“Unvaccinated” Modi Allowed to Enter USA: Mamata Banerjee
The U.S. exploits human rights abuses in India for its commercial interests, as the U.S. believes that India is a big market for its products and services.
By Rakesh Raman
West Bengal chief minister (CM) Mamata Banerjee has questioned the U.S. decision to allow prime minister (PM) Narendra Modi to travel there despite having received the unauthorized Covaxin Covid-19 vaccine.
Since Covaxin has not been recognised by the American government as well as the World Health Organization (WHO), people vaccinated with Covaxin are treated as “unvaccinated” and they face various restrictions while traveling to other countries.
According to an NDTV report on September 26, Ms Banerjee questioned how Modi was permitted to enter the United States as he had received the Covaxin vaccine.
It is largely believed that the Indian vaccines – Covishield and Covaxin – are not properly developed and may cause harm to the vaccine recipients instead of protecting them from the virus. The UK has also refused to accept travelers who are vaccinated with Covishield — the Indian variant of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured under licence in India.
As Covaxin continues to be a risky vaccine, new reports suggest that WHO has further delayed the emergency use authorization (EUA) for Covaxin, as WHO has sent more technical queries to its manufacturer Bharat Biotech. But this unauthorized vaccine is still being used in India.
Although Modi claimed that he was administered Covaxin developed by Bharat Biotech, he was allowed to enter the U.S. Modi was visiting the USA from 22-25 September, 2021 at the invitation of the U.S. President Joe Biden who has failed to contain the contagion in his country.
Earlier, the U.S. administration had denied visa to Modi in view of the allegations of human rights violations against him in the 2002 incidents of riots and carnage in Gujarat. But now as he has managed to become the PM of India, Modi is visiting the U.S. frequently because now he enjoys political immunity.
Moreover, now the U.S. ignores the human rights violations in India under Modi’s regime because the Biden administration is focused on its commercial interests. As the U.S. leaders are dishonest, they put profits before people. While they criticize corruption and human rights violations in some small countries, they ignore the same or worse crimes in India.
The U.S. – which is the self-styled promoter of democracy in the world – has been downplaying the demise of democracy in India. The U.S. leaders frequently hobnob with Modi and his colleagues despite their regular criticism of Modi’s autocratic idiosyncrasies.
The U.S., in fact, exploits human rights abuses in India for its commercial interests, as the U.S. believes that India is a big market for its products and services.
The modus operandi of the U.S. administration is to subtly intimidate Modi with the accusations of corruption and human rights violations, and then force him to buy American products or services worth billions of dollars.
Now, under the influence of their greed, Biden and his colleagues defied their own Covid rules and allowed “unvaccinated” Modi to meet them.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of a humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society.
