Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The contrast is simply too stark to escape unremarked. Gujarat went up in flames during the VHP-sponsored bandh on February 28, the day after Godhra; on September 26, the bandh called by the VHP after the Akshardham Temple outrage passes off peacefully, except for a few relatively minor incidents. And the explanation won8217;t be fudged. It was not, as Modi has insisted, thanks to the 8216;pseudo-secularists8217; who 8216;did not use a particular language to describe the event8217;. No, Modi can take all credit for the calm that has held in his state in the precarious moment after terrorists attacked the Swaminarayan temple. Just as he must own up to the blame for the complete failure of his administration to prevent the carnage the last time. To put it plainly, the Modi government8217;s achievement in Gujarat can also be decoded as a terrible confession.
As this paper has reported, it was visibly different this time in Gujarat. The police reached within minutes the area where an attempt was made to damage a shop, the army patrol followed, joined within minutes by top police officials. Across the city, an alert police didn8217;t allow crowds to gather, dispersing them before they became threatening. Traffic was diverted, police officers warned of suspension if they didn8217;t do their duty, and borders between Hindu and Muslim localities patrolled. Suffice it to say that all reports of the days, months, after Godhra paint an entirely different picture. Of the absent state that fled or deliberately stayed away from the scene of the crime, alternating with the complicit state that looked away or blinked while the mob ran amok. Modi has shown that when the government wills, it can. It was this political will that was missing in the gruesome aftermath of Godhra.
