Now We Wait For The Light

The Guardian placed Modi in the tradition of Hitler and Milosevic. He responded by saying he really didin't care.

Two London-based groups of Indian Muslims, the Indian Muslim Federation and the Council of Indian Muslims, religiously boycotted Modi through the tour."But that does not mean we have any difference with Hindu Gujaratis in Britain," says Shamsuddin Agha, president of the Indian Muslim Federation. "Many Hindus joined the demonstrations against Modi and as communities here we respect one another and get on with one another."

But as among Hindus, there were clear divisions among Muslims over Modi. Ibrahim Master, chairman of the Lancashire Council of Mosques, led a Muslim delegation in a telephone conference call with Modi. The delegation was from Blackburn, home to the largest Gujarati Muslim population in Britain. "I know there are some Muslims who will dislike our telephone conversation with Mr Modi," Master says. "However, whilst there is a time and place for demonstrations, I strongly believe there is a greater need for dialogue to take place."

The Muslim delegation seems to have put its views to Modi firmly. "Mr Modi shares our vision and aspirations of seeing India as an economic superpower and realises the serious implications of communal riots on both the economic and financial resources of India, and how India's global position is weakened by all this," Master said. "He also agreed that if communal riots continue, then it will undermine all the good efforts of promoting relations between the communities by people like us." Hindus and Muslims need to live together and "we need the cooperation and assistance of people like Mr Modi to achieve this, and to this end we found the conversation with Mr Modi very useful, as we received a very positive response from him in this respect".

There were divisions within other Muslim groups over meeting Modi. And less of the anti-Modi anger than expected. Given the Muslim rhetoric for this long, Modi's inner circle looked pleased that the heat of the Muslim reception to him added up to no more than a couple of hundred chaps within a roundabout in Wembley, and a smaller number outside a Gujarati newspaper office he visited. The really angry among the Muslims looked betrayed by laziness within the ranks. The opposition thrust against Modi came through The Guardian which placed him in the tradition of Hitler and Milosevic. Modi responded by saying he had not read what The Guardian wrote and that he didn't really care what it said; he seemed in fact to enjoy making a show of not caring.


In Britain, it was India once more. The great Indian divide played itself out all over again through four quick days around Modi in London. Finally, it was not even a question of a certain Muslim view of Modi, or even of more than one Muslim view of Modi. Or of the number of Hindus within the New Gokul tent and at the samosa queues outside on land where George Harrison once lived. It was a question of who wants what kind of India. In the Hindu circle that ringed Modi around London, you heard of Gujarat, of Hindus of course, even of Bharat. Odd thing, but the one word you did not hear much was India.