As India heads for a general election in May, 2024, Metro Vancouver-based North Americans Against Modi (NAAM) has called upon overseas Indians to get organized to rid their home country of a Hindu supremacist leader.
Narendra Modi first got elected as the Prime Minister of India in May, 2014. He has now completed nine years in office.
Attacks on religious minorities and political dissidents have increased under his rule.
On Monday, May 1, NAAM released its flyer urging the Indian diaspora to come together to challenge Modi, and strengthen the hands of those who are fighting at the grassroots level in India to unseat his Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) from power.
The NAAM document warns that Modi’s right wing government is being run by the mandate of the ultra-Hindu nationalist RSS, which aspires to turn India into a Hindu theocracy by 2025. “And that’s why Modi’s defeat in next year’s election is important “, NAAM cofounder Gurpreet Singh said.
He lamented that the world largely remains ignorant to the ugly reality of the RSS, which drew inspiration from tyrants like Hitler. “Global leaders, especially in our part of the world, are obsessed with China and Russia and continue to overlook the misdeeds of Modi for the sake of narrow business interests.” NAAM, he added, also wants to make North American politicians accountable for being selective when it comes to the human rights situation in India.
The flyer reads, “Indians abroad who are concerned with these developments have a time window of one year to reclaim the country of the dreams of our freedom fighters, who had envisioned an egalitarian and humane society”. The document reminds people of Indian heritage in Canada and the US of the Ghadar Party, that was formed by Indian immigrants on North American soil in 1913.
The Ghadar movement was initiated to organize an armed uprising against the British occupation of India and establish a secular republic. Singh believes that the Indians in North America should follow their example, and get ready for another liberation struggle to free India from the clutches of bigots, through democratic means such as supporting parties that are determined to give a real ideological fight to the BJP. “This can be done both directly by being physically present in India, or remotely through online campaigns or rallies throughout the year.”
