Sunday, September 22nd, 2019 is being rued by the Indian Prime Minister. On this ominous day, Indian Diaspora organized the \u201cHowdy, Modi: shared Dreams, Bright Futures\u201d event at the sprawling NRG Football Stadium in Houston drawing about half a million-crowd. Modi, arriving in tandem with the US President Donald Trump, drew a deafening applause from the mostly Hindu audience at the gathering.\u2019 Modi and Trump spoke of strengthened ties between India-US and addressed each other as \u201cloyal friends\u201d. They used each other\u2019s campaign slogans; Modi endorsed Trump\u2019s reelection with Abkibaar Trump Sarkar and \u2018Make America great again\u2019, while Trump borrowed the \u2018Make in India\u2019 slogan to promote \u2018Made in America\u2019.
\nSimultaneously, outside the NRG Football Stadium, thousands of protesters comprising Kashmiris, Sikhs, representatives of Indian minorities and white allies gathered under the umbrella of Alliance for Justice and Accountability (AJA) were loudly chanting and displaying placards \u201cHouston we have a problem-it is Modi\u201d and \u201cModi Go Back\u201d.
\nNeutral media sources like the VOA reported that the number of campaigners outside the stadium were perhaps in a greater number than those inside.
\nThe reason of the ire of the protesters is that while Trump and Modi were backslapping each other as being two great champions of democracy, Modi\u2019s repressive regime has incarcerated Indian Kashmiris, confining them to their homes now for over fifty days, denying their basic rights of survival, devoid of food, medicines, the opportunities to eke a source of income, and even the opportunity to provide a proper funeral to those being brutally killed by the Indian forces.
\nAs soon as the Houston circus commenced, Indian TV channels broke into a tirade calling it a major diplomatic victory for India and a slap on the face of Pakistan because both Modi and Trump, without naming Pakistan, chastised \u201cIslamic Terrorism\u201d and the resolve to preserve the security of their borders.
\nHand in hand the duo showered praise on each other. Trump, at times gave the impression of being non-serious, winking at the crowd while Modi was singing accolades for his partner. The venue was carefully selected because for President Trump, it was a chance to court Indian-Americans for the 2020 presidential election race where Texas could emerge as a battleground state. Modi appeared to swell with pride at the massive PR opportunity to ratify his popularity abroad as well as win brownie points with Trump displaying his worth.
\nHowever, the very next day, in his usual ephemeral style, while greeting the Pakistani Prime Minister, Trump praised Imran Khan too. Disregarding Indian aspirations of being cold towards Imran Khan after the noisy Houston rally only a day earlier, Trump remarked \u201cPeople in my position have treated Pakistan very badly.\u201d He went on to say, \u201cI trust Pakistan\u2026 Want to see everyone treated well in Kashmir\u2026\u201d adding that \u201cI trust Pakistan\u201d and repeated his offer of mediating between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue provided both parties agree to it. Much to Indian chagrin, President Trump said that the Indian prime minister\u2019s remarks on Pakistan at Sunday\u2019s rally were \u201cvery aggressive\u201d, but those were \u201cwell received\u201d by the 50,000-strong Indian-Americans present there. After the Trump-Khan meeting, the White House also issued a brief statement, saying: \u201cThe two leaders discussed \u2026 ways to de-escalate tension between Pakistan and India, including combating terrorism, and the importance of Indo-Pakistani dialogue to resolve disputes between them.\u201d The two leaders also \u201cdiscussed opportunities to deepen mutually beneficial energy cooperation and trade ties,\u201d it added. At the news briefing, Mr. Trump also lauded Prime Minister Khan\u2019s political wisdom and leadership role for regional peace and development. What infuriated Indian analysts most was President Trump said the fact that he decided to have a one-on-one meeting with the Pakistani leader depicting the importance he gave to Pakistan, stating: \u201cMany countries wanted to meet with me, and we were unable to meet with them,\u201d he said. \u201cI will tell you this: You have a great leader. He\u2019s a good man, a nice man. Happens to be a great athlete.\u201d
\nThe value of the US President\u2019s interest in the subject can be gauged from the fact that during his UNGA address on September 24, he did not even mention Kashmir. His total focus was Iran and China. However, reportedly Imran has accepted the role of mediating between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which hopefully will bear more fruition as compared to his efforts to conclude a peace deal between the US and Afghan Taliban.
\nFor Modi on the other hand, as the dust settled in, all hell broke loose. Indian analysts expressed extreme angst and anger at Modi having placed all his eggs in one basket and casting his lot with the Republican candidate for the next US Presidential elections. The opposition is questioning why millions of US Dollars were dumped in the drain to organize a rally which did not bring the desired results: denigrating Pakistan?
\nThe New York Times summed it up: \u201cThe (Houston) rally brought together two leaders with similar styles. Both rose to power by embracing right-wing populism, portraying themselves as champions of the masses fighting against an entrenched establishment. Both presented voters with a vision to make their respective countries \u2018great again\u2019, and both have fanned tensions along religious, economic and social fault lines.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sunday, September 22nd, 2019 is being rued by the Indian Prime Minister. On this ominous day, Indian Diaspora organized the \u201cHowdy, Modi: shared Dreams, Bright Futures\u201d event at the sprawling NRG Football Stadium in Houston drawing about half a million-crowd. Modi, arriving in tandem with the US President Donald Trump, drew a deafening applause from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50964,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-article"],"yoast_head":"\n