MPs write to US president on Modi visa

Miffed at BJP chief Rajnath Singh seeking an American visa for Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, several Indian parliamentarians have resent a letter to US President Barack Obama asking if his government has changed its policy towards the man still not cleared by the courts in various cases related to the 2002 communal riots.

"The US government had refused a visa to Modi in 2002 on the grounds of human rights violations and murders committed during the riots. We have asked him if the US has changed its policy," Mohammad Adeeb, an Independent member of the Rajya Sabha who initiated the move, told IANS Tuesday.

According to the parliamentarian from Uttar Pradesh, the letter, dispatched to both the US president and the British prime minister last year, was again sent to the White House Sunday.

"We felt humiliated when we read that Rajnath Singh was lobbying for Modi in the US. We refaxed the letter Sunday," Adeeb said.

Rajnath Singh, who is visiting the US, said he would be taking up the issue with US lawmakers in Washington and expected America to revoke ban on Modi's visa soon.

"They will have to do it one day, if not now. If they do it now, it will be better," he said during the current visit.

Adeeb clarified that the letter does not make any reference to granting or not granting a visa to Modi, but merely raises some "pertinent" questions.

"We never said whether they should give or not give a visa to Modi as it is the sole discretion of the US government. We have just asked the US president if they have changed their policy towards Modi or have pardoned him based on some independent probe as the Indian courts have still not acquitted him so far," he said.

The letter, signed by MPs from many parties, was earlier dispatched in 2012 when two British parliamentarians came visiting the Gujarat chief minister indicating a softening of stance towards Modi.

"There was no reply," said Adeeb.