Some prominent criminals who appeared alongside Modi were George Bush, Osama bin Laden, Anthony Garcia and Joseph Kony
JUBAIL, SAUDI ARABIA: Although Google has apologised for the images of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi appearing among the top 10 criminals in the world, will this apology be good enough to hide some bitter facts? Some of the prominent criminals who appeared alongside Modi were George Bush, Osama bin Laden, Anthony Garcia and Joseph Kony. We understand why Google apologised within no time; it obviously doesn’t want to upset a sitting prime minister of a country with over one billion population — it’s an issue of business, not of principle. But does it matter if someone is sitting in a position of authority; shall we forget what he or she has done in the past?
Remember that Modi was earlier denied a US visa due to his role as chief minister during the Gujarat riots of 2002. But those restrictions were lifted when he became India’s prime minister. The ghosts of those who were killed, burned, injured, maimed, looted and displaced during and after the riots, however, have nothing to do with business etiquettes or foreign governments’ political limitations. Their search for justice is far from over; they have nothing to do with Google’s excuse that the search engine’s algorithm erroneously included Modi in the top 10 criminals list. Thousands of Modi supporters took to social media to express their anger, asking Google to apologise.
This was just a reality check. In fact, Modi is leading religious extremists on both sides of the border. He has given a new lease of life to religious extremists in Pakistan to force the government to put aside any peace agenda and work for total destruction of each other. Sure, no one likes the truth, especially if he or she is at fault because the truth always bites. Modiji, mind you, no one is protesting on behalf of the other nine criminals on Google’s top 10 criminals’ list; the search engine’s algorithm is a political tool and can’t be that wrong.
Masood Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, June 16th, 2015.
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