The Gujarat-USA Netivism Story
By DEEPA FERNANDES AND BASHARAT PEER
In February 2002 a Hindu-led massacre of Muslims took place in the Indian state of Gujarat. As the killing was occurring, the highest elected official of the state, Narendra Modi of the BJP party, did nothing to stop the rampage, and in fact directed the police not to act. In a matter of a few days more than 1,000 Muslims were killed and thousands more were displaced from their homes and businesses. In the aftermath of the massacre, the state government made no serious moves to bring those responsible to justice. Narendra Modi was reelected to another term as Chief Minister of the state. Indians living in the United States watched the unfolding events in Gujarat with a mix of horror and approval. One group of Indians, geographically spread across the US who had been active on various political issues for the past decade (Biju Audio Interview: Time code: 0.48 – 4.36) decided they needed to respond. Their main organizing tool: the Internet. Calling themselves the Campaign to Stop Funding Hate, the activists (including Raja Swamy and Girish Agrawal) first followed the money (Biju Audio Interview: Time Code: 4.37 – 8.10). What they discovered through the internet based community they had formed, and through research and data compilation, was that the groups responsible for the Gujarat massacre received significant funding from Indians in America. The campaign then took on dual elements. One strategy (Biju audio: Time Code: 8.10 – 9.38) was to target the individuals, groups and even US companies who were sending money to the very groups responsible for the carnage. The campaign wanted to inform the donors of who their dollars were actually supporting. This netivism met almost instant success (Biju Audio: Time Code: 9.40 – 10.21).
The other campaign was born in March 2005 when Chief Minister Modi was invited to the United States by the Asian American Hotel Owners Association. Called the Modi Campaignbroad coalition (Biju Audio: "Biju on Goals of CSFH, 3.43 mins file) the activists built a (Biju Audio: 10.30-12.30) using the internet to support the organizing effort to prevent Modi from being granted a visa to come to the US. The activists also targeted advertisers and supporters (Biju audio: Time Code: 12.30-14.09) of the Modi tour and pressured them not to align themselves with the "butcher of Gujarat." The net-based campaign was also mobilizing for the possibility that Modi would be granted a visa in which case the organizers wanted to bring a mass protest (Biju Audio: Time Code: 14.10 – 14.43) to the front of Madison Square Garden where the Chief Minister would be speaking.
While a successful example of both diasporic organizing and internet activism, the Campaign to Stop Funding Hate blended (Biju Audio: Time Code: 14.45-18.34) many of the elements of traditional organizing while also bridging geographic distances and borders through a finely honed internet strategy.
Listen to Biju Mathew talk about organizing against Modi's proposed visit to the U.S.
Listen to a brief clip of Biju Mathew discussing campaign goals
Read a profile of Narendra Modi
See a pictogram of the Campaign to Stop Funding Hate's strategy
Read a longer history of the situation in Gujarat
Read about NYC community reactions to the riots
Posted by Lizzie 9:55 AM
Labels: audio, CSFH, Deepa, Gujarat, overview
