JANUARY 25-26, 2015, NEW DELHI: Narendra Modi, less than a year on the hot seat, locks Barack Obama, the Republic Day guest that year, in a bear hug and refers to the US President as “My friend Barack”. The occasion is so special for Modi that he wears a bandhgala suit (in picture above) with his full name vertically embroidered on the fabric multiple times to resemble golden pinstripes. The resultant “suit-boot ki sarkar” jibes were too stinging, forcing Modi to give away the gifted suit for auction that fetched Rs 4.31 crore.
In 2019, in the “mango interview” with actor Akshay Kumar, Modi suggests that Obama is worried Modi sleeps for only a little over three hours a day. “Rashtrapati Obama jab mujhe mile, toh woh bhi sabse pehle merese isime ulajh gaye. Bole, ‘Modiji, kyun aisa karte hain aap?’ Hum dono achchhe dost hain, tu-taadi karke bulate hain ek doosre ko.… (When President Obama met me, the first thing he too had done was to get into an argument with me on this (the sleeping hours). He asked me: ‘Modiji, why do you do this?’ Now we are good friends, we are on tu-taadi terms).”
JUNE 22, 2023, US: Obama tells journalist Christiane Amanpour that “if the President (Joe Biden) meets with Prime Minister Modi, then the protection of the Muslim minority in a majority Hindu India, that’s something worth mentioning.... If I had a conversation with Prime Minister Modi – whom I know well – part of my argument would be that if you do not protect the rights of ethnic minorities in India, then there is a strong possibility India at some point starts pulling apart and we have seen what happens when you start getting those kinds of large internal conflicts. That would be contrary to the interests not just of Muslim India but also Hindu India. I think it’s important to be able to talk about these things honestly.”
At the White House, Modi insists there is no discrimination in India.
JUNE 23, 2023, INDIA: Journalist Rohini Singh tweets: “Has an FIR been filed in Guwahati yet against Obama for hurting sentiment? Is Assam police on its way to Washington to get Obama offloaded from some flight and arrest him?”
Assam chief minister and BJP’s Northeast top gun Himanta Biswa Sarma replies on Twitter: “There are many Hussain Obama in India itself. We should prioritize taking care of them before considering going to Washington. The Assam police will act according to our own priorities.
Rohini Singh tweets: “BIG: Former President of United States @BarackObama profiled as Muslim and equated with a criminal by a BJP Chief Minister. Is this the official position of India @MEAIndia?”
Journalist Siddharth Varadarajan tweets: “There’s absolutely no space for discrimination” said the Vishavguru in DC. He was lying, of course, which is why his Assam CM can reply to @rohini_sgh’s tweet by saying.... Shocking!”
Fact-checker Mohammed Zubair tweets: “Isn’t this an acknowledgement of religious discrimination by Chief Minister of Assam @himantabiswa by threatening to ‘take care’ Indians like ‘Hussain Obama’ (stresses on the name) who criticize Indian govt and speaks in line with Former US President @BarackObama?”