Upholding the law

The prime minister has spoken on Gujarat, and this time there8217;s no mistaking his message. There is a rebuke in it, loud and clear, for ...

The prime minister has spoken on Gujarat, and this time there8217;s no mistaking his message. There is a rebuke in it, loud and clear, for the VHP 8212; for its continued defiance in the wake of the Election Commission8217;s directive to the Gujarat government to ban the proposed Godhra-Akshardham yatra. All organisations, the PM has said, must honour the restraint on religious processions before the December 12 elections in the state; in fact, they must help the administration in discharging its duty. But Atal Bihari Vajpayee8217;s statement is more than just a snub to a wayward VHP. It also admonishes sections of his own party that didn8217;t hesitate to accuse the EC of overstepping its jurisdiction. Though the EC8217;s decision may 8216;look wrong8217;, the ban is 8216;alright8217; given the circumstances in Gujarat, he said. So, are they listening to the prime minister, the VHP rowdies and their promoters in the BJP?

In fact, the prime minister8217;s words are cautionary for more than just his parivar. All parties in the fray in Gujarat would do well to heed his advice to desist from making either Godhra or the carnage that followed into a campaign issue. He has emphasised 8216;scrupulous obedience of the law8217; as the only way to enhance the 8216;prestige and efficacy8217; of our democracy. And pleaded for all election campaigns in Gujarat to focus on issues of development and governance. While Narendra Modi8217;s campaign has been the main culprit in this regard, and the VHP has enthusiastically pitched in to further muddy the political discourse, they are not the only culprits in the run up to polls in the state. In Gujarat, there has been no evidence so far of an appreciable effort by the Congress to resist a response in kind. If Modi8217;s rhetoric is communal, his oldtime rival and new Congress recruit Shankarsinh Vaghela has attempted to counter it by playing the equally sectarian, equally regressive caste card 8212; when he is not brandishing a softer, me-too Hindutva, that is. In a state that is yet to recover from the gruesome violence that raged unchecked for months, in a state sorely in need of the healing touch, and governance, the sad truth, a month before the polls, is this: there are no positive political agendas the people can choose from.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee has spoken of a 8216;new beginning8217; in Gujarat. Dare we hope that after days, months, of the same vicious cycle of allegation and counter allegation, the same petty rhetoric and innuendo, his words will be seriously heard, that they will infuse some responsibility and moderation in the political campaign for the state? The people of Gujarat wait for the answer.