On September 27th, activists protested against the controversial Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his speech at SAP Center in San Jose.  Numerous Pitman High School students, such as Tarnjit Kaur (10) and Jasmeen Sandhu (9) from Pitman also attended the protest in support of the activists.

Prime Minister Modi was on a tech tour in the Silicon Valley that weekend for his project Digital India. His tour also included visits to the headquarters of Facebook, Google, Tesla, and Adobe in an effort to promote his campaign.

Protesters believed his real goal for coming to California, where many South Asians dwell, was to gain the support and strengthen the stronghold of RSS, a Hindu extremist group.

According to the New York Times, many protestors hold Modi responsible for the 2002 Muslim Genocide in Gujarat and the 1,000 people, mostly Muslim, who were murdered; 20,000 homes and businesses that were demolished; 360 Mosques that were torn down; and the 150,000 people that were unsettled afterwards.  He was the Chief Minister of Gujarat at the time and continued to be until he became Prime Minister in 2014.

Shouts and chants of “No Justice, No Peace!” “Modi Fail” and “Modi Shame Shame!”

filled the air from the estimated crowd of 3,000. Among the crowd were mostly Sikhs, a religious minority in India situated in the state of Punjab. Other groups were Dalits, Christians, Muslims, women equality groups, LGBT groups, AJA (Alliance for Justice and Accountability), SFJ (Sikhs for Justice), SYA (SIkh Youth of America), OFMI (Organization for Minorities of India), and others.

Signs bore the slogans ” Atrocity Nation, End Caste Apartheid Now!”, “Justice for Gujarat Victims!”, and more.

Sikhs shouted slogans such as “Khalistan Zindabad!” (“Long Live Khalistan!”) – Khalistan’ being the ideology of a free state for Sikhs and minorities separate from India.

For countless hours, Modi supporters and activists shouted slogans at each other on end.  The scene later moved into the park where a screen was displaying Modi’s live speech from inside the SAP Center.

Protesters were first denied entry into the public park by the police, who were given orders not to speak to the protesters, while supporters were allowed to.  After speaking with officials, activists were given entrance into the park and were allowed to protest peacefully, yet were assaulted by a few violent Modi supporters who were gathered there to watch him speak.  Police changed into riot gear and stood on guard in between both of the groups, tensions sparking on both sides.

The PM is blamed for not doing enough to stop the riots; in fact, he is blamed for sponsoring them. “This was not a riot,” one senior police official told the New York Times. “It was a state-sponsored pogrom.”

“Seeing all the minorities in India: Sikhs, Gujaratis, Muslims, and others come together against Prime Minister Modi was eye opening and reassuring. We may have a chance to have our voices heard after all,” said Pitman High senior, Deenpal Kaur.

“My people in Punjab are being oppressed and the people responsible are not just roaming free without justice; they’re meeting with the CEO of Facebook,” she continued. “When will the Indian Government listen to our cries for justice?”