Academics from Britain's top universities oppose Narendra Modi as next PM

LONDON: After artists like sculptor Anish Kapoor, film director Deepa Mehta and novelist Salman Rushdie, it's now the turn of some of the best Indian academics in Britain's top universities like the London School of Economics, Cambridge, Oxford, SOAS and King's College to issue a letter opposing Narendra Modi as the next Prime Minister. In an open letter issued on Tuesday, 75 academics led by Prof Chetan Bhatt and Gautam Appa of LSE attacked the BJP leader saying "The idea of Modi in power fills us with dread". They warned that a Modi victory would "likely mean greater moral policing, especially of women, increased censorship and vigilantism, and more tensions with India's neighbours".

Calling Modi a leader embedded in the Hindu Nationalist movement, namely the RSS and other Sangh Parivar groups, with their history of inciting violence against minorities, they highlighted how groups that support Modi are accused in recent terrorist attacks. The letter has been signed by, among others, Leena Kumarappan (London Metropolitan University), Subir Sinha (School of Oriental and African Studies), Phiroze Vasunia (University College London), Bishnupriya Gupta (University of Warwick), Amit S Rai (Queen Mary College, University of London), Hugo Gorringe (University of Edinburgh), Barbara Harriss-White (University of Oxford), Shamira A Meghani (University of Leeds), Amrita Dhillon (King's College, London), Joya Chatterji (Cambridge University) and Dibyesh Anand (University of Westminster).

They said, "We are deeply concerned at the implications of a Narendra Modi-led BJP government for democracy, pluralism and human rights in India. We recall the extreme violence by the Hindu Right in Gujarat in 2002 which resulted in the deaths of at least 1,000 people, mostly Muslims. This violence occurred under Modi's rule, and senior government and police officials have provided testimony of his alleged role in encouraging or permitting it to occur". They added, "Some of his close aides have been convicted for their involvement, and legal proceedings are ongoing in the Gujarat HC..."