SPIRITED DEMONSTRATION IN NEW YORK ON 10th ANNIVERSARY OF GUJARAT POGROM
Vinod Mubayi
New York’s Union Square, a traditional arena for progressive groups, witnessed a spirited demonstration on March 3 commemorating the 10th anniversary of the pogrom when over 2000 Muslims were mercilessly massacred in Gujarat, the state often labeled as the “laboratory” of Hindutva and ruled by the BJP for a long time.
The demonstration was organized by the Coalition Against Genocide, a coalition of many progressive secular and religious groups formed several years to oppose the grant of a U.S. visa to Chief Minister Narendra Modi often called the butcher of minorities in Gujarat.
Over 30 groups collaborated to put on the demonstration, which went on for almost 4 hours at the foot of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in Union Square and was attended by over 300 people. The meeting was addressed by religious leaders from the Islamic, Jewish, Christian and Hindu communities and by several labor leaders, including leaders from the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, whose membership is largely South Asian. Speakers at the meeting called for putting Modi and other leading politicians in Gujarat on trial for their complicity in the pogrom and and urged the government to provide justice to the victims.
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