Saturday, September 27, 2014

Slow Saturday Special: Modi Better Mind His Manners

You know, some guy named Gandhi really watched his.

"Lawsuit accuses Indian leader of role in 2002 violence" by Matthew Pennington | Associated Press   September 27, 2014

NEW YORK — A federal court in New York has summoned India’s prime minister to respond to a lawsuit accusing him of human rights abuses, casting a shadow over the Indian leader’s first trip to the United States on Friday as head of government.

Why? The U.S. is the largest violator of human rights on the planet.

The lawsuit against Narendra Modi stems from long-standing allegations that he did not do enough to stop devastating religious riots in his home state of Gujarat in 2002, when he served as chief minister there. A newly formed human rights group, the American Justice Center, filed the suit Thursday in Manhattan federal court on behalf of two unnamed survivors of the violence. It is offering $10,000 to anyone who can serve the summons on Modi.

The plaintiffs are seeking monetary and punitive damages and a judgment that Modi’s conduct amounted to genocide when he was chief minister of Gujarat.

Maybe the Hinckley principle should apply to leaders.

The legal case will be an annoyance to Modi but is unlikely to have a significant impact on his visit.

A senior Obama administration official said that as a general legal principle, sitting heads of government enjoy immunity from lawsuits in American courts while in the United States.

That way our mass-murdering bastards are not served when they visit other nations.

They also enjoy ‘‘personal inviolability,’’ which means they cannot be personally handed or delivered papers to begin the process of a lawsuit. The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly about the issue, requested anonymity. 

I suppose it is needed; otherwise, things could get tricky. We are talking official representatives of governments here.

Milan Vaishnav, an associate on South Asia at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said from his understanding it is a ‘‘pro forma’’ summons.

I'm tired of "pro forma" symbolism, illusion, and imagery, 'kay?

Modi was elected prime minister in May. He was scheduled to arrive in New York on Friday with a welcome normally reserved for rock stars — a sold-out appearance at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.

Oh, he's a popular guy, huh?

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This goes back to the US government's mistreatment and assault of the Indian diplomat as well as the fact that TPTB didn't like Modi ascending and has liked him less since with his outreaches to Pakistan, China, and Japan. 

I know there is always the issue of Kashmir that can cause a crisis, so why not let them vote on independence like your charter says, U.N.?