Chicago: The shadow of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, and his alleged complicity in the 2002 communal riots in his state, has created a controversy here with the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions (CPWR) withdrawing its support to the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Swami Vivekananda.
The CPWR was formed in 1893 and organized the conference which Vivekananda addressed in Chicago that year.
Vivekananda's birth anniversary celebrations are to be held on September 27-28, under the banner of 'World Without Borders' with the VHP and several temples among its sponsors.
Withdrawing its support to the event, Dr Mary Nelson, vice chair of the board of CPWR said in a statement: "The Council is a 120-year-old peace building organization whose mission, like Swami Vivekananda's is to promote peace and inter-religious harmony. We honour Swami Vivekananda and that legacy he left creating inter-faith cooperation to build a just, peaceful and sustainable world. Our organization was not informed that an event we were asked to co-sponsor was also co-sponsored by organizations promoting controversial political positions.
