The Hindu Business Line : Visa denial: No big deal

THERE has been no reprieve in the issue of the grant of a US visa to the Gujarat Chief Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, despite the Indian government's demarche. On balance, it is no great deal!

If one looks at the plight of the common man applying for visas, denials should not come as a surprise. Procuring a visa is, at the best of times, dicey. While all governments claim that they are issued based on some criteria, in practice one hears horror stories of denial of visas despite fulfilling the so-called criteria.

India is no exception. In fact, additionally, our consulates abroad are notorious for delay, which is another way of denial.

Of course, Mr Narendra Modi is no common man. He allegedly fiddled when Ahmedabad burnt, even if he was not actually stoking the fire. His minions in the administration too forgot that they a had a duty to protect and preserve.

The issue, however is, has a foreign government the right to treat him differently when his own State has democratically elected him? Every government, even those — such as the American administration — that are heavily criticised by liberal thinkers, has a right to exercise its sovereignty.

The well-known writer Graham Greene and several other luminaries with Leftist leanings, including Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Dario Fo, Pablo Neruda and Carlos Fuentes, were denied visas to the US during the McCarthy era. Later, however, the US government reportedly admitted its error, particularly when these men became even more famous. Denial of visas added to their stature and earned their works even wider acclaim.

So, why should Mr Modi worry about this? In fact, this can become a badge of honour whenever competitive nationalism becomes fashionable. For all its human rights rhetoric, after the Tiananmen Square Massacre, the US State Department dealt with the very same set in China who ought, by the former's standards, to have been shunned. With Gujarat well on its way to being India's economic powerhouse, it may not be long before the US forgets that the visa was an issue circa 2005.

Whatever be the official reason cited by the US administration, those with insider information are of the opinion that the present administration sees Mr Modi as a staunch Hindu and ipso facto against all other religions.

India's assertion of sovereignty is facing a more severe test with the ongoing Iran-India pipeline project. So, the country should concentrate more on energy security rather than on the fate of one man's visa.

Moreover, is it really necessary to make so much of this incident when thousands of others from India are routinely treated with inhospitable, even rude, questions and remarks such as: "Why do you want to visit the US?" and "Show me your return ticket?" after waiting in long queues for hours in sun and rain outside the consulate.

So long as we think there is something to be gained by going to the US, we have to put up with the vagaries of the visa issuing authorities.

Perhaps Modi should ad lib, a la Groucho Marx, "I don't want to visit any country that will (not) issue me a visa".

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Visa denial: No big deal

Strengthen farm base

Stock market: Barometer of economy?

Regulatory burden in the name of investor protection

Auditors should check the stocks but not necessarily talk to lawyers

Taxing fringe benefits: Don't harm the goose that lays golden eggs

VAT implementation

Poverty made worse