Anti-Modi protesters to stage demonstrations at Madison Square Garden

New York: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arouses strong visceral emotions. He is attracting both a sold-out crowd for a speech at Madison Square Garden on Sunday and angry protesters who through a US lawsuit are attempting to hold him responsible for the 2002 Gujarat rioting. [caption id=“attachment_1733451” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] PM Narendra Modi is on a five-day trip to the US. PTI[/caption] Modi will speak to a sold-out crowd of 20,000 people at Madison Square Garden in a show sparkling with laser lights, boisterous bhangra and former Miss America Nina Davuluri as co-host. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have added extra trains to accommodate the expected crowds. Police are also preparing for angry protestors who will stage elaborate demonstrations, some of them disruptive, to call for justice. “It is a cause for great alarm that a man with his track record has become a head of state. We have to take a stand for what is right,” said Gurpatwant Pannun, a human rights lawyer based in New York. Pannun’s group Alliance for Justice and Accountability intends to wave black flags and picket Madison Square Garden on Sunday and organize protests outside the White House on Tuesday. Large posters saying “Modi lies, they die” were distributed by protestors on Saturday in Times Square and are likely to pop up at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. Modi has kicked off his five-day American charm offensive facing an unwelcome reminder of his once-strained relations with his host nation: a lawsuit from a little known group alleging he’s an autocrat who failed to control the attacks on Muslims by Hindu mobs or show enough remorse over the killings. “The case against Prime Minister Modi is an unequivocal message to human rights abusers everywhere. Time and place and the trappings of power will not be an impediment to justice,” said John Bradley of the American Justice Centre. With US officials making clear that Modi has immunity as a head of state while on American soil, the lawsuit is likely to be little more than an irritant in the short term. White House spokesman Josh Earnest stressed that heads of government enjoyed immunity from US lawsuits. There are concerns, however, that the rights group may cause a commotion in New York as it tries to get the lawsuit papers served on Modi. It is paying professional lawsuit “servers” and offering a $10,000 reward to anyone who can get close enough to Modi to hand him the papers. The chances of anyone collecting on the reward are slim. Security around Modi is fierce. He is being guarded by his own bodyguards who began staking out public venues like New York’s dowager landmark hotel The Pierre and Madison Square Garden from Thursday. Modi is also being guarded by a full US secret service contingent.