'Invitation to Modi very much on'

AAHOA has denied reports that it has cancelled the invitation to Modi, writes S Rajagopalan. Have Your Say

The Gujarati-dominated Asian American Hotel Owners Association AAHOA has categorically denied reports that it has cancelled the invitation to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to be the chief guest at its convention in Florida this week.

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"The invitation is very much on. The news that has been circulated is completely wrong and baseless," AAHOA treasurer Danny Patel told the Hindustan Times on Sunday from Georgia, where he runs 14 hotels.

If the US authorities fail to resolve the visa denial issue by March 24, when the hoteliers' three-day convention begins at Fort Lauderdale, Modi will address this meeting as well by video-conferencing, subject to technical feasibility.

Refuting an agency report quoting hotelier Mike Patel as saying that the invitation to Modi has been cancelled, AAHOA vice-chairman Manhar P Rama said: "We have not withdrawn the invitation. We will like to have him here and address our members on investment opportunities in Gujarat and elsewhere in India."

AAHOA office-bearers were emphatic that Mike Patel, a past chairman but an ordinary member, is not authorised to make statements on behalf of the 8,700-member body, 95 per cent of whom are of Gujarati stock.

An adviser to the Bush administration on religious minorities, Mike Patel had reportedly claimed that the Gujaratis settled in the US had decided to stand by the administration on the visa issue.

Modi, meanwhile, will partially beat the ban imposed on his travel by addressing an Indian American gathering in New York's Madison Square Garden via satellite. A giant screen at the 5,600 seat hall will enable the audience to "see and hear" Modi.

The Association of Indians of North America (AINA), which is organising the event, said it still expects a good crowd this evening.

The US action continues to draw mixed reaction from Indian American groups. Bodies like the AINA want the Bush administration to review its "shocking decision of denying visa to a democratically-elected Chief Minister". But other groups, like the Coalition Against Genocide, which had campaigned to bar Modi's entry, want the authorities to remain firm and resolute with their decision.