The ghost of Gujarat came here to haunt Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani here today. As Advani came to the Indian embassy to address the media, a group of people holding placards stood near the statue of Mahatma Gandhi across the road to register their protest against the Gujarat violence.The protestors, including women, represented nearly two-dozen organisations, most of them Christian and Muslim. Some of the organisations were Ahsan Jafri Foundation, Federation of Indian Christians, Indian Muslim Council and Indian American Catholic Association.The protestors distributed copies of their memorandum addressed to the President and other US officials, which said that the BJP and Advani had publicly lauded Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, ‘‘who has been indicted by a range of Indian and international human rights groups for conniving with and supporting the mobs who attacked the religious minorities in Gujarat.’’They also alleged that Advani had spread hatred against India’s religious communities, particularly Muslims and Christians, organised rallies across India that had led to riots and deaths and had had demolished a 16th-century mosque. These activities, according to them, had been highlighted by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). They appealed to the President to take ‘‘full cognizance’’ of this report.Through with this condemnation, the demonstrators also released a memorandum addressed to Avani, which called upon him to ‘‘invest’’ his ‘‘political capital behind the Prime Minister’s effort’’ to secure peace in the Indian sub-continent.They said: ‘‘Your endorsement of this effort and active support in the process of finding peace is necessary. We encourage you to lend the political authority of your office and the energy of your supporters to this end.’’ They said that even though the growing friendship of India and the US was welcome, it should not be largely limited to arms deals and investment dollars. Rather, US ‘‘traditions of public finance for education and health may hold far more for Indian than any amount of expenditure on military matters.’’
