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.
You do not remember the reports immediately afterwards — The press did imply that the passengers deserved it:
This week’s Muslim attack on Hindus has to be seen against that regional background and history as well as in the larger national context. The victims “were not going for a benign assembly”, Teesta Setalvad, the head of an anticommunalism group, told the Washington Post. “They were indulging in blatant and unlawful mobilisation to build a temple and deliberately provoke the Muslims in India.”
We know that this is a lie in this case — the vast majority of pilgrims burnt alive were women and children. Every single article I read around that time used the term Hindu activists/ fanatics rather than the more accurate term — pilgrims. No-one mentioned that the majority in the coach were women and children. Many later started saying that the victims molested a muslim girl (still has no evidence) and more than one columnist said that they had it coming.
When a communal crime against hindus like Godhra occurs, usually, there is no response at all and the criminals get away with murder (think Coimbatore bomb blasts – no death sentences, Marad massacre, Wandhama massacre, Brindabanghat massacre, etc).
There is never any real accountability for any incident in India and hindus usually turn the other cheek (If you look at it the 1984 riots were purely congress, while in gujarat, leaders of all parties took part in the riots).
Gujaratis re-elected Modi because he did not allow the misnamed ‘secular forces’ to sweep the Godhra incident under the rug.
(personally though, the retaliation that occurred against the Muslim community as a whole in the aftermath of Godhra was too broad-based and too violent for my taste.)
(personally though, the retaliation that occurred against the Muslim community as a whole in the aftermath of Godhra was too broad-based and too violent for my taste.)
And what kind of retaliation would have been ‘to your taste’, pray? What death count would have been acceptable?
Please think about what you are saying here. It is really disturbing.
http://www.hinduonnet.com/2002/04/15/stories/2002041500161000.htm
Saying that a few Hindus might have done something doesn’t mean the same as saying the Godhra train burning was justified. Besides, BJP had the power not to let this be swept under the drug because they were in control. You conveniently ignore this important fact. The fact is if the BJP government did their job, they would have caught the muslims responsible for such a reprehensible act. And you praise a BJP government for its failure. BJP types like to talk but they act like wimps when Indian Airlines was hijacked by Muslim terrorists. They gave up two prisoners like total wimps. The Taliban were laughing at the BJP ministers. How tough would it have been to poison those prisoners with something slow acting? Why couldn’t they do something similar to Israel in Uganda (Raid of Entebban). All they do is talk. But go after innocent muslims? Easy to do.
You talk about Modi like he is a hero. How did encouraging evil acts enhance the reputation of Hindus as tough guys? How does protecting innocent Muslims prevent someone from exposing the Godhra train killers? How would you feel if some white people attacked your family, killed your children because of 9-11? Do you tihnk they care if you are Hindu as long as you are brown? Would you be so restrained in your disapproval of the incident(oh personally, it was a too violent for my tastes).
So how much is not too much for your taste, 1000 innocent deaths as opposed to 2000 innocent deaths?
this makes me cringe, it is painful and embarrassing, as an indian and a hindu and a human.
This reminds me of the Hutu-government-sponsored genocide of Tutsis in Rwanda. That wasn’t ‘popular rage,’ but an organized movement that had been planned carefully.
People have been saying that Modi has been good for the Gujarati economy – but isn’t Gujarat pretty well-off to begin with? I guess I’m having some trouble wrapping my mind around this, because one of the common things that people like to say to themselves when something like this happens is, “Oh, but they live in horrible conditions, they have no other choices/don’t know any better.” It’s harder to understand pure hate. Did the riots in Ahmedabad place in poorer areas of the city?
I would not characterize this as a communal issue DD. The account is not unknown to what we have seen come out of Bosnia, Rwanda, Zaire, Albania, Armenia. Goes back to my first comment. Would any of us have behaved differently were we in that situation? indeed my first sense is shame, and that seems to be the emotion felt by the Baweja and Tejpal, albeit for different reasons.
Of course the whole issue is at the heart of darkness. what separates the so called civilization from the lack thereof is a very thin barrier. that barbarism is the human condition is depressing.
Dizzydesi, a total of around 40 people died as a result of the three massacres you mentioned. The Coimbatore blast left another 40 dead. Even in total they can hardly be compared to the Gujarat riots. Also if terrorist attacks happen in India, we should agitate to get the government to take them seriously. That is how civilized people behave: not go on a random tribalistic killing spree.
I admit there is political interference in criminal cases in India: the politicians get to play both sides against each other and reap the dividends. But do you think the average muslim has the police and judiciary in their pocket. Do you think they get more respect at the police thana. They are treated even worse. The perpetrators of Godhra did not suffer in the Gujarat riots: completely innocent people did. How can you possible think that is okay? Can muslims be substituted for one another at random? Ek nahi to doosra?
Pravin (#45 and #54). Very well said. I agree with every word.
I read some of the transcripts on tehelka.com, I couldnt help feeling that they are trying to put a spin instead of a unbiased report. On the pogrom itself, I am not surprised if Modi actually provided ammo to kill the muslims. Like they say one thing leads to another, and burning a train full of hindus is reasons enough. (not that I am justifying any of this, but I am not blind to the social-dynamics in India)
Anyone remember the Babri masjid case? well I experienced it first hand. Everything was peaceful until Mulayam Singh (then the Chief Minister of UP) ordered the police to shoot at the reportedly peaceful karsevaks. After that the masjid demolition was a certainty. There were videotapes of Mulayam shooting with a revolver at the fleeing hindus, and the VHP had trailers running through the city which showed the video ad infinitum.
By the time Godhra happened and I was in college, we were like what the f$%#? and who cares. We went out to party that night as usual, we were the other India who didnt care if it was a hindu or muslim dead on the streets. Content, happy and numb.
The difference between Bush and Narendra Modi – Zilch. Both engage in systematic killing of the ‘other’. Incidentally the other in both cases is Muslim.
Amardeep says, “”” Fair enough. I’ve also encountered a fair number of folks in the U.S. (not just Gujaratis) who downplay the violence in 2002, saying it was “understandable.” It’s easy to do that when you’re at a distance. “”””
My response — Amardeep I am shocked by the killings of innocents. There can be no justification of killings of innocents and has to be condenmed and justice has to done.
Having said that we need to ponder why did this happen in the first place. How can we stop it again from happening and bring about communal amity.
The truth is that there are many Muslim issues of historical atrocities on Hindus that are still unresolved. Muslim invaders and rulers have destroyed tens of thousands of Hindu temples, killed an estimated 20-50 million Hindus, raped, pillage and savaged Hindus over the last 800 years.
These are unresolved issues — which so far nobody including the muslims, the pseudo secular government, media and other mainsteam institutions have openly dealt with and prefer push under the rug.
Negationism and the Muslim Conquests http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Stadium/5142/negislamindia.html
It is preferable that Modi should go and imperative that the perpetrators of the carnage be brought to justice. But for any long term solution — we need to address all these issues within the context of Islamic intolerance and atrocities on Hindus which even today continues in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Kashmir (300,000 kicked out of their homelands)
This comment should not be dismissed out of hand…there’s some truth there…India can not move forward until some of these issues are addressed rather than ignored or hush-hushed. That being said, the POLITICISATION of these issues, the use of these issues to further any particular party’s agenda or electoral success, or the violent outcomes that often result, should be condemned in no uncertain terms, and not tolerated at all. Honest, open dialogue is the way to go.
Venkat – pray what do you suggest be done about historical muslim invaders? And what is your suggestion for the Kashmir problem?
Yes a lot of anger in recent times has stemmed from the pandering politics of parties like the Congress and the UP mini ones. The commies too have been accused of the same in the past. This definitely needs to be addressed but voting for a party that allows killing is not your solution. The current India political scene is quite sad actually. Instead I believe the solution is education. A big part of India’s muslim population is poor and uneducated. Educating these muslims will allow them to stop falling for pandering politics (it ultimately hurts them too) and thus reduce the pandering that happens. It will also allow them to become a part of the middle class and become less dogmatic in their beliefs. They will also interact more with the Hindus and vice versa and the feelings of us and them may hopefully reduce. This article may be of interest.
Here’s the problem. People are always bringing up past atrocities as if there is a tally with a credit and debit columns for death. Coimbatore blasts were small but the psycological effects were massive and affects Muslims as well as Hindus. Any terrorist act, small or great should be dealt with immediately and thoroughly. Or else, there are bad elements in our political system and in religious organizations who will use the injustice to spread mistrust and fear.
How about we stop bringing up previous attacks while discussing any attack. Besides this is huge enough for anyone to get his head around the facts and leaves me particularly nauseous.
One more thing…Even though it made me nauseous, I went to Tehelka site and read the issue about the massacre. Have the courage to do the same. By defending these perpetrators, it is not hindus/hinduism we are defending. It is something else.
I think it is tough to not bring up past attacks. But I’m amused by the folks who bring history to the table in the case of Muslims and ignore it in the case of Dalits / caste atrocities. So Is it Ok for the Dalits to take revenge on some unknown upper caste folks for the past atrocities (and sometimes even current)?.
rasudha *****Here’s the problem. People are always bringing up past atrocities as if there is a tally with a credit and debit columns for death. ******
Obviously past atrocities are very relevant. Why can’t you talk of resolving unresolved issues? Wouldn’t that be the way to go. As someone mentioned “open dialogue”
Why is there no open dialogue?
There is a lot to be learnt from the germans — they openly accept their nazi past, have made amends for it and ensure that it will be never ever repeated. That is the way to go for national reconciliation.
The Japanese so far have shown no remorse in their atrocities on Chinese, Koreans and other Asians during WW2. That continuously dogs them. Unfortunately in Indian scenario we are following the Japanese example.
Rasuda, and lastly why should I forget the atrocities heaped on my Hindu ancestors??? What is the guarantee it will not repeat. I look at my co-religionists in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kashmir and Bangladesh — I see them continuously suffering. Millions of them — displaced, refugees, Hindu ladies kidnapped, raped, forcibly convereted, temples destroyed. 1000 times worse than Gujarat riots.
Rasuda, this is happening today, here and now. I demand justice. The Gujarat terror should not go unpunished. But if you ask Hindus to forget the past (and present Muslim atrocities), I see you blatantly siding with the Muslims and covering up their terror.
That is no way to create a peaceful, harmonious, multicultural, multireligious society. Justice has to be fair and even handed. Gujarat riots did not occur out of the blue. If you do not deal with the causes, there is no way you can resolve it.
How about we stop bringing up previous attacks while discussing any attack. Besides this is huge enough for anyone to get his head around the facts and leaves me particularly nauseous ******
RC I am adamantly opposed to the Iraq war. However, I do not see how you can compare a war – albeit a very unjustified and poorly run one – with state sponsored mass murder. In Gujarat, people organized themselves and systematically decimated other people, with what seems to have been tacit approval from the very government whose duty it was to protect BOTH groups of people.
What is comparable is how the US government has yet to bring to justice those who were involved in atrocities such as Haditha, Abu Ghraib, just as the Indian government is yet to do anything about people like Babu Bajrangi (please don’t tell me 8 months in prison is any response to what he himself has admitted to doing and will do again given the opportunity).
It is comments like this: “personally though, the retaliation that occurred against the Muslim community as a whole in the aftermath of Godhra was too broad-based and too violent for my taste”
which truly disturb me. As Amardeep said “And what kind of retaliation would have been ‘to your taste’?”
So are many Hindus, and Indians of other religion. In a secular country, shouldn’t education be linked to economics and not religion? Many Muslims actually prefer to get their education from a madrassa than a school.
One of the masterminds of 9-11 – Al-Zawahiri is very educated – he’s a surgeon. Mohammed Atta graduated with a degree in architecture and was studying urban planning at a German university. Ziad Jarrah had a wealthy and secular upbringing. The Glasgow bombers were educated. Heck, even Bush and his cronies are educated – between Cheney, Bush, Rice, Wolfowitz and others, there are quite a few MBAs and PhDs. I’d think that all these people I mentioned are/were not any less dogmatic in their thinking, though an education does allow them (and us humans) to rationalize our positions.
If you are trying to say that {education}={less indoctrination/more rational thinking}–> [will lead to]{more peace/less killing}, then sadly, it’s not quite borne out by events in this world, and real life is much more complex.
Why do people bring up dalit issues in Hindu-Muslim conflicts?
venkat,
You want to ask someone about what happened 800 years ago ask whoever did it 800 years ago. I’m a Hindu born and bred in Coimbatore. I know what happened in Coimbatore. I follow the news. What I don’t like is murderers in Ahmedabad using Coimbatore or Godra as an excuse to rape and murder innocents. I hate people who bring up other events as a justification. You would too if you really thought about it. Don’t you want people who murdered more than a thousand poor, innocent, INDIANS and turned Gujarat into a graveyard brought to justice? Do you want to support these people? Here is a case where there is ample, self-confessed, evidence to this genocide. Lets talk about bringing these perpetrators to justice. When time comes we can discuss other instances.
It is precisely this kind of thinking (on both sides – Hindu and Muslim)that has us in the mess that we are in:
“and lastly why should I forget the atrocities heaped on my Hindu ancestors??? What is the guarantee it will not repeat.”
It is like a game of Chicken.
I hadnt thought of it this way, but heck! you have a point. the US dropped 2,756,941 tonnes of explosives over Cambodia between 1965 and 1973 – more than the bombing by the allies in WWII. For what – because the farmers were threatening a pitchfork raid?
It is simply unbelievable how some people can take past muslim atrocities and use that as justification as to why people condone killings of innocent Muslims. I hope you guys get treated like crap by whites over here to get a taste of your own medicine. Oh by the way, I put myself in the position of the Gujarati Hindus. Guess what. I wont treat Modi as a hero. I would actually be pissed that he did not focus all his minions efforts at finding the real killers of the train victims and condoned the butchering of innocent kids and children. I fyou want justice, shoudnt that be the focus? Or does modi not have the guts to deal with real Islamic fanatics? With the mess created, you will probably never know all the people involved. And if the central government denied your state justice, then nothing is stopping your BJP guys in threatening the Congress politicians who are trying to cover up. But noo. your heroes do not have the guts to do that. They were made fools of by the Islamic terrorists who hijacked Indian Airlines. And like I said, it is a lot worse when a government takes part in killings compared to random gangs. When a gang does it, it invites reprisals. When the government is part of it, it creates more terrorists. What did this hero of yours(as many American Gujaratis seem to treat Modi) do for you in getting justice for the Hindu victims of the train fire? Economy is no excuse to praise a guy. Hitlerites liked to see the trains run on time. So what.
Some of you have mentioned that this will help Modi get re-elected. I am not too sure about that. The last time around the elections were held shortly after Godhra and the ensuing riots. Tempers were still running high among the hindus so they rallied around BJP and Modi. Now that it has been more than 5 years, isn’t it possible that some of perpetrators of the riots feel remorseful (I do not mean the assholes like this Bajrangi chap but the young toughs who got swept away in the madness) and might not vote for Modi again. Not that Congress in power anything to gloat about.
Rasudha #72
I think you have said it very well.
thanks # 77
If only we can convince Indians to think of themselves as humans first and not look at religious identities, they would be more outraged when atrocities are committed.
If you are Hindu, there is a chance one of your ancestors engaged in caste violence. How would you feel that if some other caste guy in retaliation for some murder kills YOUR son or YOUR daughter or one of your parents even though your family had NOTHING to do with whatever incident triggered him and he knows it that you are innocent. BUt he did it to make him feel good. Would you find it understandable evne if you don’t like it? Am I taking it too far by making it personal? No, because you brought it on yourself by personalizing it with the statement above.
And what point are you making??? When you bring up a scenario, back it up with what you would consider a course of action. If the scenario repeated, you have TWO options . 1) Would you want to hunt down the train killers? or 2)You take the easy and reprehensible way out and just gtake a bunch of your friends and kill a family and not even humanely(how about burning, or some other slow death). Should muslims want to kill themselves since a lot of Indian muslims had Hindu ancestors(not all muslim conversion were done in the same century).
Do you even have a clue who your ancestors are? I can’t trace mine past 5 or 6 generations. This is how you deal with unresolved issues. Any new problems come up with Muslim terrorists – deal with those terrorists. If you want adovcate doing what Israel does – send the Mossad to hunt down terrorists and commit revenge killings – be my guest. People can disagree, but at least it is to the point you address.
I think a different perspective of a guy, who lived through those days might be helpful to others to clear their thoughts out. Have you ever imagined yourself confined to your society for 4 months? Have you ever imagined yourself waking up in the middle of night by hearing mob noises for continuous 4 months? Have you ever seen your parents faces worried about your home-return once you step out of your house? Have you ever slept after hearing gun shots right at your door steps?
So all you intellectuals… please imagine this once and then write these here. I’ve been through that and let me just say it was not civil. It was not even human and I’m among those who condemned Godhra train attack just because human beings were killed in that incident. Please don’t make Gujarat a laboratory for the progroms.
So long as the dalit problem exists, Hindus have little moral weight in demanding “justice” for what happened hundreds of years ago. The same guys demanding “justice” are the ones who rip down Ambedkar staues in India. They will cunningly rationalize all the dalit atrocities and claim dalits are the ones misbehaving.
The truth is that there are many Muslim issues of historical atrocities on Hindus that are still unresolved. Muslim invaders and rulers have destroyed tens of thousands of Hindu temples, killed an estimated 20-50 million Hindus, raped, pillage and savaged Hindus over the last 800 years.
This comment should not be dismissed out of hand…there’s some truth there…India can not move forward until some of these issues are addressed rather than ignored or hush-hushed.
Thats a very unhealthy sentiment. It should be dismissed out of hand because it is being used as a justification or providing context while none exists. These riots in Gujarat had nothing to do with what happened 800 years ago unless you believe there is some connection between gang raping the 11 year old daughter of your rickshaw-puller neighbor and the Islamic invasion which happened 800 years back. Do you believe that the mobs who were raping/killing innocent Sikhs in the riots in Delhi in 84 had unresolved issues?
Dalits were involved in the Gujarat pogrom and are equally blamable.. They seem to be caught mid way or were they directly involved. Someone can clarify.
You people, who supports killing of people (either muslims/hindus), you despise me. You disgust me. you are the most uncivilized and disgusting people on this face of earth.
Zahir, I share your disgust. Pravin, I echo your every word too. The apologists posting here — shame, shame, shame on you forever.
The apologists posting here — shame, shame, shame on you forever.
I second your disgust. Shame on them indeed.
These visitations of evil will keep happening in India in the future. Because unlike nations like Germany who face up to the beast inside their history, India never learns, never admits, never looks into the mirror, and even in the face of pure evil, still grumbles and makes apologia. India will keep saying how great she is, what a wonderful democracy she is, what a superpower, that allows its powerful to carry out satanic evil on innocents, and there will be apologists, and people will be in denial. Shame, shame, shame.
And some Indians in the diaspora will live lives of comfort, security in which they will never face insecurity, bigotry manifested to the degree that it is in Gujarat. They will grow rich and secure and raise their children in the West knowing that the police will protect them, that there is a rule of law. And yet they will support morally and even financially, the enforcement of a Nazi like creed of hatred and violence and killing in their ‘Motherland’, while being studious in benefiting from the tolerance of liberal, secular countries that protect and cherish their minorities compared to what they support and apologise for and revel in and celebrate. To these hypocrites, these lousy, morally cockroach ridden hypocrites, shame, shame, endless shame on your wicked heads forever.
Suzy I support you. Intolerance, terror ideologies, riots, communalism, should be severely dealt with. Most regimes in the world practice this with varying levels. Secular nations like The US, do not inflict it on their people, but on those living far away from them with more intensity. Some get away with it, so do not.
Bottom line, the rule of law as established in a republic needs to be respected. In any riot situation and retaliation, the rule of law breaks down. Vigilante justice or whatever never works and makes things worse. It is up to public servants to maintain law and order and ensure due process is taken. Unfortunately, when those in public service are incompetent or corrupt, one is simply perpetuating a cycle that will weaken the foundations of government and public trust. Leading by example is exactly what happens in India, sadly though it’s by setting the wrong examples rather than the lawful/ethical ones.
Yep, commenter #7 was right about Godwin’s Law. Suzy made a cockroach reference also for bonus points.
Please folks let’s keep this discourse reasonable. We don’t encourage rants here.
Sm Intern — Commentor #7 is also the guy who thinks, in comment #52, that the Gujurat pogroms were just a bit too violent for his taste. A bit.
Yes, some things deserve a rant.
Agreed, I don’t at all take sides with #7. I actually agree more with Suzy. I’m just saying that if everyone pokes an eye the whole world will go blind.
Wow, such flare of words.
If you would only expect people to come along and say – yes yes Modi is a bad man – then whats the point of this whole thread? Isnt this about solution, about assessing how people think, connecting to that human element and manage to not repeat this in near future?
While discussing issues like this, there is no point of departure. Pravin is making blanket accusations on whole of Gujurat. What happened also little to do with millions of common hindus in that state. They only saw most of it on TV, except for the district that was severely affected. I WILL definitely make a comparision between what happened in gujurat to what US did with Iraq. Both the leaders got re-elected.
There might myriad of reasons why the public choose to keep them in power, and there are some commentators who were giving their input as to what those reasons could be. Then the other party would give a outcry that they must all be ashamed of themselves. Some one would blame whole of India for that senseless act of a few hundred people, not withstanding that the (then) prime minister of India appologizing for it. Is this really discussion?
Please dont let your emotions flare up so much. Thats all I’d say.
Comment 52 has validity except for its “that the Gujurat pogroms were just a bit too violent for his taste.”
Rants are fine but more need are solutions. The Hindus or the people involved should do their part and do prayashchit.
OK, I just watched the video. Chilling and disturbing. That guy has lost his humanity. He’s a monster. The blood of so many innocents is on his hands. He will not have peace in the end. It was truly disgusting and gut-churning. The Gujarat pogroms were indefensible.
BUT…the thought that occured to me while watching, is that he is a mirror-image of Islamic fundamentalist types in Pakistan and the Middle-East (or for that matter in India). He is indirectly a creation of the very thing he hates and rails against. His whole way of thinking, of looking at other humans belonging to a different religion, of wanting to do violence against those people…is something that he learned from fanatical Muslims themselves…because this was never part of the Gujarati culture. It’s like if you take a sweet kid, and treat him nastily his whole childhood…you’ll end up with a very nasty adult. In the same way, whether based on facts or paranoia, myths or history, reality or imagination, this man has become consumed with hatred and fear. It’s horrible.
i agree with the basic sentiment (or feeling) expressed in this paragraph, but i don’t quite like the excessive use of metaphor and collective imagery. nations don’t have “minds” or “brains”, they are not unitary actors, they don’t “act” as individuals do; “india” does not “say” or “do” anything. also there is no “collective” consciousness called “india” that “grumbles”, “learns”, “says” etc; at the same time, (and some of my pet peeves, such as the above, aside)i too believe that the apologists should be ashamed of themselves.
I don’t think I can watch the videos, because the whole thing is too damn depressing. I’ve read several accounts of what happened and it’s just plain disgusting.
Anyone that condones the killing of innocent civilians is barbaric. And I don’t think it’s unfair to say that the Modi government was guilty of ethnic cleansing. The fact that the central government did nothing is even more shameful. These are freaking pogroms and should be not be even the slightest bit tolerated in a country claiming to be civilized. It’s unfortunate that most who were responsible for these crimes will never be brought to justice.
The question is, how does India, as a multi-ethnic, multi-religious democracy (albeit incredibly flawed) put behind thousands of years of history? India is a history of invasion and oppression. Muslims from Arab countries invaded and killed thousands of Hindus, destroyed temples and forceably converted many (Islam and Christianity were both spread by the sword so this was standard operating procedure). Meanwhile lower castes were oppressed for possibly 1-2 thousand+ years.
Is this relevant now? No, it obviously isn’t. But to many people, this kind of thing is. Maybe, education should be more honest. Dialog of past atrocities should be more open. Granted, to start anything like that – held those accountable for the violence of TODAY!
As a few have noted, these eruptions of orgies of violence are not even limited to Hindus and Muslims. We see this between castes in some states. Obviously political figures exploit and pit different groups against each other and the institutionalized corruption doesn’t help in any way.
The mob mentality seems incredibly strong in India. It’s one thing that has always baffled me. Relatives mentioned how these religious riots would sometimes start. Basically one guy would throw a rock. The next thing, someone says that person is Muslim (or Hindu, depending on the demographics of the community) and the next thing, the city is shut down for several days.
I would hate to imagine what would happen to Muslim communities in India, if an event the scale of 9/11 occurred though.
It’s cowardice, plain and simple.
All said, who can point fingers at who?
I believe BJP central government should have removed Modi at that time. But then, Godrha fire was supposed to be started by Pakistani terrorists or their henchmen either in retaliation for Babri Masjid blasts or to start a cummunal inferno. Which means any BJP state govt in Gujarat has a perenial possibility of such instigations.