Friday, December 27, 2013

Modi says, he was shaken to core by Gujarat's religious riots

Narendra Modi's words sound hollow
URL - http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2013/12/modi-says-he-was-shaken-to-core-by.html

Mr. Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat has been compared for his focus on development of his state, while tearing the social fabric of Gujarat and reducing minorities to second class citizens. The Gujarat Massacred killed nearly 1000 people and displaced 20,000 without any rehabilitation or compensation. The lower court sided with the recommendations of a special investigative team on December 26, 2013. Mr. Modi sounds hollow.



December 26, 2013. The district court in Ahmadabad, Gujarat validated the recommendations of the special investigation team and dismissed the charges against Mr. Narendra Modi's involvement in the Gujarat massacre under his leadership in 2002. 

Immediately after the verdict, Mr. Modi tweeted, "Satyameva Jayate" - that truth triumphs at the end.  The words sounded hollow.

Referring to the 2001 Earthquake, he wrote on his blog "Hundreds of lives were lost. Lakhs were rendered homeless. Entire livelihoods were destroyed. In such traumatic times of unimaginable suffering, I was given the responsibility to soothe and rebuild. And we had whole heartedly plunged ourselves into the challenge at hand."


Of course the hard core supporters will lap it up, but this should have happened as an initiative and not as a reaction.


Mr. Modi, did you not have the responsibility to soothe and restore the lives of the riot victims, at least with some heart if not wholeheartedly? If you had cared for them, the world would have been with you and you did not have to play these games.


However, you still have the time to show if you really have a pure heart that does not discriminate any one. Mr. Modi said, "I pray to God that no bitterness seeps into my heart". Please do the praischit, (repentance) prayers alone won't cut it, and they are merely words.


Should we buy the following statement, "However, it was from these very built up emotions that I had appealed to the people of Gujarat on the day of the Godhra train burning itself; fervently urging for peace and restraint to ensure lives of innocents were not put at risk."


Should we buy this statement from Rahul Gandhi, your opponent if he delivers this, "However, I was totally opposed to corruption in the UPA government, I was shaken to the core. 'Grief', 'Sadness', 'Misery', 'Pain', 'Anguish', 'Agony' with the way things are happening, I am here to change it and put India back on prosperity that reaches every Indian."

After twelve years and countless investigations and interviews, he comes up with this to build momentum and position himself as a good guy, "I was shaken to the core. 'Grief', 'Sadness', 'Misery', 'Pain', 'Anguish', 'Agony' - mere words could not capture the absolute emptiness one felt on witnessing such inhumanity." Really? It took twelve years for you to share that on an opportunistic time?

He continues, "On one side was the pain of the victims of the earthquake, and on the other the pain of the victims of the riots. In decisively confronting this great turmoil, I had to single-mindedly focus all the strength given to me by the almighty, on the task of peace, justice and rehabilitation; burying the pain and agony I was personally wracked with."


Mr. Modi, you still have the time to take action, here are the suggestions. 


1. Restore the lives of refugees uprooted in the riots, find them minimum housing and a path to earn a livelihood. Let them be accommodated amidst all others with caring attitudes, in the long run we have to build de-segregated societies for the good of all.

2. Inclusive governance, to include Muslims on the internal advisory of the Chief Minister to make security decisions on a voluntary basis with nothing to gain.

3. Justice to the families of the ones who have lost their lives, both Hindu and Muslim without discrimination.

4. Find the truth about burning of 59 passengers in the train in the most transparent way - to bring closure to doubts on both sides or acknowledge the findings and live with it.

5. Punishment for anti-Muslim and anti-Christian attitudes in the state machinery, just like the strong anti-corruption rules instituted by the Chief Minister.

6. Meet with local Muslim, Dalit, Sikh, and Christian leadership on a regular basis, not to appease them, but to hear them out and prevent injustice to them.

7. Earn the goodwill of the people affected by restoring their lives and seeking forgiveness from them.


Remember, Muslims and other minorities are not looking for favors or handouts, but just fair treatment, and an opportunity to be productive citizens.  If Mr. Modi can demonstrate that he is a good human being, and put in to practice the above seven points for the next five years, he would earn the goodwill of the people and could hope to be the Prime Minister of India for several terms.
 

Jai Hind



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Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work place. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. He believes in Standing up for others and a book with the same title is coming up. Mike has a strong presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News; fortnightly at Huffington post; and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes all his work through many links.
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