When the PM speaks8230;

Just when Narendra Modi was beginning to sound suspiciously statesman-like. His government, he promised, would be for all the people of Guja...

Just when Narendra Modi was beginning to sound suspiciously statesman-like. His government, he promised, would be for all the people of Gujarat, those who supported the BJP as well as those who didn8217;t. And some party spokespersons could be seen attempting to push the issue of development onto centrestage, now that the state was won. Just when murmurs of 8216;new beginnings8217; were threading the air8230; The prime minister8217;s statement during the BJP8217;s parliamentary party meeting in the capital on Tuesday, in which he has harked back to Godhra and lamented that the Muslim community had not condemned the carnage strongly enough 8212; 8216;Even today there is no regret on their part8217; 8212; is unfortunate. It signifies that, as in almost every moment or on most issues, the BJP is divided within over whether or not it must be magnanimous in victory. It portends that the BJP may not be ready to put a divisive campaign behind it and move on to providing governance.

It is more than that. What is most disturbing perhaps about the prime minister8217;s statement is that the prime minister has made it. On many occasions when his party has lurched towards the extreme, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, with a trademark statesmanship, has struck the conciliatory note. His has been the mainstream, moderate and tolerant face of the party that has reassured at moments when it seemed like it was being taken over by its fringe. There are many today, inside and outside Gujarat, who are looking to Vajpayee for that reassurance again. Modi8217;s famous victory in Gujarat has followed a campaign of unprecedented viciousness; much of it was contributed by the Pravin Togadia-led VHP that lent it its motive force. In this moment, then, when Togadia has triumphantly raised his pitch, and when Vajpayee8217;s famed healing touch is most called for, it is disappointing that the prime minister should speak a language that could resurrect old hurts and grievances.

It bears little reiteration that noted Muslim organisations did condemn the heinous crime at Godhra. At the same time, it is also grossly unjust to put an entire community in the dock over what was perpetrated by criminals. The torching at Godhra was not a Muslim crime just as the gruesome killings that followed cannot be labelled a Hindu act. Communal polarisation may have yielded the BJP8217;s huge electoral harvest in Gujarat but the party must recognise that the challenge of government demands moderation. At the parliamentary meet, the prime minister also said that the Gujarat verdict imposes on the BJP the responsibility to 8216;keep everyone together8217;; it was announced that the party has decided to observe the PM8217;s birthday as 8216;Vikas Diwas8217;, to reaffirm a commitment to development. It must be hoped that this is not merely symbolic.