To: Ms. Courtney Fingar, Editor, the FDI Magazine, The British High
Commissioner

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.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?FDI