Promoting Modi for PM’s post? He should first apologise for 2002 riots by Kuldip Nayar

Promoting Modi for PM’s post?


He should first apologise for 2002 riots
by Kuldip Nayar

The Tribune 28.9.2011

FUNDAMENTALIST parties throughout the world think of newer ways to expand their base in the community they seek to radicalise. India’s Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) is no different. It feels that it should increase its support among the Hindu community, 80 per cent of the electorate, and not bother about the rest, including 12 per cent Muslim electorates who, in any way, largely do not vote for the BJP.

The three-day fast by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was meant to get more support from among the Hindus. The ambiance of the hall where the fast was undertaken, the saffron-clad gurus and sadhus and the speakers chosen — all reflected the Hindutva ethos. Therefore, there was no room for any divergent viewpoint. The protesters were arrested long before they reached the venue. Modi refused to wear the skull cap which a Muslim cleric offered because this did not fit in with the proclaimed objective of the fast, even though called “sadbhavana” (conciliation). A mere memorandum on behalf of the victims of the 2002 pogrom was not entertained at the reception.

Whether the purpose has been achieved is the question the BJP leadership must mull over. Crowds are no criterion because Modi’s appeal was in the name of Gujarati chauvinism. He talked about the pride of six crores of Gujaratis even in full-page, state-sponsored advertisements in leading newspapers. Moreover, the people were attracted to the place that was airconditioned and were offered free food, costing the exchequer more than Rs 6 crore. Much more money has been spent on dinning into the ears of Gujaratis that Modi has revived their “pride” which was hurt when Jawaharlal Nehru was preferred to Sardar Patel, a Gujarati, as India’s Prime Minister after Independence. Patel’s photo became the backdrop of the dais.

True, Modi has changed the Gujaratis who have returned him with a majority in the state assembly poll twice in a row. This happens when the top man rules in an authoritarian style as Modi does. The developmental work goes to his credit. But the Gujaratis are a gritty, hard working community and they will do well in every clime. I found them on the top of the ladder in the UK 20 years ago when I was India’s High Commissioner in London.

Modi’s fast was not meant to project the progress of the Gujaratis, but to appeal to the Hindu electorate through television channels which unashamedly telecast a purely fundamentalist show all 24 hours. It is difficult to say whether the fast had the desired effect. But it is clear that even the BJP’s allies in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) were overwhelmingly against him.

The NDA convener, the Janata Dal (United) chief, wanted Modi to assuage the feeling of hurt which Muslims bore. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, heading the government with the BJP’s support, walked away from journalists when asked to comment on Modi.

Apparently, the BJP’s purpose was to project Modi on the national scene. The party did not attempt in any way to wash away the blood stains on Modi’s administration. What kind of governance was being praised when the Muslims felt insecure and when the Chief Minister’s own senior officials, two IPS and one IAS officers, said in their affidavits that Modi was responsible for what happened in 2002?

The judgment by the Supreme Court with which the BJP has gone to town has only sent the case back to the trial court and has not commented on the allegations against Modi because it wants to judge when the case comes before it for appeal. The Special Investigation Team has exonerated Modi personally, but the amicus curie has given a different report. The jury is still out on this one.

Modi does not, as expected, want to know that there is a minority and a majority in the country. This fits into his policy which his state showed nearly 10 years ago. He, as the BJP leader, does not have to make up with the 16 lakh Gujarati Muslims who have been waiting for justice for the past one decade. Yet, as the state Chief Minister, he is answerable for the killings of some 2000 Muslims at the hands of police-backed mobs.

The Janata Dal (U), a BJP ally, has rightly said that a person who could not control the situation in one state cannot be entrusted with the responsibility of running the country. Modi is being projected as yet another candidate for prime ministership apart from Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley. Modi talks about the education system in the country. His criticism is right but his right to use his fast for the purpose is wrong.

More than the BJP, Modi should realise that the hundreds of days of fast cannot wash away the sins he has committed. He should at least now, when he wants to play a bigger role, apologise for the 2002 riots. The Congress was late in admitting its fault for the 1984 killings of Sikhs, but Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at least offered apologies. He enhanced the compensation to the victims’ families, something which is not on Modi’s agenda.

The unthinking BJP is now concentrating on L.K. Advani’s rath yatra which he had announced before Modi’s fast. The party forgets that Advani is not Anna Hazare who has come to symbolise the fight against corruption. Rightly, the RSS is not enthusiastic about the yatra. I have witnessed Advani’s yatra from Somnath Temple to Babri Masjid before the latter’s demolition. It is apparent that the BJP wants a similar kind of polarisation which resulted in the death of hundreds of Muslims. But the same card cannot be played twice.

The BJP continues to confuse the issue. The voters are not wooed through hatred against the minority community. The party should have learnt the lesson from the last two general elections which it lost. Even the Congress government’s misgovernance was preferred to the BJP’s plank.

The nation is not prepared to face the situation where Hindus are arrayed on the one side and Muslims on the other. The resurgence of terrorism has made people still more worried about the future. It is not that the RSS does not see the danger. But it wants to come to power through whatever means it can employ. The BJP has to reach out to the Muslims, a taboo in its lexicon. Citing the support of Kashmiri leader Mehbooba Mufti does not help when she says she never uttered the words that Modi was not anti-Muslim. Surely, his deeds say so.n

Comments by Simranjit Singh Mann

The Shiromani Akali Dal(Amritsar) states that Mr. Kuldeep Nayar is a good but a devious Hindu journalist who always gives a Hindu twist to his tale. He states that the Muslim genocide were riot in Gujrat perpetrated  by the BJP headed by Narinder Modi, whereas it was the crime of genocide. He carries on to state that like Premier Manmohan Singh has admitted his party’s (Congress) fault for the massacre of the Sikhs in 1984, similarly Narinder Modi should apologise for the massacre of the Muslims. We fail to understand how an apology will minimise the crime of genocide perpetrated against the Muslims and the Sikh peoples? The crimes of genocide of the Sikhs and Muslims have been committed with impunity this far. The Sikhs will not be satisfied till the genocidaires are put up for trial at the International Criminal Court at the Hague. Observers researching events in THIS(Theocratic Hindu Indian State) should take this right wing Hindu nationalist newspaper The Tribune  with a pinch of salt and we request that they should refer to our Website (www.akalidalamritsar.in) whenever in doubt.-

Simranjit Singh Mann,

President

Shiromani Akali Dal(Amritsar)