Narendra Modi Has Won In Gujarat

A few days ago I had written that the BJP should dump Narendra Modi for greater national interests. Even at that time I knew that if anybody could win elections for BJP in Gujarat it would be Modi, knowing the communal passions that move the social machinery in the state. Narendra Modi is again going to be Gujarat’s CM. It’s surely a triumph for the BJP but it is a sad commentary on the state of democracy. Sad because considering the kind of political situation we have in the country Modi is the best choice and sad because Modi gets to be the best choice.

In Gujarat you can clearly see the anti-blind-secular wave that has hit the country due to lopsided reporting done by channels like NDTV, CNN-IBN and news portals like Tehelka and all those rubbish newspapers. In fact some are claiming — correctly to a great extent — that Narendra Modi won this time because of the Tehelka exposé on Gujarat riots and Sonia Gandhi recently calling him “the merchant of death” and the so-called “secular” channels endorsing such views with copious coverage. This was so predictable. In fact these morons don’t know that their skewed attitude encourages fundamentalism even among the moderate communities. This election outcome should act as a lesson that unless you portray all the communities fairly you cannot subdue the extreme elements in the society. The verdict perhaps is less in favor of Modi and more against the divisive media propaganda.

I know there are many people — rightly — who detest Modi for his role in the 2002 anti-Muslim riots. But then, in India, there have been practically anti-every-community riots: for instance the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Every community, every religion has borne the brunt of communalism and racialism. 1000s of Hindus have been killed by Islamic terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir. 100s of Hindus were butchered by the Sikh terrorists in Punjab. Similarly, big or small, there have been numerous anti-Hindu riots in various Mulsim-majority areas in India. Then why leave other politicians and religious heads and demonize just Modi?

An anti-riots panel should be constituted and it should have members from all communities, religions and castes, and they should investigate the roles of various parties, politicians and religious heads and pursue the matters through law and politics. For instance politicians like HKL Bhagat and Tytles — both belonging to the Congress party — have been implicated but have never stood a complete trial (Bhagat is dead). Similarly, there are many Muslims, many Sikhs, even Christians, who have instigated riots and perpetrated mass killings; they should all be brought to book, and when they are all brought to book only then people like Modi can be stopped and curtailed. Until that happens, it would be highly hypocritical to go on accusing Modi perpetually.

Some people prefer to compare Narendra Modi with Adolf Hitler and our prime minister recently said that it was the Holocaust that happened in Gujarat in 2002 but I think these people have no sense of history. The blogger in the above-mentioned link says that the demonization of Muslims has been happening for a long time now. If this is happening, it is unfortunate and to a great extent Muslims are to be blamed for that because wherever they are and wherever they are not ruling they have a problem, whether in Asia, in Europe, or elsewhere. They always have one gripe or another, and they always have one reason or another to condone violence, bigotry and backwardness. Modi could be a modern-day Aurangzeb but he is a circumstantial Aurangzeb. Just as the Americans support Bush in his war against terrorism the people of Gujarat have supported Modi for his war against fundamentalism. Both the instances are fraught with ill bodings but people are left with no other choice.

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