India's Madness
India's Madness
"His questionable conduct during the 2002 riots in Gujarat that left more than one thousand people dead, mostly Muslims, has shadowed his ascent to the national stage.A transitory twinge of regret for an unfortunate incident. Not enough of an 'incident' to twinge either his empathy, humanity or conscience. Just, you know, one of those things. This, from a man whose political party has selected him as their prime ministerial candidate. For next year's general election in India the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party itself seems fairly unconcerned that the man they have placed their trust in has been accused of failing to stop a massacre of Muslims.
"He is accused at the very least of doing nothing while Gujarat burned, and at worst of having helped to orchestrate the violence.
"In a recent interview with Reuters, Modi did not help his cause when asked about the riots. He answered by saying his feelings of pain for the tragedy were similar to how he'd feel if a puppy had been run over by a car in which he was merely a passenger."
Krishman Partap Singh, New York Times article
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| Gujarat Child Welfare Minister Mayaben Kodnani is seen greeting Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Express archive photo |
Despite that Narendar Modi is a Hindu nationalist, after all, India does have the distinction of having within its borders, as citizens of India, the greatest number of Muslims anywhere in the world, after Indonesia. As a democracy, India prides itself on its exemplary attention to the rights and equalities guaranteed in law, if not in practise, for all its citizens, all the diverse groups that make up its immense 1.2-billion population base.
Since the riots in 2002 in Gujarat, Mr. Modi has been viewed as an international pariah. Up to 2,000 Muslims along with several hundred Hindus are estimated to have been killed in clashes between Hindus and Muslims. His American visa was rescinded, and Britain boycotted his provincial government in western India. He was, at the time of the deadly riots, minister of the state. His former minister for women and child development was convicted in the killings along with his former inspector general of police.
That same inspector general of police claimed the attacks had been representative of a policy, so instructed by Mr. Modi and his government. The decision of the party to elevate Mr. Modi to contest the presidency signals, according to observers, a shift to the right, one that nationalist Hindu voters would acclaim, bringing the party to power. It would, wrote Krishman Partap Singh wrote, "lead to a deepening of sectarian divisions, India being home to the world's second-largest Muslim population."
And, should it ever come to pass, result in re-straitened positions with its neighbour Pakistan, and most assuredly new and ever more deadly clashes between the two countries.
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| Gujarat riots: Narendra Modi says 'hang me if I am guilty'. In a sensational statement, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has said that if he is guilty of collusion in the Gujarat riots of 2002 then he should be hanged, “Agar main gunehgaar hoon toh mujhe phaansi par latka do”. See more on http://iexp.in/h4vq |
Labels: Conflict, Controversy, Democracy, Human Relations, India, Religion
posted by Pieface @ Monday, September 16, 2013
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