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NY suit accuses Indian PM of role in 2002 violence

FILE - In this Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014, file photo, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses business leaders as he launches his "Make in India" initiative, in New Delhi, prior to his scheduled departure to the United States. A human rights group has sued Modi in New York for what it says was his complicity in sectarian violence in his country in 2002. (AP Photo/Saurabh Das, File)
FILE - In this Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014, file photo, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses business leaders as he launches his "Make in India" initiative, in New Delhi, prior to his scheduled departure to the United States. A human rights group has sued Modi in New York for what it says was his complicity in sectarian violence in his country in 2002. (AP Photo/Saurabh Das, File) FILE - In this Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014, file photo, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses business leaders as he launches his "Make in India" initiative, in New Delhi, prior to his scheduled departure to the United States. A human rights group has sued Modi in New York for what it says was his complicity in sectarian violence in his country in 2002. (AP Photo/Saurabh Das, File)

By Associated Press 3 min read

NEW YORK (AP) – A federal court in New York has summoned India’s prime minister to respond to a lawsuit accusing him of human rights abuses, a move that casts a shadow over the Indian leader’s first trip to the U.S. as head of government on Friday.

The lawsuit against Narendra Modi stems from long-standing allegations that he was complicit in devastating religious riots in his home state of Gujarat in 2002. The human rights group American Justice Center filed the suit Thursday in Manhattan federal court on behalf of two unnamed survivors of the violence in the state of Gujarat.

The plaintiffs are seeking monetary and punitive damages and a judgment that Modi’s conduct amounted to genocide when he was chief minister of Gujarat.

Modi was elected prime minister in May. He was scheduled to arrive in New York on Friday with a welcome normally reserved for rock stars – a sold-out appearance at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.

Modi’s five-day trip is tightly packed: He will be meeting President Barack Obama and a slew of top American officials, addressing the U.N. General Assembly and interacting with the heads of major U.S. companies and influential Indian-Americans. He is also scheduled to meet privately with Mayor Bill de Blasio later Friday.