“Their attempt to invoke an admitted mistake on the part of the US government in denying Modi a visa as a ‘powerful signal’ is a stark case of false reasoning ...and a deplorable attempt to exhume ugly lies about Modi’s attitude towards Muslims,” it said.

The “allegations that somehow academic freedom is under threat in India because of administrative changes at a couple of institutions are completely belied by the reality of what Indian citizens see in their news media every day,” the counter petition said. “On the contrary, for all their talk about assaults on academic freedom, the signatories of the anti-Modi letter have never admitted that the subject of the greatest censorship and distortion in South Asian academics in recent years has been Narendra Modi,” it said.

Rejecting “the faculty statement against Modi in its entirety,” the pro-Modi group asked the other “to introspect, change and for once seek to earn the trust and respect of the community in whose name they have been making a living all these years.” Responding on the Academe Blog, the anti-Modi group said “despite the intimidation and harassment we have received at this blog site and elsewhere” their numbers had swelled from 125 to 135. The group claimed that it “did not ask Silicon Valley companies not to invest in India; we asked them to consider carefully the terms of partnership with India.”

“The objective of our letter is to raise awareness and debate in Silicon Valley and elsewhere, of Mr Modi’s record on key issues related to ‘Digital India,’” it said.

Even as they raised questions about Digital India, the group in its original August 27 letter acknowledged that Modi, “as Prime Minister of a country that has contributed much to the growth and development of Silicon Valley industries, has the right to visit the United States, and to seek American business collaboration and partnerships with India.”