Ahmedabad rath yatra is peaceful so Gill says it’s time for me to go

Gill told The Indian Express today: ‘‘After the peaceful passage of the rath yatra, my work in Gujarat is over. In fact, I am totally redundant now.’’ Gill is likely to meet Chief Minister Narendra Modi this weekend or early next week.

The 35-km yatra, which was watched on every step by the police, safely passed through sensitive areas. There were a few tense moments in Dariapur when processionists began shouting slogans against the minority community, but the police quickly intervened and defused the tension.

With the policemen urging participants to move on and akhadas to cut short their displays — especially in sensitive areas such as Dariapur and Shahpur — the procession, which began some 20 minutes late, was back at the temple at about 7:30 p.m. even though it usually reaches the temple past 10:30 p.m.

Gill said he had always been in favour of the procession despite the reservations of senior Ahmedabad police officers. ‘‘I knew the yatra would be peaceful and would prove to be a watershed. The moment the procession gets over without any incident, the confidence and trust of people in the effectiveness of the police is regained. With this, my job is over.’’ Does this mean he was leaving Gujarat? ‘‘I won’t say that. I will say my work is over.’’

Gill, in fact, was sounded very confident that the police force had been cleansed of all allegations of bias or high-handedness. And said it was very important for the people to ‘‘start going back to the inspector, the deputy commissioner, the superintendent of police’’. He felt that ‘‘once this dialogue starts between the people and the police, both will begin to understand each other. People often made insinuations, in some cases, against policemen they never met. This will now change.’’

Gill cited an example to bolster his claim: ‘‘This superintendent of police in a particular district, who was accused of being highly saffronised, willingly attended a Muslim marriage after we met him. People were pleasantly surprised and gave him a warm reception. Even he had not expected it.’’

Asked what brought about this change of heart in the police, Gill said, ‘‘The heart is always in the right place. It all depends on how you address it.’’