Modi to fill two auditoriums despite being dumped by Wharton

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Gujarat CM Narendra Modi plays it cool after being embarrassingly dumped by the Wharton India Economic Forum. Changing his initial plans, Modi will now be addressing Indian community living in the U.S. via video on March 9. The talking points of his speech are yet to be shared with the media.

Modi is likely to fill two auditoriums in New Jersey and Chicago when he gives a live speech organized by the Overseas Friends of BJP. Despite a dramatic change in plans, Modi has successfully drawn surprisingly strong support.

“I disagree profusely with Mr Modi at every level, but I think it is far better to debate his record and views rather than to try and suppress his voice by disinviting him. Once they had invited him, they had a duty to hear his point of view,” Congress Union Minister Shashi Tharoor alleged.

Modi was invited to give the keynote address to the Wharton India Economic Forum via video on 23 March. The invitation faced disapproval from three Indian American professors from the University of Pennsylvania. The opposing professors, Ania Loomba, the Catherine Bryson Professor of English, Suvir Kaul, the AM Rosenthal Professor of English and Toorjo Ghosh, Assistant Professor, gathered over 200 signatures to stop the event.

“We cannot give platforms to people who have violated so many human rights while being in power,” exclaimed Ania Loomba, a Penn English professor and one of the petitioners. “It’s shocking that Indian students at Wharton feel that someone who is one of the most controversial figures in India should be invited to celebrate India’s ‘development’ and economic success.”