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Journalism of Courage
In Ahmedabad, it is peak season for disaster tourists. More than two months after the unrelenting violence began in Gujarat, the NDA organised a peace march in the city. Messrs George Fernandes and Arun Jaitely hopped down from New Delhi, Narendra Modi joined them from Gandhinagar, and together they led a walkathon in which security personnel were easier to spot than the rallyists, and the designer-capped rallyists could be clearly marked out from the people. Nothing underlined the superficiality of the affair more than the fact that violence broke out on the rallyists8217; route soon after they vacated it. It is Atal Bihari Vajpayee8217;s turn now. The prime minister, it is said, will participate in a similar show proposed by the NDA allies in the future. Surely the BJP and its partners don8217;t believe there are any takers in Ahmedabad or outside for these belated and stagemanaged displays of sincerity and solicitousness? As daily reports detail the continuing violence and constitutional breakdown in the state, someone ought to tell the prime minister and his men that these effete gestures only insult the injured people of the state.
It will be terribly difficult for anybody to stake claim to the high moral ground in Gujarat for a long time to come. It is not just the obviously cosmetic peace marches that will prove inadequate to that task. Even Ram Vilas Paswan8217;s resignation from the NDA, ostensibly on account of Gujarat, has failed to deliver the moral gloss. Paswan would have everyone believe that his decision to lead his four MPs out of the ruling coalition has to do with his anguish over Gujarat. That explanation is pitifully lacking in conviction. Over two months after the violence broke out in Gujarat and at the heels of the pact the BJP has recently sewn up with Mayawati, it requires no skills of political analysis to point out that the real provocation for Paswan lies not in Gujarat but in Uttar Pradesh. Paswan was evidently threatened by the BSP leader challenging his monopoly over the 8216;Dalit voice8217; in the NDA.
