Matthews plays Hardball with the AAHOA

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Following up on my earlier post about Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s invitation to speak at the conference of the Asian-American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) meeting in Fort Lauderdale, FL, tipster Anuj G. alerts us to the fact that Chris Matthews of Hardball has canceled his speaking commitment after being pressured by Muslim groups. The New York Sun reports:

A prominent talk show host has canceled a speech to a conference of Indian-American hoteliers after coming under pressure from Muslim organizations and human-rights groups, who said another speaker invited to the meeting has a record of condoning anti-Muslim violence.

The host of MSNBC’s “Hardball,” Chris Matthews, announced yesterday that he would not appear as planned on March 24 at the Asian-American Hotel Owners Association meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

“Due to a scheduling conflict, Chris Matthews has canceled this appearance,” an MSNBC spokesman, Jeremy Gaines, said. He would not elaborate on the nature of the conflict.

In recent days, Muslim activists and others flooded the network with calls, letters, and e-mail urging Mr. Matthews to distance himself from the group. An Indian official billed as the “chief guest” at the meeting, Narendra Modi, has been accused of tolerating anti-Muslim violence in the state of Gujarat, where he is chief minister.

The president of the Indian Muslim Council-USA, Dr. Ashwini Rao of New York, said he does not credit the official explanation for Mr. Matthews’s action. “Most likely, that’s not correct, because we’ve been talking to him for the last week and a half, at least, and they’ve never said it’s a scheduling conflict,” Dr. Rao said. “I was hoping he’d take a more moral stance.”

There is another interesting twist to this story however. Apparently the way the press found out that Matthews was backing out was via a PENTAGON mailing list. What the heck does the Pentagon have to do with Matthews and Modi?

In a bizarre and mysterious twist, some in the press corps learned of Mr. Matthews’s decision from a Council on American-Islamic Relations news release that was distributed to reporters yesterday via an e-mail list the Pentagon uses to circulate stories about the military.

The Pentagon later issued a statement calling the distribution unintentional and saying it had “taken steps to guard against a recurrence.”

A spokesperson for the Islamic group, Rabiah Ahmed, denied that her organization sent the message out through the Pentagon list. “We had nothing to do with it,” she said. “Apparently, somebody hacked into their computer system and sent out our press release on their listserv.”

In addition to having an invitation to speak at the AAHOA conference, Modi has also been invited to give a talk to the Association of Indian Americans for North America as shown in an email they have distributed:

Narendra Modi
Visionary & Dynamic young Leader of India
&
Lion of Gujarat

Madison Square Garden, New York City
The Theater
4 Pennsylvania Plaza
New York, New York 10001
212.465.MSG1 (6741)
Date: Sunday, March 20th 2005

Time 4:30 PM Onwards
For more information please contact: Tel: 732 246-1753

I have never heard of this Association of Indian Americans for North America and they have no website that I can find. DRUM might be organizing a protest against this event as well.

Finally, Trinity College Professor Vijay Prashad writes an insightful commentary on the CounterPunch.org website. Here is an excerpt:

Within AAHOA there is considerable diversity, between the members who own a single motel or else those who own what amounts to a chain. AAHOA’s president from a few years ago, Bakulesh “Buggsi” Patel is the chief of Buggsi Hospitality Group that owns at least thirteen hotels and is widely integrated in the property markets in Washington, Idaho and Oregon states. Patel told a business journalist, “Our members own 35 to 40 percent of all lodgings in the United States, and when you get into the mid-market to budget range, it’s more like 55 to 60 percent of the market.” Even with this clout, Patel continued, Asians faced discrimination, “In the beginning, we were stereotyped as bad operators. It was hard to get insurance for properties, and we faced discrimination from suppliers.” People like Patel formed AAHOA to fight against these forms of business discrimination, and to gain a higher profile for their work.

In 2000, at the height of his game, Patel told the journalist J. N. Shenoy that AAHOA had not “leveraged our strengths for political purposes.” Patel wanted to hire a full-time lobbyist in DC, who would get some respect for AAHOA’s over seven thousand members who own over $40 billion worth of real estate and dominate the sector used by most of us when we’re on the road. In early February of 2005, AAHOA went on a legislative field trip of Congress, meeting with members to ensure either funds or exemptions from the Americans with Disabilities Act, to protect access to the Small Business Administration’s 7(a) start-up funds, and the 504 program for long-term financing of fixed assets (along with fixed-rate second mortgages). In other words, like other business associations in these neo-liberal times, AAHOA wanted as much free money from the government and as little regulation as possible. For a group founded to fight discrimination, it is a scandal that it will not honor the Americans with Disabilities Act without question.

AAHOA realized Patel’s hope of having a politician bless the organization when newly minted Congressman Bobby Jindal (Republican-LA) addressed the field-trip in February 2005. But even this is not enough for a group that wants visibility. What better way to gain the public eye than welcome the butcher of Gujarat to be the chief guest at its next major event?

Update: Sepia Mutiny reader Ashwin correctly points out the following:

I have a couple of complaints about the NY Sun article :

1. The headline says “Matthews of ‘Hardball’ Retreats from Speech After Muslim Protest”. The Coalition Against Genocide which organised the protest (including the signing of this petition), is a much broader group with members of many religions (and no religion).

2. As far as i can tell Ashwini Rao is not the president of Indian Muslim Council-USA; but is, rather, associated with the CAG and INSAF (International South Asia Forum). Correct me if I’m wrong.

31 thoughts on “Matthews plays Hardball with the AAHOA”

  1. While I believe that Modi should have been tried for his negligence in the Gujarat riots, it’s a bit of a stretch to put him in the same basket with Bobby Jindal. Jindal’s evangelical streak may be annoying, but I don’t recall 1,000+ dead Muslims resulting from his actions. Another example of rhetorical over-reaching by the left.

  2. Yep, I agree. It’s more than a bit of a stretch but Prashad by his past writings seems to be a Bobby hater. I don’t think its so much a “left” thing as it is Prashad’s own biases.

  3. ” I don’t think its so much a “left” thing as it is Prashad’s own biases.”

    If that’s the case, then I modify my criticism to just Prashad’s sloppy writing.

  4. “While I believe that Modi should have been tried for his negligence in the Gujarat riots” Strange are the ways of the right wing. Modi’s complicity in the riots in now reduced to ‘negligence’. While we are at that, lets call it benign negligence. Maybe even ‘irresponsibility’.

  5. Al,

    As Chief Minister, Modi was responsible for enforcing the law in teh state, which he failed to do, which is negligence. That his negligence resulting in mass murder is not a light matter, so I fail to see how sucha charge is a reduction in severity.

    As for changing the words even further, you might be more effective at critiquing what is actually written, rather than complaining about a post that was not.

  6. “Visionary & Dynamic young Leader of India & “Lion of Gujarat”. This vision of Modi is not only shared by some lunatic fringe organization but is shared by a lot of Indians. Modi after presiding over his pogrom won 70% of the votes in Gujarat, in an election campaign in which he gloated over teaching a lesson to the Gujarati Muslims. There was a poll done in India of students in the top colleges in either Delhi or India. The question was who was their ideal leader. The number one person on their list was Adolf Hitler. ( Gandhi was No.3) So I wont be surprised if a lot of college kids in India idolize Modi as well. Btw the source for Indians idolizing Hitler : http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2003-02/20d'souza_.cfm http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_go1658/is_200310/ai_n9171786 http://www.thejewishweek.com/top/editletcontent.php3?artid=2951 http://www.harpers.org/HarpersIndex2003-09.html

  7. I have a couple of complaints about the NY Sun article :

    1. The headline says “Matthews of ‘Hardball’ Retreats from Speech After Muslim Protest“. The Coalition Against Genocide which organised the protest (including the signing of this petition), is a much broader group with members of many religions (and no religion).

    2. As far as i can tell Ashwini Rao is not the president of Indian Muslim Council-USA; but is, rather, associated with the CAG and INSAF (International South Asia Forum). Correct me if I’m wrong.

  8. Al,

    Is Modi a bigot? Yes. Did he order gangs of Hindus to target Muslims? The evidence is not reliable. Did he fail to enforce the law and arrest rioters? Much stronger evidence here.

    You cannot arrest a man for being a bigot, but you can arrest him for criminal action or inaction. The hotel owners blew it on this one, and Matthews did the smart thing in not attending.

  9. And check out the bruehaha over Modi and his party’s affiliation with Indicorps, an allegedly secular organization. Its easy, I think, to turn a blind eye to the political consequences of supporting “good work” or “charitable donations.”

    http://stopfundinghate.org/resources/Saff$/Jan-Feb2005.htm

    “The South Asian Conference Council (SACC) at Yale University organized a conference on solidarity in the South Asian community. The objective was to increase social activism in the South Asian student community. The conference included panels on youth activism and workers rights and brought together some very progressive activists in the community (such as Nahar Alam from Andolan, Saru Jayaraman from Restaurant opportunities Center of New York, Chandra Bhatnagar from the ACLU to mention a few). In conflict with this progressive list of speakers, the organizers also invited Sonal Shah, vice president of Goldman Sachs and co-founder of Indicorps. According to their website, “Indicorps is a non-partisan, non-religious, non-profit organization that encourages Indians around! the world to actively participate in India’s progress.” While some of the organizations that Indicorps works with are indeed secular and progressive, at issue was their affiliation with organizations of the Sangh parivar. These connections range from personal affiliation of Sonal Shah with the VHP-A (see http://www.vhp-america.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=13), institutional affiliation of Indicorps with IDRF (IDRF is one of Indicorps’ supporters; see http://www.indicorps.org/index.cfm?function=supporters&level=1), Indicorps’ involvement with Sangh parivar projects such as Ekal Vidyalaya (see http://www.indicorps.org/index.cfm?function=partners&level=1). Perhaps most questionable was Indicorps’ decision to accept an award from the “butcher of Gujarat” Narendra Modi in November 2004, at a time when numerous human rights activists have been threatened from continuing their work (http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/asia/india/gujarat/).

    The conference organizers allowed a couple of progressive youth collectives (Organizing Youth! and Youth Solidarity Summer) to read a statement and ask Indicorps to explain their association with the Sangh Parivar. Far from explaining, Sonal Shah admitted her affiliation to the VHP-A, claimed that she would take money from anyone (including the KKK!), and used a young Muslim volunteer to claim that Indicorps was in fact secular. Such is not the kind of solidarity that one expects from a non-partisan, non-religious organization. In fact, based on the evidence and Sonal Shah’s admission, Indicorps can be listed as one of many front organizations of the Sangh parivar in the US. Soon after this public discussion, the Patriotic Sons of Mother India (a virulent Sangh outfit) posted a defence of Indicorps by attempting to defame Youth Solidarity Summer as anti-India and anti-Hindu- typical reaction from the Sangh for one of their own!”

  10. Modi’s complicity in the riots in now reduced to ‘negligence’. While we are at that, lets call it benign negligence. Maybe even ‘irresponsibility’.

    Give it a while or the right spin, it will go down as “oversight”

  12. Al, the fascination for hitler is because hitler is an equivalent term for dictator in India and there is an age old belief that stems from extreme frustration with politics that only a dictator can solve the country’s problems. The fascination has very little to do with the holocaust. To someone who has lived in America, this would definitely sound very insensitive because we have been continuously exposed to the true horrors of the holocaust. In my experience, few Indian college students have been exposed as much – mainly because there are very few jewish people in India.

  14. Dude,

     Is Bin Laden an icon for extremist Muslims? Sure

 Is Modi an icon for extremist Hindus? Hell yeah.

    But Hitler is not a religious or even an extremist icon. I would love to see how many college going students have nice or even neutral things to say about the holocaust. And I’m not speculating, I must have heard “we need a hitler in this country” at the end of a rant on political discussion about 100 times in my years in school and college.

  15. Ajju, You stated “I must have heard “we need a hitler in this country” at the end of a rant on political discussion about 100 times in my years in school and college “. Where on earth did you go to school/college ?

  18. From some quick research I think you may be right. I have updated the post with your comments.

    Thanks Abhi; for the change, and promotion from comments to main post.

  19. AIA is pretty major, at least in so far as the mainstream organizations go. Here’s a small description from NamastheNRI:

    “OBJECTIVES: The Association of Indians in America was formed on August 20, 1967, with the first convention of lndians Immigrants in Princeton, New Jersey for fulfilling the following objectives:

    * To concern itself with the social welfare of the Indians who have decided to live in the United States, and to help them become a pan of the mainstream of American life.
* To facilitate participation by the membership of AIA and others in the development and progress of India.
* To facilitate involvement of members of the Association in American community life through charitable, educational and cultural activities"

    They have chapters around the nation, the NY one, which puts on the Diwali festival at South Street Seaport, as well as the India Independence Day Parade, can be seen here: http://www.aianewyork.org/

    I’m not surprised that they’re bringing Modi.

  20. I’m so glad you posted on this, Abhi.

    There’s going to be a protest rally at 31st and 7th (in front of MSG) on 3/20/05 (Sunday) at 4 p.m. in NYC if anyone’s interested in coming organizing by CAG.

    The rally’s being organized because (I’ve been told) Modi’s visit is the first step in an effort to resurrect his image; if he’s able to do that, he’s going to be allowed to seek national prominence in the BJP. So you can see why a demonstration might in order to prevent future Gujarats from happening or the BJP from wholeheartedly embracing the Modi way of doing things.

    Please note also that the post on indymedia that you linked to advertising the Modi appearance was posted by “Patriotic Sons of Mother India”, what seems to be a really scary fanatical group (they maintain a blacklist of “enemies of bharat” among other things).

    I think the indicorps issue is a little more complicated so far, although it’s yet to be resolved.

  23. I posted the action alert to the trackback link above. People (i.e. you) are being urged to contact execs (phone and e-mail) at American Express to let them know what you think about all this. It’s really easy to do. For more information on Modi’s involvement in the Gujarat massacres and subsequent lack of accountability, see the excellent Human Rights Watch report and other links on their site and Amnesty International.

    The action alert is also available at the IMC-USA site.

  24. And for a change, the U.S. government decides to back religious freedom. Modi has been denied a diplomatic visa. His business/travel visa has been revoked. A spokesman for the embassy said this was specifically to follow the act that prohibits anybody who was ‘responsible for or directly carried out at anytime particularly severe violations of religious freedom’ from obtaining a visa. Modi is expected to give a press conference at 1400 IST.

  25. are you guys kidding me, i just saw someone comparing modi to bin laden. I wasnt aware that bin laden was a DEMOCRATICALLY elected official.

  27. Pavan, I would argue that it is worse to support and promote genocide as a democratically elected official. At least Bin Laden is clear from the start that he supports genocide of ‘American infidels’. Modi was supposed to safeguard his constituents’ lives but he did exactly the opposite.

  28. On a side note, Do you guys think INDIA SHOULD NOT ISSUE VISA TO BUSH BECAUSE OF OVER 200,000 MURDERS IN IRAQ ?

  29. Yes! I think so. But we don’t have the balls to do that. And oh it would require a lot more BALLS, considering that Gujarat is not the largest economic entity in the world but American is.