Indian Prime Minister ‘not welcome’ as Awaaz projects warning onto Parliament
British Indians projected the words “Modi not welcome” onto the Houses of Parliament building on Sunday evening (8 November) in a bold show of protest against the Indian Prime Minister’s visit to the UK next week. Narendra Modi will be the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the UK in nearly a decade when he lands on 12 November.
The Awaaz Network have been leading the protest movement against Modi’s UK visit, mobilising people to join them in a protest march against the Prime Minister on the day he is scheduled to speak at British Parliament. The projection showed Modi wielding a sword in front of “an OM sign that is tragically being transferred to a swastika”, said a spokesperson from Awaaz.
Modi’s visit to the UK is the first by an Indian Prime Minister in more than a decade and the British government is determined to make it a success to build new economic partnerships in Asia. The two governments are hoping to build strategic relationships and announce deals worth some $15 billion, especially in sectors like telecom, oil and gas, and food and beverage. But Modi’s visit is under a big cloud with the BJP receiving a drubbing in the Bihar elections, with the unrest in Punjab resonating with Sikhs in the UK and the growing chorus of criticism about the Prime Minister’s silence over right wing groups resorting to violence across India.
This is what the Awaaz Network says it is trying to highlight with its protest. “The Awaaz attitude is that the British government cannot be slavish to an agenda set by Mr Modi’s supporters to cast him as a world leader where he wants to sell Digital India and development in India where the reality is very different,” said Grover.
