BH CORRESPONDENT, Ahmedabad: A group of over 160 academicians, activists, and students from Ahmedabad, on Saturday, sent an open letter against US President Donald Trump’s India visit event “Namaste Trump” quoting it as “fascist alliance”. In the letter they said “forces attempting to erode democracy and curb freedom of speech and religion” is dangerous not just for India but the world as a whole.
Trump will attend the event in Ahmedabad, on February 24, and India Prime Minister Narendra Modi will accompany him in an event, named as “Namaste Trump”, in the newly constructed Motera stadium. After, they will take part in a road show.
“With a spectacular rise in global fascism today, this alignment between the largest democracy in the world and the most powerful one is dangerous not only for India but for the world as a whole. We cannot in good conscience support this alliance between forces that are attempting to erode democracy and curb freedom of speech and religion,” the 168 signatories said in the letter.
“We cannot stand by as families are deprived of their homes in order to make room for those who wish to remove citizens from their countries. We unequivocally condemn this fascist alliance, and urge the Indian State to prioritise the needs of its citizens over the greed of the global elite,” the signatories said.
The letter said that Trump was “unreservedly racist, Islamophobic, xenophobic, and anti-poor,” while PM Modi had enacted the Citizenship Amendment Act that bars “Muslims from neighbouring Muslim-majority countries from receiving expedited citizenship offered to other minority groups”.
The letter indicated that both the countries have seen the rising “authoritarian politics” in past few years, with Modi and trump in the power.
Mallika Sarabhai and academicians from institutes like the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad and CEPT University are among the activists.
