Mr. Fred Schwartz
President
Asian-American Hotel Owners Association
66 Lenox Pointe, N.E.
Atlanta, GA 30324
Dear Mr. Schwartz:
We understand you are honoring Mr. Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister of the State of Gujarat in India as chief guest at the 2005 Asian American Hotel Owner's Association’s (AAHOA) Annual Convention and Trade Show, to be held at the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center in Florida on March 24-26, 2005.
Before firming up your plans, we would like to encourage you to read the findings of Human Rights Watch reports on the massacre of more than 2,000 people during riots in Mr. Modi's state in 2002. As the chief administrator of his state, he failed to protect minority Muslims from attacks by his political supporters. There are allegations that he approved the violence and that he instructed his police not to intervene. His administration has since failed to deliver justice, allowing his supporters to literally get away with rape and murder.
Not only has there been a deliberate attempt to stifle due process in the prosecution of those responsible for the killings -- India's Supreme Court has observed that state prosecutors have often acted essentially as defense lawyers -- Chief Minister Modi himself has publicly claimed that the riots were a result of justified anger and on several occasions made racist remarks about Muslims.
The attacks on Muslims in Gujarat in many cases were directly encouraged by Hindu nationalist organizations as part of a concerted campaign to promote and exploit communal tensions. These groups have also been blamed for brutal attacks on Christians. Chief Minister Modi has allowed these militant groups to operate with impunity and under the patronage of the state, often rewarding the hate campaign by giving them key government positions.
Our reports are available at www.hrw.org.
We think your attendance will lend underserved legitimacy to Mr. Modi and could embarrass you and NBC. We hope you will reconsider your attendance or ask the hosts to revoke their invitation to Mr. Modi.
Best regards,
Brad Adams
Executive Director
Asia Division
Cc: Mr. Nash Patel, Chairman, Asian-American Hotel Owners Association
Mr. M.P. Rama, Vice Chairman, Asian-American Hotel Owners Association
