The Hindu : Dangerous experiment

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 17, 2002

Opinion

Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Dangerous experiment

Sir, — You have rightly pointed out in your Editorial, `Harvest of hatred' (Dec. 16), that the "Gujarat experiment" has paid off for the BJP. The average educated, middle-class Hindu seems to have ignored the atrocities committed in Godhra and instead heralded the event as one giving a new identity to the community. It seems to have provided a sense of empowerment to many that their community avenged the assault on some fellow members, never mind the genocide and mayhem that followed.

If this is the attitude in Gujarat, it needs to be corrected by the secular forces, NGOs and the media. The Hindus need to be reminded that being tolerant is not a limitation but a virtue that has long been attributed to them, that there are constitutional ways of protesting and preventing Godhra-like incidents, that violence breeds only violence and that in this "experiment" everyone has had to pay a heavy price.

Rachita Mittal,
Chennai

Sir, — Your Editorial rightly highlights the potential dangers of communal polarisation. However, the Congress and the others who differ with the saffron brigade fail to understand the underlying cause behind its growth. In a democracy, it is the votes of the people that count. The need of the hour is to analyse dispassionately the undercurrents in society and agree on a programme to remove the apprehensions of the people about any perceived or real second-class treatment.

K.S. Gopalakrishnan,
Mumbai

Sir, — The results of the Gujarat elections are not surprising. The strategy adopted by the Congress was faulty. Instead of emphasising the failure of the Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, in controlling the communal clashes, it charged him with not only provoking the attack by extreme Hindu elements, but also attributed the torching of a train compartment in Godhra as stage-managed by him.

The result was that even those critical of Mr. Modi were offended by the charges and supported him. Unless the Opposition parties shift the focus of attack on the BJP from communal lines to economic and national policies, they have no hope of displacing the party in the next general elections.

R. Ramakrishnan,
Chennai

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