Echo of riots silenced by Gujarat war of words

REEL FOR REAL: A still from 'Parzania', the film based on Gujarat riots. It was banned in the state.

          

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While the rest of Gujarat is festooned in garish election garb, Gulbarg Society in Meghani Nagar wears a haunted look. The charred walls and windows and the ruins of what was once a bustling neighbourhood are today a grim reminder of the nightmare that tore through Gujarat in 2002.

The silence is deafening, the steps leading to the rundown buildings remain desolate and the doors are locked. The people who lived here are either dead or have chosen to stay away.

Amidst the election campaign and the big war of words between the Congress and Narendra Modi, the link that seems to be missing is that of justice for those who suffered in the 2002 riots.

The Gujarat elections appear like national elections with the Congress talking about Masood Azhar and the BJP raising the issue of Afzal Guru. Yet, no one wants to talk about the post-Godhra riots.

So have the riot victims been forgotten in Gujarat's high-voltage election campaign? This question was debated on CNN-IBN show Face The Nation on Friday by a panel comprising Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi, BJP's Prakash Javadekar and filmmaker Rahul Dholakia.

Dholakia directed Parzania - the film based on the post-Godhra riots - and tried to address the question in great detail as to why nothing was done about those who suffered.

Asked about the Congress' paranoia with the post-Godhra riots issue, Congress' Abhishek Manu Singhvi rejected the contention that his party was scared of talking about the riots as it could polarise the Gujarati voter.

"Ever since Godhra 2002 till 2007, if the history of Gujarat or its politics were considered, only one entity has raised a voice against Mr Modi's acts and omissions and that is the Congress," Singhvi claimed.

“We have challenged him when NDA was in power, when the BJP is in power in the state of Gujarat and UP or when it's in power at the Centre. In this campaign, the fact that the Congress is accused of playing in Modi’s hands shows that when necessary we have never hesitated to raise the issue. For us, human rights is a religion-neutral, group-neutral issue," he said.

Moderating the discussion, CNN-IBN's Bhupendra Chaubey pointed out that while Congress President Sonia Gandhi was seen with the victims of the Hyderabad and Varanasi bomb blasts on the very next day, she seemed to have missed the opportunity to reach out to the victims of Godhra.

Couldn’t Sonia or Rahul Gandhi go to Godhra and reach out to the people emotionally when Gujarat burnt in 2002?

Singhvi had no direct reply to the question. He said the Congress members and party president have in the past made several visits to such places and there have been many rehabilitation packages for the aggrieved people in Godhra. He blames the press for looking at the victims and visits with regard to a particular community.

Why are the apologies missing?

While the campaign for the Gujarat elections has drawn to its close and the poll results will be known in just a week's time, political observers have frequently pointed out that in this election Narendra Modi may have lost an opportunity to utter a simple word of apology and say sorry to those who suffered.

The BJP, however, doesn't seem to think so. Party leader Prakash Javadekar said the state government has done exactly what was required by law and has given all statements in the high court and the Supreme Court.

"A victim to the riots participated in a discussion on a TV channel and said that the press and the so-called secular politicians are still stuck in 2002. However, the people who suffered have moved on, the gentleman said," Javadekar pointed out.

Prakash regretted that the Congress, which was earlier seeking votes in the name of Mahatma Gandhi, has taken resort to using Masood (Azhar) as their poster boy in the Gujarat elections.

It is indeed depressing to see that the election campaign in Gujarat has taken the shape of Lok Sabha elections with one party campaigning in the name of Masood Azhar and the other using a person who attacked the parliament. In other words, the Congress and the BJP appear to be the two sides of the same coin.

Rahul Dholakia pointed out the two parties have forgotten that this is a state election and not a national election.

"It is very sad that these politicians are meeting the victims after five years. There is gloom in the eyes of these people and there is perpetual insecurity that haunts those who suffered in the Godhra riots. It is sad that the politicians had to wait for the election campaigns to meet the people of their state and country," he pointed out.

Why bring religion in campaign speeches?

In the name of these elections, is Modi doing disservice to the nation by swearing in the name of Hinduism?

Javadekar said the meaning of the concept of Hindutva is accepted by the Supreme Court as a way of life in the country. “Modi talks about one country and one people. He talks about Gujarat of five and a half crore. He respects all people and in all his speeches it is clear that there is no discrimination in the name of caste or religion. All are equally respected,” added Prakash.

Are Congress and BJP just the same?

What is the difference between the two parties, if both talk of the same issues, where Congress harps on Masood Azhar and BJP talks about Afzal Guru?

In a strong rhetoric, Manu Singhvi said that only ignorance about the Indian political system could make one say that there was no difference between the two parties. “The only dividing watershed of Indian politics is among those who profess secularism in practice, spirit and letter as versus to those who don’t. The clear difference can be seen in Gujarat from what Modi says to what he does and what he has done,” said Singhvi.

He added Modi is communal and he tries to play one against the other in Indian politics.

Bhupendra Chaubey asked Manu if the Congress has been taking the Muslim votes for granted. However, Singhvi said that had that been true, Congress would have been winning the polls in Uttar Pradesh all along. He also adds that there is nothing that has ever stopped Congress from talking about the Godhra riots, not even their vote bank.

However, it seems that amidst the Gujarat elections, one thing that is missing is justice to those who suffered in the Godhra riots.

Final results of SMS and Web poll:

Have the riot victims been forgotten in Gujarat's high-voltage election campaign?

Yes: 82 per cent

No: 14 per cent