The Hindu : The last straw

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Tuesday, Apr 23, 2002

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The last straw

THE OUTBREAK OF communal violence in Ahmedabad and elsewhere on Sunday, after a brief respite, flies in the face of the Narendra Modi regime's repeated assertions of `business as usual' in Gujarat after the Godhra carnage and its more horrendous aftermath. And this, ironically, at a time when the Defence Minister, George Fernandes, on a visit to the State, was claiming a vast `improvement' in the law and order situation. The fact that such mob communal attacks should recur in the State's capital, and that too more than 50 days after the Godhra incident (which triggered the violent and indefensible backlash), is simply outrageous. Clearly, the Modi administration, which stands thoroughly discredited and widely condemned on several counts for the way it has handled the post-Godhra developments, has done precious little to give a better account of itself as a responsible and responsive Government. In a sense, Mr. Fernandes' statement that the Army would be there in the State to assist the civil authorities as long as required should be reassuring. But, whether their presence makes an impact or not depends crucially on how willing and imaginative the civil administration is in deploying the defence personnel. Considering that communal embers continue to burn in different parts of the State, even if on a relatively much reduced scale, in spite of the Army's presence, and given the known proclivities of those heading the Government, serious misgivings are bound to arise on this score.

In fact, the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee's words of counsel on `Raj Dharma', tendered during his one-day visit to the State, had raised some hope — feeble, though — of Mr. Modi becoming alive to his constitutional obligations as the head of Government and addressing the basic relief and rehabilitation concerns of the thousands of riot-hit people. But all that was dashed once the BJP's national executive (at Panaji) lionised Mr. Modi and swore by his aggressive hardline Hindutva line, with Mr. Vajpayee himself backing him to the hilt against a groundswell of opinion from within the ruling coalition and the Telugu Desam Party that Mr. Modi must be asked to step down in the national interest. Whether it is providing the life-sustaining facilities at the relief camps where the homeless Muslims are sheltered or giving them jobs or helping them build new homes, the Government has been singularly insensitive. Much is made of the `smooth' conduct of the Secondary Board examinations in the riot-hit districts and the `substantial' participation of children from the relief camps, facilitated by the high security transportation provided by the Government. The questionable credibility of the attendance-related official statistics aside, there is certainly something perverse about making the uprooted and traumatised children take the examinations at this stage and then `flaunting' their participation as proof of `normality' having returned.

The task of restoring communal harmony and amity necessarily calls for collective effort, with participation from all sections of society, and there is no disputing it. In the current Gujarat context, the immediate objective has to be gaining the confidence of the riot-hit families, whichever community they might belong to. Yet, for such an endeavour to be meaningful — let alone fruitful — it is imperative that the overall atmosphere is not vitiated especially by the presence of a notoriously partisan Government. What happened to the `peace initiative' taken recently by well-meaning Sarvodaya activists in Sabarmati Gandhi Ashram should be a pointer. For his part, Mr. Vajpayee has (at a function in Assam) said that the perpetrators of violence in Gujarat would be brought to justice, irrespective of their religious, caste or political affiliations, the suggestion being that the Government will be tough against miscreants and, two, the action will be non-discriminatory. If the Prime Minister's declaration is to carry conviction in both respects, and if the call for collective and concerted confidence-building initiative is to make any sense at all, there has to be a leadership change in Gujarat as an essential first step.

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