After yesterday’s heavy post featuring the video footage from the masterminds of the Gujarat riots openly confessing their deeds, I thought today I would keep it light — only to find (thanks, Vishal) that the state government of Gujarat isn’t going to make it easy to do so.
Indeed, the state government has summarily blocked all three news channels that were going to show footage from Tehelka’s report. The affected channels are Aaj Tak, CNN-IBN, and IBN-7. The logic is a bit twisted, but somehow predictable:
Subsequently, all these channels went off air in most parts of Gujarat from 1930 hours (IST) on Thursday. The administration claimed it’s a violation of Clause 5 of Cable TV Network Regulation, which deals with broadcasting programmes which could create communal tension.
The state authorities accused the TV channels of spreading ‘more communal discord’ in the state than the people who actually featured on the Tehelka tapes.
For instance, the language used by leaders like Babu Bajrangi, Haresh Bhatt, Dhabal Patel and Madan Dhanraj in the tapes could easily turn the situation far more dangerous than what was being shown, they say. (link)
Obviously, the next step is to block channels that report that channels are being blocked, because that could also create seeds of dissent that could lead to communal tension. Right?
One point of confusion is who exactly is responsible for the order to black out the channels in question. The CNN-IBN article I linked to names the author of the order as “Ahmedabad District Magistrate and District Election Officer Dhananjay Dwivedi,” but also states that the Central Election Commission has “washed its hands,” saying it never issued any such order. I’m not really clear who has the real authority here — is Dhananjay Dwivedi’s action even legal?
I’m also a little puzzled as to why more news channels aren’t showing any of the footage. I checked Star News and NDTV (the two Indian news channels I get at home), and haven’t seen anything. I wonder: does Tehelka have an exclusive arrangement with these three channels, or have India’s other cable news channels made an editorial decision not to cover this?
NDTV reports Dwivedi is the Ahmedabad collector [link].
India is turning into a banana republic. I hope better sense prevails.
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070030824&ch=10/26/2007%2010:46:00%20PM
This is other related news..
http://in.news.yahoo.com/071015/139/6lyvr.html
Now look at how “secularists” are going to spin this.
So the first news item says Dhananjay Dwiwedi ordered the ban and the second news item from a few days before talks about the same guy ordering the transfer of police commissioner because he was close to Modi..
For ”secularists”, Dhananjay Dwiwedi is a “communalist” and the one appointed by Modi in the first case and the same person was a “secularist” a few days back..
🙂
Is the Clause 5 of Cable TV Network Regulation applicable to Youtube videos or cell phone MMS-es? How will they manage to control those? Honestly, I wouldn’t normally believe that this could be tolerated. Too bad it isn’t a cricket match they are taking off the air; in that case you would have people out in the streets. Sigh!
Its so pathetically stupid.
Are they going to block youtube as well? Or do they think people wont think of going to the internet. Ahmedabad has a very good internet penetration, and this action of the government will just get the Tehelka news more credibility and publicity. I don’t think Modi will be able to take so much heat. What would be interesting to see is if BJP makes him take the fall or stands squarely behind him – which might completely blow away any muslim / liberal hindu votes that it could have gotten.
Whoever was behind this banning just took things to a very different level. Hope someone at NYTimes/WaPo/WSJ covers it – at least because of the official censorship angle. They did cover then there was a block on the net for a few days in india last year.
Does anyone have any contacts at the big newspapers that can forward them the story to get it even more coverage?
Of course , the BJP , masters of shrill rhetoric and spin are already at work , claiming , among other things , that Tehelka should be called the CIA – Congress Investigation Agency , and that nobody is talking about the 60 people burnt on the train at Godhra . All this on a just-concluded TV news interview on CNN IBN ( I am in Bangalore these days , and we can access these channels ) .
What really saddens me is , that even after the truth comes out like this , there is a very very real possibility of Narendra Modi , the butcher , winning the upcoming election ( by the way , another reason the BJP are claiming the expose is suspect – why come out with it just before elections ? ) . The reason is the overwhelming support the Hindus of Gujarat gave the pogrom . Even a Gujarati Jain in another city , another state , told me ” These bastards had it coming for a long time now – I am really really glad they were taught a lesson ” . Makes me puke when people tell me they are vegetarian because they believe killing animals is a sin . What a joke .
I was studying in Ahmedabad during the riots , and have seen with my own eyes local politicians guide rampaging mobs to loot and then burn shops owned by Muslims . A posse of policemen stood nearby after greeting the politico . Seeing a friend trying to surreptitiously film it , the cops came and shooed him away . The skies were always grey , and I would keep thinking the monsoon was on its way , only to realise that it was all the smoke from fires literally everywhere the eye could see ( we were on a campus surrounded by Muslim areas ) A school I was volunteering at was turned into a daycare centre for riot victims’ children – I met kids who had seen their parents murdered before their eyes , mothers and sisters raped , houses burnt down . A little girl named Tabassum was the saddest – she just stopped speaking – turned into a five-year old zombie .
And none of this is going to make a bit of a difference – Narendra Modi will win a landslide , the smug Patels and Shahs and Zhadafiyas and Bajrangis will twirl their moustaches a little bit more and smile smile smile every day .
Amardeep:
Though it has become a fashion to pile everything on Modi, he has become the trash can for all kinds of labels.. I think in this case, “media ban” is the Election commission’s order. (If not the Central, than the State Election commissioner).
Once the date of elections are announced the CM becomes a lame duck. and the officers are only answerable to the Election Commission that typically toes the line of the Central government of that time (atleast in the appointment/transfer of officers).
for clarification – it was not even the state election commission, rather the district collector, who becomes the district election officer once the schedule is announced.
Three television news channels were banned from telecast by cable operators by Ahmedabad collector Dhananjay Trivedi, who is also the district election officer, on the ground that it could incite violence in the communally-sensitive district.
In that case , does he have the authority to blackout tv channels in his district as a collector ?? since the election model code of conduct doesn’t seem to say anything on electronic media.
Now they care about law and order! Now they care about not inciting tensions! Where the f*** have they been for 5 years? If they really wanted to do something, they would have prosecuted the perps years ago. Communal tensions exist anyway.
I am really struggling with this issue.
It is entirely possible that broadcasting this expose will further fan the flames, lead to rioting by muslims, and loss of life. If you were governing the state today, what would you do?
I personally would make sure I had the security forces in place (and I mean non-partisan security, perhaps a paramilitary force). If I didn’t think security forces were in place, I too would move to stop the broadcast.
Gujarat has had no process for healing itself. If anything, we have only seen a slow festering. I don’t see anything positive coming out of this expose at this time.
How can the district collector ban a channel for all of Gujarat? Am I missing something? Also, the TOI is reporting that the channels were banned only in Ahmedabad.
It may be a case of overzealous cable operators.
Sakshi, all I know is that the CNN-IBN piece said “most parts of Gujarat.” I presume that contradiction should get sorted out pretty soon as people in other towns are contacted.
If it’s not really close to a statewide ban, this starts to look less ominous (well, a little less ominous), because it might merely be the action of a local official, not a systematic ban.
(Though I did notice that one of the links above noted that NDTV has been added to the ban list preemptively.)
I think the “district collector” who has this dual role of being the district electoral officer after the elections are announced ordered the ban for that particular district and the “secular” media goes to town with the headlines (See NDTV) “After sting Modi takes on media”.
The collector who ordered the ban has also said this, refer to the link in my earlier comment..
How do they block out cable news? I mean, there are tons of satellite dishes around? Even if they stop the cable distributors, there are plenty of private/illegal dishes too, right? An the internet?
This is so stupid.
The Gujarati-bashing is getting ridiculous.
If any one is interested, CNN-IBN and IBN7 are available for free live streaming on the IBN website: http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/video_streaming.php
When cable news is made illegal, only criminals will have cable news. 😀
For all my bad humor, I have actually not had cable for several years now, relying on the web instead. But my parents in India still get most of their news from the TV rather than the newspapers or the web. I suppose the cable ban would affect a lot of people who:
India Shining!
I am hoping all this does not lead to further inflaming of communal passions and communal riots. It is not unlikely that the end result of the tehelka expose might be more violence and unrest.
I don’t know what to say. The videos are going to leak out, no matter what. Blocking the original broadcasts will only result in word of mouth and rumors. Ultimately it was rumors that resulted in chaos the last time around (I was there in Gujarat in 2002). All I can do is hope that sanity prevails. The track record sure ain’t encouraging.
if you can put out a warrant for taslima nasreen for “inflaming” communal tension in India by writing about the institutional racism against Hindus in bangladesh you can block this expose which is even more inflammatory. Mind you that she was in India at this time. Same action, different political party.
are the hateful remarks against Gujarati Hindus going to be challenged, or are they all deserving of this? where is this board going?
It is a pity that people like Amardeep are involving in free for all anti-Gujarati sentiments. Almost like typical high school level Punjabi – Gujarati conflict taken to whole new level.
Some people have already explained that DC has taken anti-BJP decision recently – so does it even occur to you anti-Gujarathis that may be, just may be there is indeed genuine reason to ban channels in an already volatile environment?
In other words, there is indeed high chance that situation will get out of control by beaming those – akin to LA burning after after Rodney King incident which was fuelled by repeated telecast on the TV? May be DC wants to make sure all bases are covered before things hit the TV?
It is funny that you chose to overlook what she wrote about her own experience; instead you latched on to that one word and turned a first hand account into Gujarati bashing..
Am I Gujarat-bashing when I say ‘…the Patels and the Shahs and the Zhadafiyas and the Bajrangis …’ ? I really dont think so . Its convenient to just pick two names out of the four , two names that happen to be almost generic Gujarati names and term it Gujarat-bashing .
It is really really really obvious that I am referring to the local goons/politicians featured in the Tehelka expose . Please dont twist / selectively pick my words to suit your agenda .
And no , I dont even accept the tag of ‘Hindu-basher’ – I stand by my words when I say that people of many other communities in Gujarat – Jains , Dantewada tribals , Marwaris , etc – were either actively involved or complicit in the pogrom . Maybe ‘ multi-religious basher ‘ ?
The possibility of riots / unrest starting up after the airing of the Tehelka expose is quite remote – many small towns and villages have been ethnically cleansed of Muslims . Larger towns and cities have been very effectively ghetto-ised . These Muslim areas are the blind spots of the administration – crumbling infrastructure , rampant unemployment and poverty – and the worst , broken spirits . There simply isnt the money power or even the muscle power to riot – at the most , expect some stone throwing and a procession or two . And its an open secret that the BJP , with or without Modi , is going to come back to power . Those who speak up now will be made to pay for it later . The only reaction I see from the Muslim communities ( there wasnt any distinction made between Bohris , Memons , etc when the riots took place , so most Muslim communities have reacted the same way ) of Gujarat is the continuation of emigration out of Gujarat , maybe even an upswing ?
Not bad for the BJP and the Sangh Parivar – for organizations known more for their internal power struggles and lack of organizational strength , some things are working out just fine for them .
Nice Orwellian touch at #3, Ponniyin Selvan!!!!!
Either you qualify for a top position at the Ministry of Truth, or you are just a bit addled about the designations in the Indian administrative hierarchy (I’ll apologise for my snarkiness if the latter is the case). First off, there’s a big difference between the terms Election Commissioner (ECm), the Election Commission (EC), and Election Officer (EO). The District Collector, by virtue of being the head of the district-level civilian administration, is the ex-officio EO for his district (and he is not the ECm) . Thus, the EO signs all circulars relating to the organization of polling within his district, on matters that lie within his jurisdiction. This brings me to the 1st emphasised sentence in Ponniyin’s comment: it is the EC that ordered the transfers of those officers. In particular, Dhananjay Dwiwedi did not order the transfer of the then-DGP P.C. Pande, nor did he have any role (except signing the circulars in three of the cases) in the transfer of the other five police officers named.
Re the 2nd emphasised sentence: I haven’t seen any evidence of Dhananjay Dwiwedi being spun into a “secularist” (except in Ponniyin’s mind). This (in Ponniyin’s own currency) is what I have to say: look at how Ponniyin Selvan is spinning this 🙂
I don’t carry a brief for either the “secularists” (whoever they may be), or the “communalists”. My point, Ponniyin, is that this whole affair is wretched enough; we don’t want more wretchedness in the form of red-herrings like the one you’ve attempted to launch.
Maybe Sujatha, you’re absolutely right.
What everyone persistently ignores – the hopeless left-wing and the disingenuous right-wing – is that in India, riots rarely ever just happen. A great deal of excellent academic work has begun to emerge from the American academy on riot-production, and the consensus of anyone who actually studies it is that riots need two factors to occur: an institutionalized riot-system, a communal discourse and the absence of a resolute state administration. It totally gives the lie to any government – BJP, Congress or regional – that affects innocence when large-scale rioting (deaths over a hundred) occurs.
Muslims are not going to be rioting in Gujarat under any circumstances. If they do, it will look like it did when the government bulldozed a 200-year old dargah in Baroda – erratic and barely lethal.
GB,
I read the news report and Dwivedi was speaking as the voice of the Election commission. Moreover, the officials perceived to be close to BJP / Modi are shunted out once the Election commission takes charge. I don’t believe the action of banning the media is taken under Modi’s instructions (which is the point of the ‘secularists’).
I’d accept your position if there is truth in it. There is nothing to suggest that Dwivedi took this action to support Modi. First, I have a doubt that the airing of the video will be detrimental to Modi/BJP. In 2002, the election commission banned any display of the “burnt train”.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/29959795.cms
The problem is re-kindling 2002 is a double-edged knife. For “secularists” it reminds of the “riots” and they forget about the “burnt train” as pointed out by other commenters in the other blog. Many people don’t take the Banerjee report ordered by Railways under Laloo (interim report released just before Bihar elections) terming that as an accident seriously. Even if the fire was an accident the reason so many people were prevented from coming out of the train was the stone throwing by the Muslims in that area. I don’t think anyone denies that.
And I have a doubt that the release of videos is actually detrimental to Modi/BJP. Look at the muted response of Congress that is the main opposition party in Gujarat and that controls the Central government, appointed two election commissioners (of the three) though the top election commissioner is the BJP appointee.
Dwivedi had banned a Gujarati news channel for showing a political program earlier this week (before tehelka). I cannot seem to find which channel it was and what program it was? This could provide more insight into any pro/anti Modi bias. Anyone has info?
That’d be interesting to know. I think people who know Gujarati can find the info. from local Gujarati newspapers and let us know.. Generally English media doesn’t go into much details. My google search gave only a couple of recent news items with his name..
Re #30:
Nor am I suggesting that that was Dwivedi’s motive. Of course, that Dwivedi is batting for Modi is the view being taken by large sections of the anti-BJP commentariat here, but it’s not like Dwivedi was the secularists’ darling until recently, as you seem to suggest in your comment about “spin”.
Well. we could find that out if some one can ferret out more information on Dwivedi from the local Gujarati newspapers. As per Dizzydesi he has also banned some other program too prior to Tehelks..
Sujatha – The Louis Kahn campus ?
really:
This is Psy-op’s 101, since the Congress knows that its fate is sealed in the next election.
Now the psec-media/Congress is trying to potray it in such a way that “Voting for Modi” is “Voting against the Rest of India” and Gujju’s are “being” given a chance to prove it to India.
Dil pe mat lo yaar… Congress will get its clock cleaned in the next election, BJP is for forming the government in Karnataka as per the recent news reports.
@really:
To add, its not over its just the start : Some call it making the way clear for the Rahul Dynasty [becomes General secretary out of the blue, “spectates” cricket matches, accompanies Congress gang to UN, and now is in China for the “initiation” all in months..], because there was talk of Modi being a possible PM candidate..
And watch out for “sweet talk/Psyops” directed at you know “which” religion : In the next edition of NYTimes [courtesy : “Somini Sengupta”] and IHT [Amelia “Gentleman”] and don’t be surprised if Teesta the “resident expert” will pitch her tent in CNN-IBN studios..
I think it’s a fair enough statement to say “Gujarati Hindus were involved in the pogrom” (and followers of some other religions). This doesn’t mean that every single one of them is a rioter or even a hater. When I heard and read about the Gujarat riots, I never though this is a valid statement. I was under the impression that these were a few (thousands) rowdies who just took the opportunity to kill people and majority of Gujarati Hindus must be aghast at all that was happening. Well, that changed when Modi got an amazing election victory shortly after that.
What does that tell you about the sentiment among a majority of the population? Not all, but a huge number of them? Very similar to this “They don’t hate Americans, they only hate the American government”. What the hell does that mean in a democracy? In a democracy, the government and it’s actions are a indicator of the will of people (or at least the irresponsible indifference of people to atrocities that the government is involved in.
And to someone who mentioned the high school Punjabi-Gujarati rivalry above, I say two things: 1) There is no need to bring the American experience of Gujarati-Americans and Punjabi-Americans into this. 2) Amardeep is no juvenile punk but a very thoughtful person. I hope SM doesn’t have to bring in a Punjabi to critize Punjabis, a Gujarati to criticize Gujaratis and a Christian to criticize Christians.
I’m not saying that Gujarati Hindus should be hated. But there is no need to disassociate Hindus/Jains from what happened. While many are completely innocent, many of them hold direct or indirect responsibility. If the disassociation is motivated by a desire to be ultra cautious to prevent riots, I want to note that, as a majority even if blame were to falsely be ascribed to the them, they are no going to be hacked en masse.
Al_Chutiya_for_debauchery :
I am sorry we are not able to live up to the American standards of “Freedom of Press” or “War on Terror” [which ever suits..]
Al Jazeera [Wikipedia]
There is a thing called “Code of Conduct” laid out by the Election Commission. And why has the Gujarat Congress not picked up this issue like its supposed to “naturally”. There is polarisation of the masses, and if there is a riot then Congress can call for the “cancellation of election” and Gujarat be put under “Presidents rule”. And the Congress has a 10:1 record of putting states under presidents rule, with sheer disregard to the democratic process.
The other issue was Tehelka supposed to have released the “Sting” videos on Nov 03, 2007 and decided to release it earlier, with Sonia being in China giving her the perfect deniability, if unfortunately riots were to break out ?
Proof : http://www.tehelka.com/story_main35.asp?filename=Ne031107spycam_videos1.asp [Note : How all the video pages have the date “Nov 03, 2007” ]
Regarding political affiliation of Tarun Tejpal [Tehelka]
Link : http://www.bjp.org/news/Mar1601.htm
BJP : NEWS REPORTS
Press statement issued by Shri Narendra Modi, General Secretary of the BJP March 16, 2001
Can Congress leader Shri Arjun Singh deny this that :-
The father of Shri Tej Pal of Tehelka.com was a close colleague of Arjun Singh?
Is it not a fact that when Shri Arjun Singh became Governor of Punjab Tej Pal and his father were his right and left hands?
It is not a fact that he (Arjun Singh) misused his post and prestige in order to provide some work to Tej Pal in the field of journalism?
It is not a fact that the publicity work of Tewari Congress of Arjun Singh was being done under the guidance of Tej Pal?
Is it not a fact that Tej Pal was looking after the publicity department of Arjun Singh and his Tewari Congress?
Is it not a fact that Tej Pal had a hand in making Cricketer Manoj Prabhakar contest the Lok Sabha election from Delhi on the ticket of Tewari Congress of Arjun Singh?
Is it not a fact that Tej Pal used the same Manoj Prabhakar to advance his pecuniary interests and made cricket world as its target and later on the same Manoj Prabhakar was himself found guilty?
It is not a fact that Mathew Samuel of Tehelka is the Assistant to Tom vadakkan of Media Cell of the Congress?
(Dr. Ram Kripal Sinha) Office Secretary
Latest update:
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/001200710272140.htm
Responding to some of Kurma’s comments :
“I think it’s a fair enough statement to say “Gujarati Hindus were involved in the pogrom” (and followers of some other religions). This doesn’t mean that every single one of them is a rioter or even a hater. When I heard and read about the Gujarat riots, I never though this is a valid statement. I was under the impression that these were a few (thousands) rowdies who just took the opportunity to kill people and majority of Gujarati Hindus must be aghast at all that was happening. Well, that changed when Modi got an amazing election victory shortly after that.”
Modi won the elections after wards not because the Hindu majority had suddenly turned into hating the Muslims – it won because people were angry that no body seemed to mention or care for the fact that innocent Hindu’s were killed inside a train but there was outright condemnation of the riots alone. I guess since Hindu’s are the majority we need to take things in our stride even when we get attacked with impunity but when ever the same fate happens to Muslims, we have to condemn it. translation – human lives are more important when they belong to that of the minority community.
The election results was a slap in the face of the pseudo secularists who never tire of complaining how minorites are abused in India when they never get to acknowledge
a)the legitimate concerns that the majority community has or the fact that it has also been a victim of the communal riots.
b)the fact that we are more accomodating to minorites than most other countries in the world.
“What does that tell you about the sentiment among a majority of the population? Not all, but a huge number of them? Very similar to this “They don’t hate Americans, they only hate the American government”. What the hell does that mean in a democracy? In a democracy, the government and it’s actions are a indicator of the will of people (or at least the irresponsible indifference of people to atrocities that the government is involved in.”
Er Kurma… you dont really seem to understand what a democracy is. When people vote for a particular Government, they do not promise to support EVERY THING that the Govt does in their name. People make a choice that a particular party is more suitable to govern the country but this does not mean that they mortgage their freedom to have opinions to the Govt. It would nt be a democracy then.
Many people who voted for Bush in 04 are feeling terrible today for the choice they made back then. More than two thirds of the citizens in the US want the troops to be pulled out of Iraq. This is happening after they re-elected Bush ! Go figure !!
Gujaratis obviously did not have the access to all the facts that we have now – at least not in such a concrete irrefutable way. Besides, you dont seem to understand how exactly the BJP came to occupy this position of “Hindu community protector”. It was precisely because of incidents like the Godhra train burnings where Hindus were attacked with impunity and were then expected to “put up” with it.
Let’s assume the riots never happened. Do you seriously believe that the perpetrators of the train massacre would have been bought to justice ?? Look at the train bombings in Bombay, the attacks on Delhi, Hyderabad – have we even come close to finding the terrorists behind these killings ??
In fact I heard from my friends from Bombay that they supported the Shiv Sena during the 93 riots even if they did not agree with their tactics. They felt that if not for the Sena’s rowdies, communalist Muslims would have attacked even more Hindu civilians with greater impunity. I was at first shocked to hear that, but i realized that i did not live in Bombay during those terrible times and i would not be able to feel the way they did or have access to the same facts that they did. Facts which do not get reported in the news media by the way.
There are a lot of well meaning Hindus who are down right tired of this pandering to the Muslim community and the general sense that Hindus can be taken for granted.I would love for poor Hindus to get a subsidy from the Govt to go to the holiest Hindu temple of their choice, but it would rather give subsidies to Muslims to make a trip all the way to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj. By the way does any one know if Christians get a subsidy to go to the Vatican ?
These frustrations in the Hindu community are a long time coming. I personally think the Shah Bano decision of 1986 was the final straw in the camels back. Hindus slowly started drifting to the BJP to counter this open pandering of Muslims.
It was not enough that Hindus were made foreigners in their own homeland because of the Partition and that a whole “country” was created for Pakistan , but now we have to put up with the pandering of Muslims in India too ? Where does this end ??
“I’m not saying that Gujarati Hindus should be hated. But there is no need to disassociate Hindus/Jains from what happened. While many are completely innocent, many of them hold direct or indirect responsibility.”
What is obvious for everyone to see but no one dares to talk about is the fact that as a religious community Hindus still carry a lot of psychological scars and wounds from the Muslim invasion, rule of India, the partition of the country, right down to the vote bank politics of the last 50 years.
You are never allowed to openly discuss these feelings – if you do, you will be accused of being a communalist who is intent on stoking up riots and demonizing the Muslim community.
India has a long long way to go before it matures as a democracy. But if we want to prevent barbaric communal riots from happening, we have to understand the underlying reasons behind the Hindu Muslim tensions in the country and how people for the most part have admirably gotten along inspite of the terrible atrocities heaped on them.
Not have a condescending attitude to the Hindu community and not taking for granted would be a start. This would prevent the right wing hardliners from claiming to be the “true protectors” of the Hindus.
I think Modi / BJP is going to lose the election, but it would have been more to do with the anti-incumbency (BJP has been ruling for quite some time now) rather than any “secular” / “communal” issues..
Further updates on the person who ordered the ban on the channels. You figure out if Dwivedi is batting for Modi or the secularists..
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Ahmedabad_collector_a_scapegoat/articleshow/2496018.cms
In fact I heard from my friends from Bombay that they supported the Shiv Sena during the 93 riots even if they did not agree with their tactics. They felt that if not for the Sena’s rowdies, communalist Muslims would have attacked even more Hindu civilians with greater impunity. I was at first shocked to hear that, but i realized that i did not live in Bombay during those terrible times and i would not be able to feel the way they did or have access to the same facts that they did. Facts which do not get reported in the news media by the way.
I can Somewhat attest to that. My family happened to live in a south mumbai locality very close to the Muslim localities like Muhammed Ali Road and Dongri where the riots flared big time. We used to see smoke coming out of some not so distant buildings day and night during the december 93 riots. I ve seen a few things first hand. A muslim owned matress shop in our street looted and destroyed, Ironically here, the guy leading the loot was a galli ka muslim… A Hindu man beaten mericlessly in a muslim locality… Shiv Sainiks beating and killing a couple of passerby innocent muslim youths by pelting their bodies to the ground. One family took refuge at a neighbours house because their own building, which was located in the muslim locality, was blown up with a gas cylinder by the only muslim family in the building. A lot of hindu gujaratis died in that fire. As a safety and retaliatory measure our apt complex/society had stocked up on some low profile attack ammunition (glass bottles and kerosene) in the event our building was attacked by the mob. My family felt safe in the locality since we had a shiv sainik “shaaka” right down our street and they kept a vigil on things day and night. Most of the ppl living in the neighbourhood were gujaratis and maharashtrians. And Before you think my family maybe anti muslim, my dad saved a few muslim lives (his business friends family) from being attacked by the mob risking our own lives while they were visiting us. (Most readers here maynot have experienced a real mob fury. Try watching the movie “bombay”. its very close to reality) We even offered our office factory as a hiding ground to some of our muslim workers.
Anyways, the gist of it is there is no point in blaming the hindus/gujaratis as a whole or hating all muslims. It would have worked the same way in any part of the country. There is always a high probability the minorities would suffer more damage than the majority and get more print publicity for the events that took place… in a democracy. As a gujarati, I feel deeply for what happened in Gujarat and everywhere else that any minority has suffered. As with most incidents related to communal riots in India, Its always those few bad apples who pour the kerosene and the entire community suffers the consequences of their actions.
@Nizam
Tell me more, there were approx. 300 Hindus who died excluding the ones in the Train. So I guess they all commited Hara-Kiri?. And you are bringing an irrelevant point to justify how the Municipality officials bulldozed a 200-year old dargah, under road widening measures after duly demolishing a bunch of “concrete” temples earlier. The point is Nizam, Muslim community should not have rioted to begin with, after having lost the case in the courts. How ever “erratic or barely lethal” they were as per your standards. But people died… Nice try though !
Sujatha # 27
And no , I dont even accept the tag of ‘Hindu-basher’ – I stand by my words when I say that people of many other communities in Gujarat – Jains , Dantewada tribals , Marwaris , etc – were either actively involved or complicit in the pogrom . Maybe ‘ multi-religious basher ‘ ?
Umm, do you have any evidence regarding the Jains’ active involvement? Other than the anecdotal quote from a Gujarati Jain in #7 above
GP, Ponniyan Selvam BJP is gunning for Dhananjay Dwivedi (who ordered the ban) according to this article in the Indian Express. Looks like the BJP figures that Tehelka will benefit them in the elections if broadcast. (Somehow, given the recent infighting, I think the BJP is channeling Franklin’s together quote)
Also as Ponniyin Selvan had pointed out earlier this article in the Times of India states that BJP corporators felt that Dwiwedi was biased in favour of the Bahujan Samajwadi Party. (I consider the TOI a rag, but consider IE a shade better than most Indian English language papers)
sorry for the late responses – I am on India time , and the alcohol here is way cheaper .
melbourne desi @ 35 : Nope , that would be the Gautam Sarabhai campus . I have mixed feelings about the Louis Kahn one …
skept-on-earth @ 46 : Like I clarified , the violence post-Godhra had people of various communities either actively or passively supporting it . The quote from the Gujarati Jain ( who is three generations removed from Gujarat and has a very large Muslim client̬le where he lives and works now ) was mentioned as an example of how it was being condoned/justified by even the people one would least expect it from Рnot to bolster my statement about the carnage having a larger support base than the traditional Sangh Parivar constituency .
Again – the operative word here is some – some people of many communities actively and passively supported the pogrom . Most of the actual killing was done by mobs led from place to place by politicos who were the ones pointing out which houses and shops were to be burnt ( they had to be very specific in the most part , because pre-ghettoisation , many shops and houses were cheek by jowl ) . As to how people of other communities , like the Jains you asked me about , were involved , I do know of some Jain landlords who provided lists and locations of Muslim shops to the people organising the burning ( their tenants told me this ). And many who supported , at a local level , their BJP politicians with money and materials . The one name I can give you is that of Nirav Jain , a Baroda-based politician ( incidentally , the one behind the somewhat recent MSU art college fracas ) . If an example Ive given is somewhat specious , I would say it was the reference to Marwaris – I know of just one who got some parts of his commercial building ‘cleant out’ of both Hindu and Muslim shops , apparently so that he could tear the whole thing down and build a large swanky one in its place . I am given to suspect similar profit-seeking motives behind some of the examples of Jain and Hindu involvement .
I also met Muslim tenants of Hindu landlords who gave them a lot of material and monetary help to rebuild their shops and businesses and remain in the same commercial complexes .
Thanks, DizzyDesi and Ponniyin Selvan for this:
I’ve known the news item, that both of you have referenced, for a while now. I live in India and thus get to read Indian newspapers 🙂 But my point is: regardless of whom he is batting for; Dhananjay Dwivedi has never been “spun” into a secular hero before being spun into something else now. That he is being spun into a Modi supporter now is a fact — but not necessarily by the “secularists” alone (the aggrieved broadcasters are also into this line of speculation ). My feeling, as implied in #33, is that Dwivedi isn’t batting for anybody.
In my opinion, the most nuanced English-language newspaper in India today is The Hindu. The only things in the Hindu that one needs to take with a dose of salt are: a) anything written by N. Ram on Fidel Castro; and b) a good fraction of the reports filed by Hindu’s Moscow correspondent Vladimir Radyuhin.
why do you see hara-kiri as the only possible cause of death apart from being slain by marauding muslim rioters?
most of the hindu dead were rioters felled by police bullets. additionally, many would’ve obviously been killed while on the attack. it’s not as if every muslim victim went quietly without any resistance.
there were reports of helpless dalit hindus being killed at random by muslims, but i don’t think they would’ve been terribly high in number.
i’m not saying that muslims are somehow morally above rioting, but in this case your comments don’t hold much water.