| Request Hardball's Chris Matthews to withdraw from AAHOA convention |
Action Alert: Request Hardball's Chris Matthews to withdraw from AAHOA Convention honoring Narendra Modi
March 01, 2005
Narendra Modi, the architect of the 2002 Gujarat pogrom has been invited by his supporters
to be honored at the convention of the Asian American Hotel Owners association in Fort
Lauderdale, Florida. His arrival coincides with the third anniversary of the Gujarat
massacres in which more than 2000 Muslims were brutally killed, hundreds of women and
girls were raped and sexually mutilated and over 150,000 were ethnically cleansed. The
surviving victims continue to be persecuted in Gujarat.
The Coalition Against Genocide (CAG), of which IMC-USA is a founding member, is
campaigning against Narendra Modi's felicitation in US. Narendra Modi's crimes are being
whitewashed by honoring him in a convention attended and supported by US lawmakers
and celebrities. A major step in the campaign against Narendra Modi involves reminding the
attendees of the aforementioned convention that he is an accused in heinous crimes against
humanity.
Chris Matthews of MSNBC Hardball program is scheduled to give a keynote address at the
convention. He has been asked by the Coalition Against Genocide to withdraw from the
AAHOA convention unless Narendra Modi's invitation is cancelled. We have already sent a
dossier on Narendra Modi and the fascist Hindutva movement to Mr. Matthews.
Please contact Chris Matthews and politely request him to withdraw from the AAHOA
convention. Also ask him to report on the funding of ethnic cleansing in India by the
extremist groups, based in US, which are supporting Narendra Modi.
ACTIONS REQUESTED
Call or write to Chris Matthews at MSNBC Hardball.
Call: (202) 737-7091 and ask for staff member Tina Urbanski
Call: (202) 783-2615 and ask for staff member Christina Jamison
Fax: (201)583 5453
Email:
Chris Matthews - Chris.matthews@msnbc.com
Hardball Staff - christina.jamison@msnbc.com; cpendy@msnbc.com
Dominic Bellone, Hardball Producer and Editor of Hardball Newsletter - DBellone@MSNBC.com
David Shuster - DShuster@MSNBC.com
Blog: Hardblogger@MSNBC.com
Send copies of correspondence to info@coalitionagainstgenocide.org
Please copy and distribute this alert. The petition can be downloaded from
http://coalitionagainstgenocide.org/
TALKING POINTS
Narendra Modi is the Chief Executive of the Gujarat State Government that was complicit in
the massacres and rapes of thousands of people as documented by Amnesty International
and the Indian National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). The Supreme Court of India's
bench statement has rebuked him calling him a "modern day Nero" for his actions during the
pogroms.
The 2002 Gujarat pogroms specifically targeted women and children and used sexual
mutilation as an ethnic cleansing tool.
Narendra Modi's Government is still persecuting religious and ethnic minorities in Gujarat
and was criticized by the US State Department of International Religious Freedom report.
State that we understand Mr. Matthews has been misled by AAHOA. He should withdraw
from the convention so as not to stand in support of massacres and persecution of
minorities and for the sake of his reputation and credibility.
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