficient action against the 2002 anti-Muslim riots that killed nearly 1,000 people in Gujarat, routinely denies these allegations. “We should condemn Wharton,” Mr. Patel urged. “We cannot tolerate this sort of discrimination towards a democratically elected leader.”

An estimated crowd of hundreds of people had gathered at the venue in Edison, New Jersey, and Chicago, to listen to Mr. Modi.

Other community leaders, like Satya Dosapati, a volunteer with Americans For Free Speech, handed out leaflets calling for organized action against the Ivy League school. “Basically, we want to protest the suppression of fre! e speech and the freedom of expression,” Mr. Dosapati stressed. “An educational institution should be able to hear different voices, including voices of dissent. Our protest will be held at the same time and venue as the Wharton event.”

The Wharton controversy was conspicuously absent from Mr. Modi’s hourlong telecast, however, as he opened his remarks with a whirlwind history of global leadership. “The 19th century was Europe’s, the 20th century was America’s,” he began. “And it was at the turn of the last century that it was agreed that the coming century would be Asia’s.”

Mr. Modi then shifted his focus toward economic development and India’s burgeoning youth population. “Over 65 percent of our nation is younger than the age of 35,” he stated. “As the world’s most youthful nation, it is our duty to provide skills to our youth so they can shine,” he said. The ruling United Progressive Alliance, led by the Congress Party, recently devoted 10 billion rupees, or bout $180 million, toward skill development for India as a whole in its recently released budget. In comparison, Gujaratâ€"“a small state,” Mr. Modi said â€"allocated 8 billion rupees.

“Gujarat has created a new ray of hope; it is natural that it draws attention from the world,” Mr. Modi said, eliciting energetic bursts of applause from the audience. Gujarat’s 60 million people “are my family, their happiness is my happiness and their problems are my problems. Winning or losing elections must never be our aim,” said the four-term chief minister. “When we get a mandate of five years, we must serve the people selflessly. If we do that, people will forgive our mistakes as well.”

Mr. Modi touted his constituent state as a model of economic resilience, pointing out that despite a global recession, Gujarat boasted progress in a variety of sectors, including tourism, where it saw a tourist arrival rate that was more than double the national average.

“Gujaratis are the b! est touri! sts,” Mr. Modi quipped, in closing. “But until recently, Gujarat was never a tourist destination.” As he encouraged members of the Indian diaspora to make more frequent visits, he quoted a slogan (part of a series of iconic ads featuring the Bollywood stalwart, Amitabh Bachchan) that has become synonymous with his home state: “Kuch din to guzaro Gujarat mein [Spend a few days in Gujarat]. Gujarat is yours.”