http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/all-the-perfumes-of-arabia/article4415539.ece
All the perfumes of Arabia
MARKANDEY KATJU
APEighteen people were allegedly burned alive in this house in Gulmarg colony
in Ahmedabad during the 2002 violence.
People clamouring for Narendra Modi should realise the only policy which can
take India on the path of progress is equal respect and treatment for all
communities.
Narendra Modi is being projected by a large section of Indians as the modern
Moses, the one who will lead the beleaguered and despondent Indian people into
a land of milk and honey, the man who is best suited to be the next Indian
Prime Minister. And it is not just the Bharatiya Janata Party and RSS who are
saying this at the Kumbh Mela. A large section of the Indian so-called
`educated' class, including many of our `educated' youth, who have been carried
away by Mr. Modi's propaganda is saying this.
I was flying from Delhi to Bhopal recently. Sitting beside me was a
Gujarati businessman. I asked him his opinion of Mr. Modi. He was all praise
for him. I interjected and asked him about the killing of nearly 2,000 Muslims
in 2002 in Gujarat. He replied that Muslims
were always creating problems in Gujarat, but
after 2002 they have been put in their place and there is peace since then in
the State. I told him this is the peace of the graveyard, and peace can never
last long unless it is coupled with justice. At this remark he took offence and
changed his seat on the plane.
The truth today is that Muslims in Gujarat are
terrorised and afraid that if they speak out against the horrors of 2002 they
may be attacked and victimised. In the whole of India, Muslims (who number over 200
million) are solidly against Mr. Modi (though there are a handful of Muslims
who for some reason disagree).
Dubious spontaneity
It is claimed by Modi supporters that what happened in Gujarat
was only a `spontaneous' reaction (pratikriya) of Hindus to the killing of 59
Hindus on a train in Godhra. I do not buy this story. First, there is still
mystery as to what exactly happened in Godhra. Secondly, the particular persons
who were responsible for the Godhra killings should certainly be identified and
given harsh punishment, but how does this justify the attack on the entire
Muslim community in Gujarat? Muslims are only
9 per cent of the total population of Gujarat,
the rest being mostly Hindus. In 2002 Muslims were massacred, their homes
burnt, and other horrible crimes committed on them.
To call the killings of Muslims in 2002 a spontaneous reaction reminds one of
Kristallnacht in Germany in
November 1938, when the entire Jewish community in Germany
was attacked, many killed, their synagogues burnt, shops vandalised after a
German diplomat in Paris
was shot dead by a Jewish youth whose family had been persecuted by the Nazis.
It was claimed by the Nazi government that this was only a `spontaneous'
reaction, but in fact it was planned and executed by the Nazi authorities using
fanatic mobs.
In terms of historical evolution, India is broadly a country of
immigrants and consequently, it is a land of tremendous diversity. Hence, the
only policy which can hold it together and put it on the path of progress is
secularism — equal respect and treatment to all communities and sects. This was
the policy of the great Emperor Akbar, which was followed by our founding
fathers (Pandit Nehru and his colleagues) who gave us a secular Constitution.
Unless we follow this policy, our country cannot survive for one day, because
it has so much diversity, so many religions, castes, languages, ethnic groups.
India,
therefore, does not belong to Hindus alone; it belongs equally to Muslims,
Sikhs, Christians, Parsees, Jains etc. Also, it is not only Hindus who can live
in India as first-rate citizens while others have to live as second or third
rate citizens. All are first-rate citizens here. The killing of thousands of
Muslims and other atrocities on them in Gujarat
in 2002 can never be forgotten or forgiven. All the perfumes in Arabia cannot wash away the stain on Mr. Modi in this
connection.
It is said by his supporters that Mr. Modi had no hand in the killings, and it
is also said that he had not been found guilty by any court of law. I do not want
to comment on our judiciary, but I certainly do not buy the story that Mr. Modi
had no hand in the events of 2002. He was the Chief Minister of Gujarat at the time when horrible events happened on such
a large scale. Can it be believed that he had no hand in them? At least I find
this impossible to believe.
Let me give just one example. Ehsan Jafri was a respected, elderly former
Member of Parliament living in the Chamanpura locality of Ahmedabad in Gujarat. His house was in the Gulbarga Housing Society,
where mostly Muslims lived. According to the recorded version of his elderly
wife Zakia, on February 28, 2002 a mob of fanatics blew up the security wall of
the housing society using gas cylinders. They dragged Ehsan Jafri out of his
house, stripped him, chopped off his limbs with swords and burnt him alive.
Many other Muslims were also killed and their houses burnt. Chamanpura is
barely a kilometre from a police station, and less than two kilometres from the
Ahmedabad Police Commissioner's office. Is it conceivable that the Chief
Minister did not know what was going on? Zakia Jafri has since then been
running from pillar to post to get justice for her husband who was so brutally
murdered. Her criminal case against Mr. Modi was thrown out by the district court
(since the Special Investigation Team appointed by the Supreme Court found no
evidence against him and filed a final report), and it is only now (after a gap
of over 10 years) that the Supreme Court has set aside the order of the trial
court and directed that her protest petition be considered.
I am not going into this matter any further since it is still sub judice.
Mr. Modi has claimed that he has developed Gujarat.
It is therefore necessary to consider the meaning of `development'. To my mind
development can have only one meaning, and that is raising the standard of
living of the masses. Giving concessions to big industrial houses, and offering
them cheap land and cheap electricity can hardly be called development if it
does not raise the standard of living of the masses.
Questionable progress
Today, 48 per cent of Gujarati children are malnourished, which is a higher
rate of malnourishment than the national average. In Gujarat,
there is a high infant mortality rate, high women's maternity death rate, and
57 per cent poverty rate in tribal areas, and among Scheduled Castes/Backward
Castes. As stated by Ramachandra Guha in his recent article in The Hindu
("The man who would rule India",
February 8) environmental degradation is rising, educational standards are
falling, and malnutrition among children is abnormally high. More than a third
of adult men in Gujarat have a body mass index
of less than 18.5 — the seventh worst in the country. A UNDP report in 2010 has
placed Gujarat after eight other Indian States
in multiple dimensions of development: health, education, income levels, etc.
Business leaders no doubt claim that Mr. Modi has created a business friendly
environment in Gujarat, but are businessmen the only people in India?
I appeal to the people of India
to consider all this if they are really concerned about the nation's future.
Otherwise they may make the same mistake which the Germans made in 1933.
(Markandey Katju, a former judge of the Supreme Court, is Chairman of the Press
Council of India)
Keywords: Narendra Modi, 2002 Gujarat communal violence, Narendra Modi
government, religious freedom, Markandey Katju, Zakia Jafri
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