Dear Madam,

It has been reported in the media that Mr. Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister of Gujarat (India), has been chosen for being conferred the 'FDI Asian Personality of the Year 2009' award by the FDI Magazine of the Financial Times (FT) group.

Your attention, in this context, needs be drawn to the fact that as the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Mr Modi, in February-March 2002, had presided over one of the worst communal carnages in post-Independence India. No less than the Indian Supreme Court, for that reason, had compared him with the Emperor Nero. And various international human rights organisations including the Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch held him directly responsible for the gory mob violence in which hundreds of Muslims were killed, looted and raped. Even the National Human Rights Commission of India, a government body, strongly castigated him. He is at the moment under investigation for his role by an investigation team specially constituted by the Supreme Court of India, as per its express directive.

Not only that, even today over a large number families of Internally Displaced Muslims, the victims of 2002 communal carnage, live in rehabilitation colonies built by NGOs as they have not been allowed to return to their villages by their tormentors enjoying state patronage.

Under the impact of consequent public outcry, the US government cancelled his visa in March 2005 and his planned trip to London, as recently as in May 2009, for the India Summit 2009 had to be dropped.


The reported decision to confer him with the award is highly disturbing, and also puzzling, in that specific context.

It must be pointed out that it would help to legitimise his political career and records symbolising and promoting the politics of sectarian hatred and violence of the worst kind.


In view of the above, you are urged to forthwith drop your reported plan to honour Mr. Modi for that would, in a way, make you complicit in his horrific crimes against humanity and irreparably damage your own credibility.