[Reader-list] my view on cellular silent day on 30/01/09 by Ranjan Kamath

[Rakesh Iyer]

Dear Bipin (and all)

Being a reader of the Sarai-list, I had to respond to the things you have
mentioned.

It's true indeed that Narendra Modi can't alone be blamed for what happened
after Godhra. After all, he is a product of the Gujarati society, and since
the society itself was communal at that point of time, or has been
communalized systematically, so many people went on the streets. But then
again, what was their commitment to the cause they were coming out for
(which in this case was looting, killing and raping)? In Vadodara, a mob of
more than 5,000 people had ran away just on 3 shots in the air by the local
police. And in the capital instead, a former Rajya Sabha M.P. was burnt
alive, (his body still hasn't been found), and just 5 minutes before the mob
came there, the police commissioner had promised him that he would be
secure. The Muslims living in that area had also sought shelter in his home,
they were also killed and burnt.

If Modi was still concerned with what was happening, for one, he would have
ensured the riots didn't spread once the army was out on the streets in the
cities. Instead, they spread to the rural areas. And what was the pattern of
killings? The people had voter lists with them, went to different areas in
cars, directed mobs to burn, used mobile phones to communicate among
themselves, and all this while the police was sitting in police stations!
Infact, even the RAF people weren't contacted! They were all idle, waiting
for just one call, but of course, how could they be contacted, when their
lines were cut in many places?

Let us also believe that Muslims did burn the Kar Sevaks (it hasn't been
conclusively proved, either by Banerjee or Nanavati committee, in any court
of law). Which government was there in Gujarat? BJP. Who was at Centre? NDA,
headed by BJP. If such an act of burning was indeed going to take place as
it was planned (as the police records say), then it was a massive
intelligence failure on the part of both centre and state that they didn't
have any inkling of the plan at all. Who will accept the blame for that? The
BJP didn't.

After any accident in the Railways, within 24 hours, a Committee or
Commission for Inquiry has to be constituted. It wasn't done in this case by
Nitish Kumar, the then Minister of Railways. Why? And why was the
Nanavati-Shah commission instead constituted to investigate Godhra?
Since when did state governments had rights to constitute commission over
properties belonging to centre, namely, the Railways? Where was the BJP then
when a state controlled by them was encroaching upon the rights of the
Centre?

Narendra Modi is responsible because in any statist arrangement in India,
the state or the central govt has got enough power to put down any kind of
violence, even insurgencies or terrorism (Punjab in 1990's and Kashmir even
now, as well as the North-East, demonstrate that. It's just a question of
will, whether you wish to apply that power or not. If Gujarat would have
wanted, violence may still have been there, but instead of thousands getting
killed, the number may well have been less than a number.

And yes, what did Modi say after all this ended? He didn't go to relief
camps at all, until Vajpayee came. And later again, he never went. He
compared the relief camps to 'baby-producing factories'. And he also
denounced those who believed in the policy of 'hum paanch humare pachees'.
Whom all was he referring to , Mr. Bipin?  Muslims, or Hindus? You decide.

The sections of society which supported BJP were indulging in violence, and
so he allowed his party cadres to collude with them to engineer it and make
it successful. Then later, he tried to introduce communal polarisation as a
factor with his election speeches in Gujarat. What about that? Are those the
signs of a 'great' leader?

If others like Nehru, Indira and Rajiv make mistakes, it doesn't mean that I
or you or Modi are also allowed to make mistakes of grave kind like this.
Two wrongs never make a right, and that's something you first need to
understand. And who said the Congress is not criticized for the Sikh riots,
they are still criticized even now in all human right forums as much as the
BJP is. But of course, the 'temporary' phenomena which resulted in that, has
now ended in the Congress. It's now with the BJP.

Finally, now to his governance section. What kind of development policies
does he support?

When Aamir Khan protested on Narmada dam issue, Modi went on a fast and
denounced him. And his parivar cadres stopped release of 'Fanaa'. So, force
is necessary and no democracy will be allowed. Forget the fact that on
technical considerations, the height of Narmada dam has never been adequate,
as suggested by petitions repeatedly by Gujarat govt. itself over the years
(wanted the height to increase to 50 m, then more, then more).Or even forget
that the Madhya Pradesh Govt, which is now also the BJP Govt, has not at all
tried to rehabilitate those displaced by all this. And for their
rehabilitation, when Aamir Khan demands this, the BJP portrays it as
Anti-Gujarat.

His policies are all for entreprenuership. So, it's not a problem at all to
provide a 30,000 crore subsidy to Tatas directly and indirectly, in the hope
of making Gujarat the next China. Forget the fact that there was no debate
regarding the necessity of the subsidy at all, for the Tatas. Forget the
fact, that salt mills are being put up across the coast, which pollute the
coast by residuals which can even harm the fish catches around the Gujarat
coast, and severely affect the life of fishermen.

Forget the fact, that he first allowed mosques and dargahs to be demolished
in the name of 'avenging Godhra', and now he has resorted to destroying
temples, without any proper discussions to shift them to other places, in
the name of 'removing encroachments on govt. land'. Is this how a
'religious' govt. is supposed to behave?

Forget the fact, that under the BJP dispensation, farmers have now started
committing suicides in Gujarat under his reign, for the first time since
Independence. Forget the fact, that crimes against women in Gujarat have
risen to a record level.

Forget the fact that Muslims even today, are living in camps and ghettos,
and have not been able to return back to where they lived prior to
post-Godhra happenings. Forget the fact that the children are leaving
schools early than they used to prior to Modi's coming.

Forget the fact that prohibition has been the essence of Gujarat as
envisaged by Gandhi. For Vibrant Gujarat meets, if removal of prohibition is
a necessity, so be it.

Forget the fact that ideologically at least we opposed Valentine's Day. If
we have to win over the middle classes, and that means stopping these
protests, so be it. But that does not mean an ideological shift regarding
the position of Muslims in Gujarat. That is nowhere required. What kind of
double standard is this, in a state where there are more number of Muslims,
than I think the number of people actually celebrating Valentine's Day?

I read an article in Outlook on Modi being the future PM as envisaged by
India Inc. If there is so much belief in Modi, then I repeat the challenge
given a bureaucrat (who preferred to remain anomymous, being of Gujarat of
course).

If Modi and his fans think he is good, let him go and rule Bihar. And we
will know the truth, whether he is a strong administrator, or is wrongly
perceived to be strong.

Does the '56 inch ki chaati wala Gujarati mard' have the guts to do this?

Regards

Rakesh