The news-magazine Tehelka has done another spycam exposé, this time with conspirators involved in the Gujarat riots of 2002. The Tehelka website is full of very bold claims regarding the importance of the statements made in the video footage they’ve captured, and thus far they’ve put up three YouTube videos to back up the hype. One spycam interview, with Babu Bajrangi of the Bajrang Dal, is here:
It’s in Hindi (sorry, no subtitles; UPDATE: a close English transcript of the video is here). Much of what he says about his own role is fairly chilling. At the very least this particular guy should probably go to prison for a very long time (as of the present moment I do not know whether any charges have been filed against him … UPDATE: Babu Bajrangi has in fact done eight months in prison, and is now out on bail, according to Himal Southasian).
There are also interviews with Arvind Pandya here and Ramesh Dave here; I haven’t watched them yet, but I thought I would give the links for readers who may be interested. If anyone wants to translate telling lines or sections of the videos for the benefit of our non-Hindi speaking readers, I would be grateful.
Tehelka claims that its spycam videos prove definitively that Narendra Modi gave direct approval for the killings in 2002, but I’m not sure, yet, that they do that (my views may change as I dive further into this). The video I saw does seem to add to the argument, which has been made consistently by Modi critics since 2002, that the killings weren’t a random upwelling of popular rage, but rather akin to an organized pogrom.
It’s also worth noting that the timing of this exposé can fairly be said to be a bit questionable — state elections are coming up in Gujarat in the next few weeks. There Modi may be in trouble not with Congress or Left parties, but because of dissatisfaction within the Sangh Parivar; both the RSS and the VHP have expressed dissatisfaction with him, stating that they aren’t supporting him in these elections. In the end Modi may finally be defeated, not by Tehelka, but by the Hindu right itself.
There is no guarantee the BJP is going to win next month. Why does everyone think this is a foregone conclusion? In the ’04 Parliamentary elections the vote was BJP 47.4/Congress 45.1. A 2 point swing could change the outcome dramatically.
Look at the caste breakdown here:
http://www.hinduonnet.com/elections2004/verdict2004/stories/2004052000160500.htm
One also has to remember that India is still by and large dirt, dirt poor, so no matter what growth one demsonstrates, there is probably going to continue to be immense dissatisfaction. That is why Indians regularly toss a party after one term, except in places like West Bengal.
Kush: Is it accessible online?
Only through paid subscription.
It is an excellent analysis using many different instances from this year.
The words used should have been citizen’s life and not human life.
gujjubahi, morality has to be universal if it is to count as morality. we can recognize that people like kissinger are potential war criminals, and yet not likely to face any justice without using this as an excuse not to be moral ourselves.
by the same token the distinction between peoples (and this refers to rick above)based on citizenship is also morally irrelevant. just because iraqis (or cambodians, guatamalans, chileans, vietnamese, el salvadorans) are not u.s. citizens does not mean killing them is morally “less wrong”, than facilitating the killing of your “own” citizens.
typo, i meant gujjubhai
uhh, you all understand this was said by someone mocking gujjubhai, not by either of us.
Does that mean US is a cesspool or a swimming pool?.. We have already been told that India is a 3rd world cesspool.
yeah that statement borders on racist…
sigh@258: good catch, it didn’t register to me the first time. Now that I think about it, I guess it is the expected expression of the American de-humanization of lives in brown lands. After all, American actions have always been based on the premise of ruthless pursuit of global dominance at the cost of millions of non-American lives and/or direct or indirect support of brutal oppression of non-American societies. If they did not have this fig leaf of which passport you carry to determine the value of your life, they probably would not be able to live in the comfort of denial about their crimes against humanity. This is what allows a Kissinger to strut around with his Nobel and pontificate about peace in the Middle East at the same time without Americans seeing any irony in the whole situation. Wah re duniya, kya teri reet hei! Real life is way better than Kafka or Dante.
“by the same token the distinction between peoples (and this refers to rick above)based on citizenship is also morally irrelevant. just because iraqis (or cambodians, guatamalans, chileans, vietnamese, el salvadorans) are not u.s. citizens does not mean killing them is morally “less wrong”, than facilitating the killing of your “own” citizens.”
Maybe morally irrelevant, but the US treats all its citizens pretty well. They don’t make a distinction between a white solider or black soldier in Iraq, or a white citizen or black citizen in Afghanistan. They’ll pull all stops to ensure their safety regardless of race or religion or political belief. When was the last progrom against black people in the US involving folks in the establishment?
Like sending them to a war in Iraq on false pretexts to die without sufficient armor, while the Senators who went there compared it to a stroll in the Main Street, USA? 😉
After Katrina. Inaction and incompetence, letting mob rule prevail etc has similarities to Gujarat, think abt it…
look the basic reason that mob action has been less of a problem in the u.s. (since the 1940s), is the complete dominance of business in every aspect of social life. businessmen generally do not like breakdown of “law and order” (irrespective of whether the support a cause or not); it hurts their bottom lines. so to the extent that they have any influence, they will prevent any such thing from happening (even if they approve of the politics of the parties planning such actions). india is not at that point yet. the day that business in india gains equivalent political and cultural (in terms of affecting people’s attitudes and identities) influence in (mass) politics (not just in particular issue areas or at the conter), you will see a decline in such violence.
Gujjubhai, I’d just like to say that it is a v dangerous game that is being played out in Gujarat. Even for the communities that are supporting Modi. The default faultlines in Indian politics are caste, not religion. Modi is able to hold together his base largely due to the strong polarization along religious lines. If the polarization breaks down, a new caste configuration might mean the pendulum swings to the other end. In the interests of peace in the future, I think it is essential that people adopt a more reconciliatory approach. Keeping Modi in power just to prove some twisted point is a v myopic view.
I do not mean this as a threat or anything: just an observation.
Looks like Killing Muslims is not the only thing that Babu Bajrangi does… divorcing inter-caste marriages if high on his agenda too.
its not fair to bad mouth the BJP as a whole based on actions by some idiots [in Gujarat. EDITED BY SM INTERN]
by no means do they give a fair representation of what the BJP is and what is stands for
Sakshi
You have mentioned that the “The default faultlines in Indian politics are caste, not religion.” This is not true for the minority religions. Which is why their votes are courted very assidously by the politicians as they constitute voting blocs.
Are you saying Modi should not appeal to Hindus but Congress can appeal to Muslims and Christians?
189:
And Hitler talked to the Pope and the Pope told him that you have until middle of 1945 to kill as many and then the kelling stopped.”
I don’t know your source, and SM is perhaps not the forum for aruging this, but since it has been brought up in the context of a discussion on genocide, I must present alternative evidence. The Catholics, like everyone, committed hypocracies, but a Pope countenancing mass murder…I dunno. Doesn’t smell right, and certainly not that un-subtle way, although it’s something I’ve heard for many years. I didn’t think enough of that particular pope to care about investigating the charges deeply. However, it seems that a rabbi, no less, David G. Dalin, has come to Pius XII defense. http://www.amazon.com/Myth-Hitlers-Pope-Against-Germany/dp/0895260344 One reviewer notes that: “After World War II, many Jewish leaders openly thanked Pope Pius XII for helping save Jews, among them Albert Einstein. How then did he ever get tarred as “Hitler’s Pope”? The charge that Pope Pius XII was complicit with the Nazis was first levelled in a play in the ’60s by a former Hitler Youth, but amazingly that charge was revived in a recent film called “Amen”.”
The Gujarat atrocities under no circumstances can be justified. I do not think any Gujjus or Hindus have justified that.
But what has been question is specifically the media and other secular entities and people (also in this forum)almost exclusive focus on Gujarat riots and almost silence when Hindu communities are at the receiving end.
None of the Modi baiters have even attempted this selected discrimination. We ask for fair and balanced portrayal. Is that asking for too much?
Pope Urban 2 in 1095 A.D, starting the First Crusade. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Urban_II
268: 190 was a sarcastic comment responding to 189.
No dude. Pander away. That is what politicians do: they pander. The BJP panders to the hindus, the Congress to others. Just be civilized about it. Don’t use the state machinery to support mass murder, is all I am saying.
I was actually positive when the BJP rose to prominence: I had no love lost for the Congress, and I felt two strong parties at the Center would provide for greater accountability. But they have alternated between clowns and murderers for the past five years. Only the most hardened hindutvawadi can support them anymore.
Sakshi This whole communal thing was started, developed and refined by Congress. BJP/VHP are of recent origin and probably their raise is directly connected and areaction to to Congress appeasement of minorities, which if anything has gotten worse only.
These messages have more info: — 209,230,234
I am very saddened that so many Hindus who have posted here have taken (what I believe is) a very non-Hindu position. People who think that it is acceptable to engage in or condone mass murder have lost track of the very heart of Hinduism. As my dad always says, as a Hindu, “Ahimsa Parma Dharma” – non-violence is your duty.
–Lakshmi_the_Agnostic
Sorry I should’ve said un-Hindu (not non-Hindu) above
a lot of Hindus lost their heads thinking that way, literally
Lakshmi:
Can you show me one post where one Hindus here have condoned mass murder.
aero – I don’t know if anyone on this thread has, but I have relatives who, when speaking of the Gujarat riots, say things along the lines of, “We need to show them [Muslims] that we won’t just sit back,” “What else did they expect?” “They had it coming to them” etc. I do think that this attitude is very un-Hindu (not to mention, abhorrent). But I do think there is something to be said for how some Hindus in India may feel with regards to the ‘We need to show them that we won’t just sit back and take it anymore’ mentality, since the press does often ignore the killings of Hindus by Muslims (see this Human Rights Watch report). I don’t think the answer to India’s communalism problem can come by telling the majority population that they are to blame for everything — it needs to come from all sides.
Ok folks, I think it’s time to wind this one up.