Narendra Modi praise earns Lord Adam Patel brickbats

Lord Adam Patel of Blackburn has drawn flaks from social and political activists for offering his support to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the controversy over Wharton's Business School cancelling CM's speech.

Educationalist and human rights activist J S Bandukwala said, "It is unfortunate that some of the rich Gujarati Muslims are embracing Modi for personal gains, forgetting how much harm they are doing to the interest of the riot victims."

"Lord Patel may be inching closer to Modi to help his brother in Bharuch Mohammed Fansiwala, who is not getting permission to start his private medical college though he has set up all infrastructure and paraphernalia required for the project," Bandukwala said.

State Congress general secretary Khurshid Saiyed said Patel, who migrated to UK in 1964, "is not aware of the ground realities in Gujarat''.

"Patel's support to Modi is very unfortunate. He seems to have been misled due to media propaganda unleashed by Modi by using his money power," Saiyed pointed out.

All India Milli Council (AIMC) representative Munir Khairuwala said neither Patel nor any of his family members suffered in 2002 and that was why he was arguing in favour of Modi.

"His statements favouring Modi will hurt the victims of 2002 riots. He is doing injustice with the victims," said Khairuwala, adding Modi government was not even implementing centrally sponsored post-matric scholarship for minority students and has challenged the matter in the court.

Patel, a native of Bharuch district of Gujarat, in a letter to Modi on March 11, had vehemently criticised Wharton's decision to cancel Modi's keynote address to students at Wharton India Economic Forum through video-conferencing.

Patel, who was on the forefront of organising protests in UK against 2002 communal riots in Gujarat, has described cancelling Modi's lectures as violation of free speech of killing if intellectual freedom on the campuses. He had also heaped praises on Modi for winning Assembly elections for the third time in a row in 2012.

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