Following the anti-Modi demonstration at Brent Civic Centre calling on Barry Gardiner to withdraw his invitation to the controversial Gujerat politician there was an ezxchange on Twitter about allegations that Gardiner had refused a surgery appointment to a woman with a Muslim name citing a full list but granted one to a man with an 'anglo' name who rang later. Gardiner produced a list of people's names who had attended his surgery which included some of Muslim origin. The charge that he had tried to avoid meeting potential critics continue to be made.
Here the 'man with the English name' writes a Guest Blog for Wembley Matters describing what happened:
Here the 'man with the English name' writes a Guest Blog for Wembley Matters describing what happened:
As
a constituent of Brent North I was recently approached with a request to try
and book a session with my MP at his next Surgery. This came about as it
seemed that a number of people involved in the campaign against inviting
Narendra Modi to the UK had been unable to secure appointments until the end of
the month at the earliest.
On
4th September 2013 I made an email request at 21:32hrs to the office
of Barry Gardiner MP requesting a Surgery appointment the following Monday, 9th
September. I was offered a slot with a caseworker, Ms. Sylvia To, via email
the following morning pending the provision of some further details. The
appointment was confirmed over the phone late the following afternoon.
I
admit that in securing the appointment I used a little poetic license,
describing the reason for my request as “issues surrounding the new Civic
Centre” – which I euphemistically used to describe the planned demonstration.
Attending
the demonstration prior to my 12:50hrs appointment I was introduced to one of
the campaigners who had failed to secure a hearing, and updated on the day’s
events; Barry Gardiner had issued a letter to the demonstrators after a brief
discussion as he accessed the building, and people were being informed that
Narendra Modi would not be taking up the invitation to visit the UK. The letter
was a duplicate of an earlier missive to the Council of Indian Muslims (UK) dated
19th August, with an additional paragraph noting the right to
demonstrate and the small number of complaints the MP had received regarding
the invite.
Demonstrators
with access to the Gujarati media pointed out that Modi had not refused to
visit the UK, but was currently unable to do so due to the pressure of his role
in leading the Opposition electoral campaign for the 2014 elections.
Barry
Gardiner MP left the Civic Centre prior to my appointment, citing a late
request to attend a meeting in Westminster. My meeting with Ms. To lasted
exactly seven minutes and fifty-nine seconds from “Hello” to “Goodbye”.
Greeting
Ms. To, I thanked her for providing me with a session at such short notice; she
explained that normally it would take three weeks to get an appointment, but it
looked like I had probably secured a cancellation. I again expressed my
appreciation, clearly indicating that I was here as part of the demonstration
and had been concerned that I had been prioritised for a hearing due to my “Anglo”
name as other demonstrators had been unable to secure appointments. Ms. To said
that they had been told this earlier and there was a short discussion about
telephone line issues three weeks previously which was cut short when it was
made clear that appointments had been offered by the MP’s Office. (This indicates
the lack of a priority-based waiting list if true).
Ms.
To then expressed how “bemused” Barry Gardiner was to find the demonstration.
He had only received five letters via e-mail disputing the invite issued to
Modi – had I read the letter he had issued to the demonstrators? I said I had,
and it was a cut ‘n’ paste of his previous letter to the Council of Indian
Muslims, that sadly took no account of their recent reply which had been a
point by point refutation of his statements. Ms. To reiterated that the MP’s
Office had only received five emails opposing the invite to Modi; they had
fifteen pro-Modi messages after the invite was publicised, and the administrative
staff assigned issues importance according to public intervention. I pointed
out that there was obviously some feeling in the Borough opposing the invite: I
was advised to tell all those who felt this way that they should contact the MP’s
Office in writing. I expressed an ironic disappointment that the issue was to
be reduced to a “numbers game”, but agreed to pass the information on. Ms. To
apologised that I was not able to discuss the issues directly with Barry
Gardiner MP, as he would have been more able to respond to my issues. She then
indicated she could fill in a form with my concerns to be passed on to the MP. I
am now on record for raising the following points with my MP’s Office:
1. Modi is a known human rights abuser
and – according to the University of Chicago – a member of a proto-fascist
party. He is refused access to the USA. In the UK there are immigration
controls against giving access to those who abuse human rights or have
extremist political views. Why are we issuing an invite to such a man?
2. Why would Barry Gardiner MP ignore
the wishes of his voters and place more importance on the Gujarati economy?
3. As Chair of the “Labour Friends of
India” it is sad that my MP seems to be so ill-informed on this subject; he
needs to reply to the rebuttal of his previous comments – repeated in the
letter to the demonstrators today - by the Council of Indian Muslims (UK) soon;
4. The issue is not about the ability of
Modi to attend meetings in the UK; it is about refusing to issue visas of this
kind to those who are perceived as worthy of economic rehabilitation. The
invitation should be formally withdrawn, as it is now merely suspended.
