India’s ‘Most Admired and Most Feared’ Politician Stirs Controversy in US

Indian politician Narendra Modi is despised and adored in the western Indian state of Gujarat. He’s controversial outside India as well. The US revoked his visa in 2005 because of allegations that he was implicated in Hindu riots that took the lives of more than 1000 Muslims in 2002. Now, Time magazine has put Narendra Modi on the cover of its Asia edition, and has speculated that he might someday lead Indian.

Reporter Anu Anand is based in Delhi. She tells host Lisa Mullins that Narenda Modi has cultivated a pro-business image in the western Indian state of Gujarat, and has helped make it one of the richest states in India.

“He represents both the potential for enormous progress here in India economically etc., but he also represents some of the worst that this country has to offer in terms of the religious divide,” says Anand.

Anand says many of Modi’s supporters see him as standing for “Hindu-pride.”

“And that can be both a very galvanizing force but also a very destructive one,” she says.
“For his detractors, they would probably argue that he possibly has blood on his hands, and he certainly for the very least has a lot to answer for.”