SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 8: The Pakistan American Democratic Forum (PADF) on Tuesday denounced the visit of Indian Home Minister, L.K Advani to the United States.

Advani is visiting the United States on the invitation of Attorney General John Ashcroft to meet US policy-makers and senior officials.

A PADF statement termed it as a matter of serious concern for the American citizens who view their tax dollars being spent on “hosting a terrorist” who was allegedly responsible for the demolition of a worship place, and whose supporters were indicted in the killing of Christian missionaries in India.

“Advani is an ardent supporter of Hitler’s Nazi Germany as he has praised the racist policies of the Nazis on several occasions,” the statement said.

At a time, when the United States is fighting terrorism, hosting of such elements would send a different message to the people, the statement added.

The forum urged President George Bush and Secretary of State Collin Powell to refrain from meeting such a high-profile “terrorist”.

Prof Bashir Ahmad, a PADF member, said that Advani’s extremist ideas are well known. “Advani’s Bharatiya Janata Party came to power on an anti-Muslim agenda. He is indeed one of the most prominent Hindu leaders who advocates establishing a pure Hindu state in India. Under his party’s instructions, educational textbooks have been revised to distort the historic facts in order to promote extreme Hindu nationalism,” he observed.

He said that Advani, who was involved in the demolishing of the historic Babri Mosque and subsequent killing of hundreds of Muslims, is now provoking war between India and Pakistan.

He pointed out that many right-wing parties are involved in the killing of Muslims, Christians and other ethnic groups throughout India.