Kenya in ferment, Modi wants emergency visas

Nairobi/New Delhi, Jan 3: Despite a police ban to hold rally in violence-hit Kenya, Opposition leader Raila Odinga is all set to hold a rally here today. Security has been beefed up around the venue where Odinga will address the rally.

According to media reports, over 300 people were killed and at least 70, 000 people have left their homes following clashes between Odinga"s supporters and police after the presidential election result was declared on Sunday. Odinga has reportedly boycotted reconciliation talks with Mwai Kibaki who won the presidential election on December 27.

Meanwhile, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to issue emergency visas to violence affected Indians in Kenya who want to return to the country temporarily.

Ever since post-election riots broke out in Kenya, the Gujarati diaspora has been living in fear. Hundreds of Gujarati businessmen have taken shelter in a temple in the Kenyan town of Kisumu. Offices and factories belonging to Gujaratis had been looted and their houses attacked by residents.

There are about 43,000 Gujaratis in Nairobi and about 3,000 in Kisumu.

On Wednesday, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said, “There is no report of any person of Indian origin having been subjected to any violence or hurt."

He also said that the government was monitoring the situation in Kenya, which hosts about 75,000 Indians, and the High Commission in Nairobi was in touch with the community groups.

Sarna also pointed out that the violence was not targeted against Asians or Indians, but was a result of the internal situation in that country.

ANI