Dear Joe Biden,
At the outset, I must say that you are one of the most corrupt - at least morally corruptpoliticians that the U S has seen during the past few decades This is about your apparent sycophancy toward the prime minister (PM) of India Narendra Modi, who is a ruthless autocrat.
In your evil attempt to woo Modi for your commercial interests, you have stooped to such a low level that you - according to May 2023 reports - have expressed your desire to take Modi’s autograph while he is scheduled to visit the U S in June 2023
You must be knowing that your State Department’s own reports have been repeatedly accusing Modi of extreme corruption and human rights violations. Similarly, top Democrats and Republicans have issued frequent statements against Modi and even banned his entry into the U S But you have shamelessly neglected all the democratic norms and the findings of your own reports to embrace Modi who has no respect for democracy.
Since you are incapable of handling the financial chaos in the U S , you are trying to raise money for the U.S. economy by hook or by crook. This is the reason that you do not hesitate to shake hands with one of the most notorious dictators in the world It was visible in the recent $34-billion Air India-Boeing deal that you grabbed after your constant - and perhaps fake - praise of Modi who is gaining legitimacy in the political world after his terrible criminal record.
Unfortunately, dishonest leaders like you are condoning Modi’s criminality - which is still persisting - for your selfish, personal interests It appears from your weird behaviour that you are worse than your predecessor Donald Trump who was an epitome of immorality.
As you have deliberately decided to turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to Modi’s authoritarianism, here I am giving you some information about him so that you could follow the morally acceptable rules instead of prostrating in front of Modi
POLITICAL CAREER OF MODI
In fact, Modi’s real political career began with the Gujarat massacre of 2002 in which he was allegedly involved in the murder of thousands of Muslims - including men, women,
Open Letter to Dishonest U.S. President Joe Biden May 22, 2023 Open Letter to U S President Joe Biden By Rakesh Raman May 22, 2023 Page: 1 of 11and children. The Gujarat violence can be compared to the criminal activity of Nazi Germany during the Holocaust for the genocide of millions of European Jews.
While Modi is the main accused in the Gujarat riots of 2002 when he was the chief minister (CM) of Gujarat, this criminal activity is again in the news, as BBC has produced a comprehensive documentary on Gujarat riots and Modi’s role in this crime The new BBC documentary, ‘India: The Modi Question, ’ sheds light on Modi’s role in the Gujarat violence.
The first part of the series aired in the United Kingdom on BBC Two channel on January 17, 2023. As usual, without any substantiation, the Indian government has termed the BBC documentary a propaganda film, saying it aims to discredit Modi It may not be allowed for viewing in India. The second part of the documentary was shown on BBC Two on January 24, 2023.
A report by The Wire news service said the BBC documentary claims that Modi is hugely divisive and India is currently in a religious turmoil under Modi. On January 23, 2023, The Caravan magazine published the text of the report of inquiry conducted by the UK government into the 2002 Gujarat violence, which was cited in the BBC documentary on Modi.
Although the BBC film is about Modi’s role in the Gujarat violence, the Modi government is projecting it as an attack on the Indian state and blocked the screening of the film by using repressive tactics The Modi government under its draconian laws to censor online content directed YouTube and Twitter to take down links of the BBC documentary and both the social media sites succumbed to the government’s pressure and blocked the film
However, some media outlets have given details of the alternative channels that can be used to watch both the episodes of the two-part docuseries, India: The Modi Question.
On January 24, 2023, international human rights organization Human Rights Watch tweeted parts of the film and said, “India has banned a BBC documentary about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s role in the 2002 riots in Gujarat state. The documentary highlighted a report that found Modi “directly responsible” for the “climate of impunity” enabling the violence.” It is evident from the documentary that Modi was inciting violence to kill Muslims in the state.
However, as a cunning politician, you (Biden) have decided to join hands with Modi despite his ongoing criminality in a number of cases reported by credible organizations
CORRUPTION AND HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD OF MODI
All of us know that the U.S. leaders are dishonest. While they selectively criticize corruption and human rights violations in some countries, they ignore the same or worse crimes in India. The U.S. – which is a self-styled promoter of democracy in the world –has been downplaying the demise of democracy in India The U S leaders frequently hobnob with Modi and his colleagues despite their regular criticism of Modi’s autocratic idiosyncrasies.
The U S , in fact, exploits human rights abuses in India for its commercial interests, as the U.S. believes that India is a big market for its products and services. The modus operandi of the U S leaders is to subtly intimidate Modi with the accusations of corruption and human rights violations, and then force him to buy American products or services worth billions of dollars.
In its report released on March 20, 2023, the U S Department of State has accused India of extreme human rights violations and rampant corruption. According to the report, the state crimes happening in India include unlawful and arbitrary killings, including extrajudicial killings by the government or its agents; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention, arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; restrictions on freedom of expression and media, and serious government corruption.
Surprisingly, however, the U.S. which promises to punish corruption and human rights violations in all parts of the world with the aim to protect democratic systems is not taking any punitive action against the autocratic Indian regime. Rather, Biden and the U.S. administration are blatantly defying their own rules of protecting democracies by joining hands with Modi even after formally accusing him of crime and corruption
Now, the whole world knows that India has become a full-fledged dictatorship state where PM Modi is behaving as a cruel king to demolish all democratic norms with merciless attacks on journalists, illegal incarceration of critics including students and women, seizure of the judiciary, and neglect of the parliament. But the U.S. administration under Biden has chosen to accept the criminality of Modi for its commercial interests In
other words, Modi is buying the silence of Biden and his corrupt colleagues by squandering Indian public money to serve the U.S. interests.
U.S. COMMERCIAL INTERESTS
There are numerous cases which show that the greedy U S leaders such as Biden can go to any unethical extent for their commercial interests. The U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited India in 2021 to discuss a range of issues, including extreme human rights violations under the Modi regime. Blinken refused to acknowledge explicitly that human rights violations are happening in India. Rather, he vaguely said that the U.S. and India share a commitment to democratic values.
The U.S. ignores the disturbing despotic events in India, because its main objective is to target Indian markets According to an official communique released by the U S Department of State, Blinken will meet with Modi and raise issues such as attacks on democracy and human rights in India. The communique indicated that the U.S. has been ignoring the human rights violations, including attacks on Muslims, by the Modi government
However, these were the stated objectives of Blinken’s visit. He did not raise the rights issues forcefully with the Modi government during his meetings with the Indian top brass. The main purpose of his visit was to promote the U.S. defense sales to India.
Actually, the U.S. has been arm-twisting the Modi government to fulfill its commercial interests. The immediate imperative for the U.S. is to reduce its trade deficit with India which – according to the October 2020 figures from the U S Trade Representative – was $28.8 billion in 2019.
Although the U S politicians keep cursing the Modi government for its dictatorial policies, they never take any punitive action against Modi and his accomplices – bureaucrats and ministers – in the Indian government The main objective of the cunning U S politicians is not to protect democratic values anywhere in the world, but they are largely driven by their trade interests.
They put artificial pressure on the Modi government to sell U S products and services in the Indian market. In March 2021, for example, U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N J ) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called on the Biden administration to further engage with the Modi government over its
treatment of farmers in India who have been peacefully demonstrating against the passage of new farm laws.
But simultaneously the U S Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was visiting India as a salesman to sell U.S. defense equipment to India. Austin virtually forced the Modi government so India should buy about 30 armed drones as well as nearly 150 combat jets from the United States. The total value of the deal is estimated to be over $20 billion.
The visiting U S Defense Secretary also threatened that the U S will impose sanctions on the Modi government if India purchased the S-400 missile system from Russia, as it will be construed as a sanctionable transaction with the Russian defense sector under Section 231 of CAATSA (Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act)
As Modi yields to veiled threats against his autocratic actions, he is lavishly spending public money to keep the U.S. and other critical leaders pleased. Recently, for example, the U.S. virtually coerced the Indian Navy to procure 24 MH-60R multi-role helicopters, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, from the U.S. under foreign military sales at an estimated cost of $2 4 billion
All this public money that Modi is squandering to buy foreign products is a kind of bribe to the Biden administration which has accepted Modi’s crimes in return for the bribes. Now, other countries in Europe are also trying to use the Biden model of taking bribes from Modi to remain silent about his corruption and human rights abuses Modi’s only aim is to get acceptance in the advanced parts of the world after his criminal activities
CRIMES IN THE MODI REGIME
But Modi’s main focus is on the U.S. which had denied visa to Modi because of his complicit role in the Gujarat violence. Biden and other U.S. politicians are working hand in glove with Modi in the criminal enterprise that Modi is leading with the power of public money These crooks in the U S fail to realize that the money they are extorting from Modi is supposed to be spent on at least one billion Indians who are so poor that they cannot afford even two square meals a day.
Instead of protecting Indians who have been suffering in the Modi regime for the past nine years under unprecedented poverty, corruption, inflation, unemployment, and religious animosity, Biden has joined the unscrupulous program that Modi is running In this criminalized process, Biden is playing with the feelings of Indians who are being
neglected by Modi. And Biden is so corrupt that he is hugging Modi despite the latter’s affection for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
Although the U S politicians keep criticizing China for its human rights violations, they never speak openly against worse crimes in India under the Modi regime. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), for example, introduced a resolution on June 22, 2022 to condemn human rights violations and violations of international religious freedom in India, including those targeting Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, Adivasis, and other religious and cultural minorities.
The resolution called on the U.S. Secretary of State to designate India as a Country of Particular Concern under the International Religious Freedom Act, which has been recommended by the independent, bipartisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for the past three years. However, the Secretary of State simply ignored the resolution because he cannot dare to speak against the Modi government
Similarly, the Biden administration ignores numerous global reports that reveal crimes under the Modi regime In its World Report 2023, Human Rights Watch has described extreme human rights violations in India, the findings of the 2023 edition of Freedom in the World report released by Freedom House reveal large-scale political corruption scandals and persecution of Muslims in India, a global report released in March 2023 by the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) project has asserted that India under the Modi rule continues to be an electoral autocracy and has lost its status of a democracy.
Moreover, India - which was responsible for 84 Internet shutdowns in 2022 - remains the country with the highest number of recorded shutdowns in the world for the fifth consecutive year This is stated in the Access Now and the #KeepItOn coalition’s report released in February 2023.
A U S -based research organization has predicted that India is among the top countries which are facing risk of mass killing and violence. The Early Warning Project (EWP), which identifies countries at risk of mass violence, has ranked India at the 8th position among the countries that are under the highest risk for mass killing in 2022 and 2023
CORRUPTION CASES OF MODI
A recent investigative report of Hindenburg Research accused Indian oligarch Gautam Adani of commiting one of the biggest corporate frauds in the world. In the report
released in January 2023, Hindenburg said that the Adani Group has engaged in a brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over the course of decades. Now there is enormous information available that shows Modi’s criminal collusion with Gautam Adani It is believed that Modi is using the corruption money of billions of dollars to fulfill his dirty political objectives including the election frauds.
Since the Supreme Court judges do not dare to question Modi, the Supreme Court often dishonestly rescues the Modi government from different crises. In order to save Modi from the Modi-Adani fraud case, in March 2023 the top court formed a perfunctory committee which is expected to exonerate the embattled Adani Group from all the alleged financial frauds reported by credible global agencies and media organizations.
When the opposition parties tried to file a complaint at the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office on March 15, the Modi government deployed heavy police force to stop them on their way The Modi regime has also silenced opposition leader of Congress Rahul Gandhi who was trying to raise his voice in the parliament on the Modi-Adani scam case
On March 24, 2023, the Modi regime managed to expel Rahul Gandhi from parliament. Thus, the Modi-Adani corruption case has been virtually brushed under the carpet and once again Modi will get off scot-free in this case too.
Also, the China connection in the Modani (portmanteau for Modi and Adani) case cannot be ruled out A March 2, 2023 report reveals that Adani’s business empire is deeply connected with China, as an entity related to the Adani Group financially supported a company that violated sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on trade with North Korea.
According to the report, the sanctioned company was owned by sons of Chang Chung-Ling, an Adani Group associate who appeared in the Hindenburg report for his directorship of Adani entities. Therefore, there is a need to investigate Modi’s secret relations with China as it is believed that the Chinese occupation of the Indian territory is part of a secret deal to sell the Indian land to China in order to raise money for Adani’s businesses
It is alleged that in quid pro quo deals, Adani also helps Modi financially to win elections with his money secretly paid through electoral bonds. As the Supreme Court of India mostly colludes with the Modi government, it is not taking a decision to bring transparency to political campaign financing with electoral bonds. The complicit courts
and corrupt judges refuse to order investigations in those corruption cases in which Modi is involved. For example, Modi scuttled investigations into multi-billion dollar scandals such as the Rafale deal and the PM-CARES Fund that Modi established secretly.
THREATS FROM MODI
Now most civil society groups, police, court judges, and members of opposition parties are too scared to raise their voice against Modi In the past, the people who opposed Modi or his accomplices have either died in mysterious circumstances or were imprisoned in harsh prison conditions by Modi.
They include Haren Pandya, a key witness of Gujarat riots in which Modi was the prime accused, and Gujarat riots whistleblower Sanjiv Bhatt who tried to raise their voice against Modi Similarly, most judges must be scared after witnessing the fate of judge Loya (Brij Gopal Hari Kishan Loya) who had died in mysterious circumstances. In this case, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Shah – who is now the Home Minister of India and close associate of Modi – was the prime accused.
But no investigation or investigating officer can dare to point the finger at Amit Shah who controls the police and other law-enforcement agencies Judges and investigating officers know that if judge Loya can die in an inexplicable manner, they also can be made to face the same fate.
Earlier it had happened in the Vyapam scam case in which, like Amit Shah, another BJP leader and Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was an accused. As the investigation into the Vyapam case was progressing, the witnesses and others familiar with the case started disappearing. A Special Task Force (STF) submitted a list to the high court in 2015 informing that 23 people died “unnatural death.” Some media reports claimed that more than 40 people associated with the Vyapam scam had died under mysterious circumstances.
Obviously, most witnesses, police officers, and judges will not dare to go against the will of Modi and his accomplices. This may be the reason that Modi has been acquitted in the Gujarat riots case. In all autocratic regimes, the rulers silently control and use courts to get all decisions in their favour In fact, Modi’s entire career in politics is founded on violent events such as the train burning in Godhra and Gujarat riots of 2002. Such anti-Muslim events helped Modi win votes of Hindu voters in a country where nearly 80% voters are Hindus. Since Modi is an illiterate and uncivilized politician, he does not Open Letter to U S President Joe Biden By Rakesh Raman May
deserve any position in the government. Initially, he would have won in Gujarat with Hindu votes. But at the national level, only a miniscule fraction of real Hindus support Modi’s divisive communal actions.
Therefore, since the Lok Sabha election of 2014, Modi and his party BJP have been winning most elections with the selective manipulation of electronic voting machines (EVMs). The opposition groups – including political parties, civil society, students, and journalists – are so terrified of Modi’s violent behavior that they do not challenge his hostile actions.
So, despite unprecedented corruption, inflation, unemployment, and religious animosity under his rule, Modi will keep running the country as a one-man regime In the past 9 years of his rule, Modi has tarnished India’s image in all parts of the world.
But Biden and his colleagues disregard all the facts and global reports, and they prefer to hobnob with Modi. Also, the Modi government arrogantly rejects all the truthful global reports that reveal the failure or the autocracy of the Modi regime. Without offering any logical reasoning, the Modi government randomly claims that it is a global conspiracy to discredit Modi and his government.
ADVICE FOR BIDEN
In view of the facts given above, Biden is advised to follow the morally acceptable principles instead of becoming a mindless toady of Modi. In the last few days of his life, Biden should not stand with the falsehood that Modi is spreading and instead support the democratic preachings that the U S disseminates in the whole world
If Biden has a little morality in his character, he should not host any showy events in the U.S. when Modi is visiting there and should not issue any sycophantic statements in Modi’s favour. Rather, Biden should take immediate steps to once again ban Modi’s entry into the U S and sever all trade ties with India until Modi is the prime minister
ABOUT ME: RAKESH RAMAN
This letter to Biden is written by Rakesh Raman who is a national award-winning journalist and founder of the humanitarian organization RMN Foundation. Besides working at senior editorial positions with leading media companies, he was writing an exclusive edit-page column regularly for The
Financial Express (a daily business newspaper of The Indian Express Group). Nowadays, for the past 12 years, he has been running his own global news services on multiple news sites. He runs various environment protection, education awareness, and anti-corruption campaigns, and publishes digital magazines and research reports on different subjects Earlier, he had been associated with the United Nations (UN) through the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) as a digital media expert to help businesses use technology for brand marketing and business development.
At present, Rakesh is associated with the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Project as a Country Expert for India to provide expert research inputs on multiple topics pertaining to democracy and governance. The V-Dem Project is managed by V-Dem Institute under the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. He has been publishing The Unrest news magazine since 2020 to cover economic and political upheavals in the world
In order to inform the Indian citizens and the global community about the extent of corruption in India, he compiled and released in October 2022 a comprehensive report on corruption in the country. Under the title “India Corruption Research Report 2022 (ICRR 2022),” the research report covers diverse aspects of corruption in India.
He has also been publishing The Integrity Bulletin news magazine since 2018 to cover local and international corruption issues to engage with different stakeholders who are trying to combat corruption in the world. He has also announced the new project for 2023 to compile the India Corruption Research Report 2023 (ICRR 2023). You can click here to know about the project and support it financially with your donations.
He has launched a nationwide campaign to introduce social democracy in India in order to build an egalitarian society in which all citizens could enjoy equal rights, opportunities, freedoms, and access to justice. He is running an editorial section / microsite “Power Play: Lok Sabha Election 2024 in India” to cover the election news, events, and political campaigns.
He is also running a nationwide campaign to save school students of India from directionless education so that students could acquire modern skills that can help them in the job market. In his anti-corruption activities, he participated in a global petition led by Germany-based international organization Transparency International to call for the UN General Assembly Special Session against Corruption, UNGASS 2021, to direct all countries to set up central, public registers of beneficial ownership
He runs a community-driven anti-corruption social service “Clean House” to help the residents of Delhi raise their voice against the growing corruption and injustice in housing societies where millions of people suffer because of rampant corruption and lawlessness He has also formed an environment protection group called Green Group in New Delhi, which is the most polluted national capital in the world.
As Rakesh has been facing constant threats including death threats for his editorial and anti-corruption work, the Paris-based international organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) that defends freedom of journalists has urged the Indian government to save him from threats and persecution You can click here to read his full profile
Contact
Rakesh Raman
Editor, RMN News Service [ Website ]
Founder, RMN Foundation [ Website ]
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