(UCAN) — A visiting parliamentary delegation from Germany on April 8 justified the European Union (EU) debarring Gujarat state Chief Minister Narendra Modi from visiting its member nations.
The EU imposed the ban after sectarian violence in 2002 killed more than 1,000 Muslims in Gujarat. Muslim and human rights groups have accused Modi of tacitly supporting Hindu radical groups that attacked Muslims.
The German delegates said they were on an unofficial visit to India with the approval of Chancellor Angela Merkel and the German parliament.
One of them, Ute Granold, said the visit aimed to improve relations between her country and India. However, German society and companies are “very sensitive to human rights issues.”
In Gujarat, the group met politicians from various parties, survivors of the 2002 riots and Church leaders to study the human rights situation in Gujarat.
Granold, a Christian Democratic Union (CDU) member of the German parliament, expressed surprise that courts in India have not decided on the Gujarat anti-Muslim riots even after eight years.
Eurasia Review for more