TEXT OF THE PETITION OPPOSING THE NOMINATION OF PREETA BANSAL ALONG WITH THE NAMES OF HINDU AND INDIAN AMERICAN LEADERS WHO HAVE ENDORSED THE USHA CAMPAIGN
To:
Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo
Office of Governor of New York
State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224.
Dear Mr. Governor,
We the undersigned oppose the nomination of Preeta D. Bansal, Esq. to the New York Court of Appeals. A judge on the State of New York’s highest court must be rational, have sound judgment and demonstrate an ability to assess facts in a non-prejudicial manner without presumption. We believe that, based on past actions and decisions taken and made by Ms. Bansal, her possession of the foregoing characteristics is questionable.
Specifically, in 2005 when Ms. Bansal served as the Chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) she and the Commission she led recommended that the United States Department of State deny Narendra Modi, the then Chief Minister of the Indian state of Gujarat, a diplomatic visa pursuant Section 212(a)(2)(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Agreement. That Section makes any foreign government official that directly carried out particularly severe violations of religious freedom ineligible for a visa to enter the United States. The basis for Ms. Bansal and the USCIRF’s recommendation was the alleged involvement of Mr. Modi in religious riots that took place in Gujarat in 2002.
Several independent judicial and investigative tribunals in India including those of India’s highest judicial body, the Supreme Court of India, have investigated Mr. Modi’s alleged involvement in the Gujarat riots and Mr. Modi has been cleared of any involvement in every instance. Despite this, in urging the State Department to deny Mr. Modi’s application for a visa to enter the United States, Ms. Bansal said “The [USCIRF] communicated with the State Department about the matter some time ago. We urge the department to act with appropriate Indian officials to forestall or prevent the planned visit [by Narendra Modi.]”
Ms. Bansal and the USCIRF’s recommendation were gravely irrational, irresponsible, prejudicial and presumptive. Ms. Bansal’s leadership role in adopting such a position clearly makes her unqualified for public service generally and judicial service on a state’s highest court in particular. In May of this year, Mr. Modi was elected Prime Minster of India with the first majority government in India in thirty years in what was the largest exercise of democratic rights of franchise the world has ever witnessed and this past week countless U.S. government leaders (including yourself) warmly welcomed Mr. Modi to the United States demonstrating that the decisions and actions taken by the USCIRF under Ms. Bansal’s leadership were inappropriate.
For the foregoing reasons, we respectfully urge you not to propose Ms. Bansal for confirmation to the New York Court of Appeals.
Sincerely,
Ankur Vaidya
President of FIA TriState, this is the largest umbrella organization of Indian American groups in the whole country with about 104 constituent members
Dr. Mahesh Mehta
President of various organizations such as GIBV, Convener of the Overseas Friends of BJP, International Vice President, World Hindu Council
Dr. Sudhir Parikh
Former President of FIA New York and Publisher of News India Times
Anjleeben Pandya
Senior leader, World Hindu Council
Chandrakant Patel
Former Chairman, Asian American Hotel Owners Association and Treasurer of NFIA
Umesh Shukla
Convener, Hindu Mandir Executives Conference, largest gathering of Hindu temple executives in North America
Nikunj Trivedi
Chariman, Board of Trustees, Hindu Students Council, the largest Hindu student organization outside India
Vinod Jhunjhunwala
President, Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation – USA
Dr. Vinod Prakash – President, India Development and Relief Fund
Subash Razdan
Former President and Chairman, NFIA, the umbrella organization of Indian organizations in US
Vishal Aggarwal
Author and Hindu Scholar
Kanchan Banerjee
Publisher of New Global Indian and Convener of Global Indian
Dr. Basant Tariyal
Scientist, Former VP, Lucent Technologies and Founding Global President of Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation
Sant Gupta
Former President of Durga Temple, Interfaith leader of Metro Washington and HMEC Leader
Jyotish Parekh
Former President, World Hindu Council – USA
Ramdas Lamb
Hindu Scholar and former advisor to Hindu American Foundation
Abhinav Dwivedi
Founding member and Vice President, Hindu University of America
Suddhatma Chaitanya
General Manager of Arsha Vidya Gurukulam
Dr. Krishna Mudal
President, AIM for Seva, USA
Dr. GNR Tripathi
Prominent Academician, Hindu Scholar and nominee for the Nobel Prize in Physics
Manhar Rama
Former Chairman, Asian American Hotel Owners Association
Dr. Dinesh Aggarwal
Former President, Overseas Friends of BJP
Ram Gehani
Former President, HSS, Washington DC
Dr. Ram Prakash Aggarwal
President HSS, Miami, Florida
Dr. Manohar Shinde
President, Dharma Civilization Foundation and prominent Hindu leader
Dr. Krishan Aggarwal
Former Chairman, Board of Trustees, AAPI
Dr. Deen Chandora
Founder, Vedic Temple of Atlanta and Cofounder of WAVES
Prasad Yelamanchi
President, Global Hindu Heritage Foundation
Aditi Banerjee, Esq.
Author and Hindu Scholar
Dr. Sujatha Reddy
Physician and well known humanitarian
Dr. Nagendra Rao
Global Management Strategist, Hindu Scholar and former Advisor to Hindu American Foundation
Indrani Rampersaud
Prominent leader of Caribean Hindus
Dhiru Shah
Prolific writer and President of India Awareness Forum
Bhikhubhai Patel
Founding member and Director, Shree Shakti Mandir, Atlanta
Kalyan Vishwanathan
Founder and President, Sanatana Dharma Foundation and Senior Executive, TCS
Satya Dosapati
Human Rights Activist
Dr. Yashpal Lakra
Former President, World Hindu Council – USA
Swadesh Katoch
Director, Bhutaneese Refugee Project, Sewa International
J P Rama
Former Chairman, Asian American Hotel Owners Association
Dileepbhai Patel
Chairman, Best Western International and former Chairman, Asian American Hotel Owners Association
Dr. Avinash Rangra
Mayor, Alpine, Texas
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Source: USHA