Why Modi must go
Namita Bhandare

The world I seek I cannot find A new earth, a new sky I cannot find
(Kaifi Azmi)

What do you say about an administration that watched silently as over
800 people - the official figure - were killed systematically and
brutally in what is commonly known as a communal riot but was, in
fact, a massacre of Muslims?

What do you say about a police commissioner who personally goes in
his official car to a residential locality and assures one of its
citizens, a former Congress MP, that he and his neighbours are safe?
Then he goes away leaving the former MP with another 75-odd Muslims
to face a mob of hundreds that proceeds to hack the former MP to
death, urinate on his body and toss his head about before setting
what is left of his body ablaze. The only people who escaped the
bloodbath were those who locked themselves up on the first floor,
watching their husbands, wives, parents and children being
slaughtered.

And what do you say about a chief minister who is so shameless that
he claims things are hunky-dory and yet refuses to visit the 103
refugee camps spread throughout his state, except as a tour guide
when his boss comes visiting? How many camps has Modi visited? What
about his ministers and representatives? Where is Gujarat's amazingly
invisible governor?

Even as Modi was offering his head to his bosses in Goa, the army had
to be called out in Ahmedabad as 25 shops and houses at Danilimda
were set on fire. Initial reports say 40 people have been injured.
And this in a state where the chief minister says normalcy has been
restored.

Police officers who have done an honest job and saved lives have been
transferred.

In Sabarmati, Joint Commissioner of Police Shivanand Jha fired at a
mob that was demanding that some Muslim boys who had been arrested be
handed over to it. One person died in that firing. Two days later,
Jha was at Mahatma Gandhi's Sabarmati Ashram where another mob was
demanding that Medha Patkar be evicted from a peace meeting. In the
melee, some cameramen and journalists were injured when DCP A.P.
Parghi led a lathi charge. The next day, Jha, who was actually saving
correspondents from the lathi charge, was transferred. Coincidence?
Justice?

To understand the complete breakdown of the state in Gujarat one has
to consider only three incidents.

In Gandhinagar, where the state government has its offices, the Wakf
Board office was attacked. For the first time ever, curfew was
imposed in Gandhinagar.

In another incident, the mob burnt down trucks along with their
Muslim drivers. This happened at the front gate of the high court -
another symbol of the Indian State.

And finally, the dargah of Wali Gujarati, the 17th century Urdu poet,
was vandalised and destroyed. This happened in front of the police
commissioner's office.

Does the Indian State function in Gujarat - a state where sitting
judges fear for their lives only because they are Muslim?

According to an opinion poll conducted in Gujarat recently, nearly 70
per cent people believe the riots were a spontaneous reaction to
Godhra. Only 9.3 per cent believe it was backed by the State. And
although 51 per cent conceded that the government machinery was
communalised, 43 per cent said Modi should stay.

The truth is that Gujarat is deeply polarised. There is a huge
groundswell of support for Narendra Modi. The average Gujarati Hindu
feels no remorse at what has happened. Modi is merely reflecting
majority sentiment when he spouts Newton's laws of action and
reaction. In that respect, Modi's government is well within its
'democratic right' to remain in power. Within the BJP, there is a
large body of opinion that wants an election now, a year ahead of
when it is actually due. The reason isn't hard to find. A poll might
sweep the Modi government back into power.

But democracy is also about restoring confidence and maintaining the
dignity of all citizens - regardless of the god they worship.
Hitler's pogrom doesn't become justifiable because a majority of
Germans supported the SS.

Those affected by the riots - and a vast majority of these people are
Muslim citizens - are today looking for relief and rehabilitation.
Relief work is on. NGOs are hard at work feeding over one lakh people
in the camps all over the state. They are working under tremendous
pressure. Many have received death threats.

Rehabilitation is another matter. And it cannot happen unless justice
first prevails. Those who are guilty must be brought to book. If the
Indian State has collapsed, those heading it must go. In Gujarat, the
state and the mob go hand in hand. So how can justice prevail?

Those in power show no remorse, let alone an indication of firmness
in dealing with people who break the law of the land. While the
police is hard at work - rounding up weapons from Muslim localities,
systematically disarming them to prevent a backlash.

How will history remember Narendra Modi? The man who connived to kill
minorities in Gujarat and did nothing while they were burnt alive?
And how will history remember us? As people who watched quietly and
failed to rage and rage for the ouster of the butcher of Gujarat?

Years of propaganda by the Sangh parivar cannot be wiped out with
Modi's removal alone. It will take many more years to restore
communal amity and faith and goodwill. But as long as Modi remains,
Kaifi Azmi's new world will remain a delusion.