2002 RIOTS
VS
1984 RIOTS
People
forget; especially people who say bad things; people who do bad things; they
forget very easily. They would not remember a word of what insensitive things
they said to others. They would not remember the worst crimes they committed on
others. But, the people who have suffered at their hands – it is difficult for
them to forget what bad things they heard and what hard things they suffered at
the hands of the former - that easily. That is how we are all made – except the Buddhas, the Yogis and the Good
Samaritans, who want to move on doing good, irrespective of what bad is told
about them; and what bad is done to them.
It
is in this context that we need to view the statements of our Political leaders
of all hues. The latest example of this is the Press conference of our Prime
Minister, Dr.Man Mohan Singh. I do hold Dr.Man Mohan Singh a Good Man and Most
of the Media holds him as a bad leader. He never led the Government of which he
was the anointed head. The latest press conference of his looks like a bad
example of his failing leadership.
There
were too many things in this press conference, which were “not good” enough - FOR ANY ONE to accept and approve. Most pressmen have disapproved large parts of the PM's replies.
But,
I would like to analyze briefly - what he said about Narendra Modi, the Prime
Ministerial Candidate of BJP. Here are the published portions of his answers to the relevant Questions on this aspect :
Q: Do you think Rahul Gandhi vs Narendra Modi is an equal
contest? Are you confident he will be able to form the Government?
PM: I have full confidence that the next Prime Minister
will be from the UPA coalition, and that without discussing the merits of Mr.
Narendra Modi, it will be disastrous for
the country to have Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister.
Q: The BJP and Mr. Modi’s charge against you is that you have
been a weak PM. Does the party have a role?
PM: I do not believe that I have been a weak Prime
Minister. That is for historians to judge. The BJP and its associates may say
whatever they like. But if by “strong Prime Minister”, you mean that you preside over a mass massacre of
innocent citizens on the streets of Ahmedabad, that is the measure of
strength, I do not believe that sort of strength this country needs, least of
all, in its Prime Minister.
Q: What about succour to the victims of anti-Sikh riots?
PM: If you are talking about the Sikhs who suffered in
1984 riots, I think our Government has done quite a lot, and I used the opportunity of a discussion in
Parliament, to publicly apologise to the Sikh community on behalf of the
Government of our country, for what had happened in 1984. It should never have
happened. As far as the compensation is concerned, one can never give adequate
compensation to compensate for the loss of valuable lives. But wherever
possible, we have provided succour to the suffering families of the Sikhs
affected by the 1984 riots.
Now, against the questions and
answers, I quote below what the leader of Opposition says about what the PM
says :
"Is
he willing to use the same phraseology for the Prime Minister as on 1st
November, 1984 during whose tenure the worst ever genocide in the country took
place against the Sikh community and for which nobody till date has been held
responsible," Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley told
reporters.
So,
India had 2 Major riots, if we believe the Congress and the BJP. One happened
in 1984 and another in 2002.
The 1984 anti-sikh riots had taken place in
the aftermath of the assassination of Indira Gandhi, when Rajiv Gandhi took
over as Prime Minister. I am quoting
below what Wikipedia says about the riots in its first para at : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_anti-Sikh_riots
“The
1984 anti-Sikhs riots or the 1984 Sikh Massacre were a series of pogroms
directed against Sikhs in India, by anti-Sikh mobs, in response to the
assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. There were more than
8,000 deaths, including 3,000 in Delhi. The Central Bureau of Investigation,
the main Indian investigating agency, is of the opinion that the acts of
violence were organized with the support from the then Delhi police officials
and the central government headed by Indira Gandhi's son, Rajiv Gandhi. Rajiv
Gandhi was sworn in as Prime Minister after his mother's death and, when asked
about the riots, said "when a big tree falls, the earth shakes".
This
is not what I say. This is what many respected web sites say. They may be wrong
in some small details, but we all know that, by and large, the massacre did
happen and many congress leaders and workers were the main culprits. Many other
details of the 1984 riots are well documented in many news web sites. Many
Congress leaders and thousands of congress workers were involved in this
frenzied anti-sikh riots.
Dr.
Manmohan Singh may have publicly apologized for the riots much later – because, huge discontentment was
simmering among the sufferers. The Apology, coming so late in the day, was not
bad, but was not sufficient. Many disturbing questions arise in this context.
1. Why
was there no strong and swift action to put down the massacre itself – by the then
Congress Government? In fact, this is the first question that Congress has to
ask itself and answer to the public
convincingly. It is more important because, the Congress is asking the BJP the
same question in respect of 2002 riots.
2. BJP”s
Narendra Modi, had put down the riots in Ahmedabad within 24 hours time. But,
the PM is not answering why the Congress and its top Brass allowed the
Anti-sikh riots to continue for several days as a free for all!
3. The
question of compensation is ridiculous. How much compensation is good enough
for mass murders? Yet, did the government do all it could to restore at least
the economic status of the killed persons’ families? This should have been done
in 1984 and in 2002 both.
4. The
apology by the next, next PM is next to nothing – but the PM and Congress are
trotting it as ‘more than sufficient’ compensation for all the riot victims’
sufferings. Raja Dharma or the Duty of the head of the Government is totally
different. You can apologize for every Murder, every Gang rape etc committed
all over India at the start of every Day in Parliament and state assemblies. Is
this of any use? Government is expected to ensure that no further crimes are
committed at all by anyone after the first crime that comes to its Notice. And,
by that standard, Narendra Modi’s record since 2002 is reasonably good, while
the record of Congress is not.
5. Head
of Government must ensure that the perpetrators of the crimes are punished
severely, so that the sufferer has some solace that the Government is fair to
the victim’s families at least. Here again, Narendra Modi’s Government got the
offenders punished in considerably short time (a decade); while the
perpetrators of the anti-sikh mass murders are at large even now(3 decades). There
doesn’t even seem to be sufficient
effort to identify the mass murderers in case of the 1984 riots even now. In
the face of this, how is Dr.Man Mohan Singh’s apology of any value to the
victims?
6. Therefore,
this anti-Modi campaign continuing from Congress & its allies’ side is meaningless.
There are a few other facets of this campaign which are sickening. First, there
was torching of the train compartments at Godhra – in which many people were
torched in burning train compartments. No Congress man ever talks of this and
condemns its perpetrators. Then came the Ahmedabad riots. Yes. Both should not
have happened. But, they did and they were put down by the Gujarat Police
within 24 Hours. The perpetrators were quickly identified and they have been
sent to Jail and got punished by Modi. One congress MP was among the victims killed
and his widow Zakia Jaffri has been fighting – not for punishment of the real
culprits, but for punishing Narendra Modi. Her anguish at the murder of her
husband is understandable and she deserves sympathy on that count. If she
demands that the real perpetrators of the crime must be punished or even
hanged, it makes sense. But, her demand has always been Political. It doesn’t in
fact seem to be a widow’s Genuine demand at all. Whether Modi is guilty or not –
Modi should be punished – and that is her demand. How would it look if the demand
of Sikhs is that, Congress PM and Congress CMs of respective states are to be sentenced
for Anti-sikh riots of 1984? Why doesn’t Dr.Singh at least, see and accept
the meaninglessness of such demands. Jaffri’s demand is not a suffering widow’s
demand but the demand of the Politicians in disguise behind her. Did she make a
similar demand in respect of the Godhra victims, or, the anti-sikh riot
victims? No. That is the tragedy. Her demand, the demand of the Congress and
that of the PM looks purely Political.
7. That
said – Raja Dharma must dictate that victims’ families must be provided sufficient
compensation and security so that they can live in dignity. This applies to
1984 first and 2002 next. And to any riots, murders, rapes and Gang rapes that
happen anywhere else in the country.
8. Apologies
by heads of Government are of no Use. They must ACT FAST. They must feel the
pain of each victim. They must prevent crimes from happening. They must get
offenders quickly punished.
9. After
Nirbhaya’s case and strong public Protests on it - Even today Gang rapes are
occurring in many states; would it be OK if the CMs there express APOLOGY and keep
quiet without punishing the offenders? In some states, it looks as if neither apology
nor remorse, nor action is there from heads of Government. And, worst, ruling
party men in some states seem to be behind such acts, judging by some news
reports!
10. Narendra
Modi’s record after 2002 has been reasonably GOOD. Now that, there is a
competitor in Arvind Kejriwal in Good Governance, I am sure, both of them will
try to excel each other in Good Governance. But, will Congress stop finger
pointing (with an sullied finger) and start performing? Dr. Singh is Good and capable.
Rahul is Sincere. That cannot be said of many others in Congress. Can both start
Governing? Even the next five months could prove to be Good Governance for
India under Dr.Singh! India will welcome any such Shift to Good Governance. 2014 Elections should be on Good Governance. Not on 2002.
11. If
it is on 2002, Modi should win hands down.
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