The Hindu : Will Gujarat conflagration be contained?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 01, 2002

National

National

Will Gujarat conflagration be contained?
By Harish Khare

NEW DELHI, FEB. 28. Any junior IPS officer could have predicted that there would be backlash and violence during the ``Gujarat bandh'' call given by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. Yet there was neither administrative preparedness nor willingness to put down violence-mongers.

The result? Gujarat burnt today. The level and nature of violence, according to some officers, has surpassed the carnage witnessed during the 1969 communal riots and the violence that erupted on October 30, 1990 (after L.K. Advani was stopped from going on his `rath yatra'). Today was the day of the mob as the policemen watched silently and helplessly as houses and business establishments of the minority community were set on fire.

Why? Not because the senior police hierarchy in Gujarat police is unfamiliar with crowd control. Not because they did not have sufficient time to anticipate the revulsion and reaction to the Godhra incident. The police inaction can be attributed to only one reason: the confusion in the mind of political leaders, particularly the Chief Minister, Narendra Modi. And this confusion and diffidence proved infectious among the police officers and men, who thought that a ``Hindu'' Government would not like force to be used against ``Hindu'' agitators and arsonists.

Ghastly as the Godhra incident was, the administration was duty bound to maintain law and order. Mr. Modi failed as an administrator. The confusion in Mr. Modi's mind has proved very costly.

All the efforts and resources that have gone into rebuilding Gujarat after the 1990-1992 violent phase stand undone. He can forget about attracting foreign investment in Gujarat. In a way, Mr. Modi and the rest of the BJP are reaping the harvest of hatred and divisiveness they have sowed over the last decade.

The VHP has given a ``Bharat bandh'' call for Friday. The Prime Minister's assertion that his government had provided a riot-free administration has gone for a six. Also stand negated are the hard and honest efforts made by the Prime Minister to convince the country and the rest of the world that he presided over a liberal and reasonable regime. The question is: Would `Gujarat' be repeated _ or would be allowed to be repeated _ all over north India?

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