Hello Ms.Tenzer,

I am writing to urge American Express to withdraw as the founding sponsor of 2005 convention of the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. This way AMEX will not be seen as condoning the massacres and still ongoing persecution of religious minorities under Mr. Modi's leadership in Gujarat, India.

Narendra Modi is the Chief Executive of the Gujarat State Government that was complicit in the massacres and rapes of thousands of people as documented by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, US State Department and the Indian National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). The Supreme Court of India has rebuked him calling him a "modern day Nero" for his actions during the pogroms. The 2002 Gujarat pogroms specifically targeted women and children and used sexual mutilation as an ethnic cleansing tool. I believe that American Express has been misled by AAHOA.

Chris Matthews of MSNBC Hardball program who was scheduled to give a keynote address at the convention has already withdrawn.

I am now asking American Express to withdraw their support to the AAHOA convention.