I must confess I am a news junkie and a compulsive tweeter (though I do NOT tweet a lot) BUT I do NOT follow any celebrity journo like Rajdeep, Barkha and do not watch any news channel. That was something I never thought I would be able to achieve in my lifetime and till a year back I would keep reading articles and see news from these "journos" despite my blood boiling with anger. Today my source of news is Twitter - of course I do venture a little in news websites sometimes :)
I am a Gujarati and was settled in Ahmedabad in 2002 - of course in a very safe area BUT could understand the pulse at that time - but that is not the topic for now - well that was a sort of a disclaimer.
Going through the tweets/news articles or comments in blogs belonging to the Right space, I get a feeling that people still do not understand the basic facts - let me rephrase "people do not WANT to understand the basic facts" - and 1 has to keep on pleading/requesting - to read the last decade in Gujarat with a clean lens and view the riots, speed/quality of justice etc. as a simple logical issue And not complicate them with religious/political/ideological overtones.
Isn't it simple:
1. Karsevaks killed by miscreants
2. Subsequent riots by miscreants - some were enraged, some wanted to avenge a personal loss, some just wanting to take advantage
3. Administration erred, MAY BE in gauging the enormity of the situation initially, but quickly corrected it by asking for Army assistance
4. Damage appeared to have been done by rioters in very less time. But then they were dealt with strictly which is obvious with the number of Hindu deaths by police firing. KPS Gill's (a no-nonsense cop) help taken
5. Vidhan Sabha dissolved, elections held in Dec instead of July so that there is no unfair advantage to ruling party (polarization, minorities rehabilitation etc.)
6. Elections held under no-nonsense CEC Lyngdoh
7. Modi won the election with big majority
8. Commission to probe formed taking even the CM into its purview (advocated by the CM himself), led by professional and respected officers
9. NGOs filed 100s of cases in local courts, HC and SC and shifted many cases outside Gujarat
10. No evidence found by any probe against the complicity of administration
11. I am not even going into the use of victims by NGO industry (Rais Khan's story) OR the Banerjee report that tried to prove that it was a sinister Sangh ploy to kill karsevaks - that is for another day
12. Meanwhile development at full pace and another election in 2007 - this despite "sting operations" conveniently timed along with "other proofs" that are usually supposed to be "setback/blow to Modi"
13. Officers coming out of hibernation with "facts" whenever the time suits them - not in 2002 or 2003, but in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011 even 2012
14. This time(2007) again a BIG win for BJP - this time no polarization, no fear in minorities etc.
15. Meanwhile progress of the state goes full steam...Industry, Agriculture, Tourism, Human Resources etc....
15. SIT supposedly finds no evidence in its probe - will know more in the coming weeks
Still, questions from both sides of the fence (and also those sitting on it) seem to be "Who decides who is guilty and who is innocent?" - read "Narendra Modi" as "who". There is no logical end to this till either side bends. Peoples' court has decided twice but it doesn't seem to have proved anything for the riot industry - for them Modi is the culprit and he has fooled everyone till now. I wonder on 1 hand these people credit the progress of Gujarat to the smart Gujjus (and I am a proud 1), not Guj Govt, and on the other hand they feel we "smart Gujjus" can be fooled by a man for 10+ years? How ingenious! Are you trying to insult us - if so Thanks but you may STFU - if NO, still STFU!
So when and where does all this stop? Answer : Never till Modi loses an election Or is convicted by someone. Even if the judges declare his stand correct, the NGO Riot industry will always have a Sanjiv Bhatt or a Sreekumar or even dead people like Haren Pandya to "help" them. There was a day not too long ago when Political and ideological battles were fought in the real battlegrounds - Elections. Now they are being fought in the courts, print, television studios and in that sense we truly are becoming a banana republic - not as a country perhaps but definitely as the citizenry and that doesn't augur too well for the coming generations.
In democracy the people are the real Gods - janta janardan - so all I can say is "Ishwar allah tero naam, sabko sammati de bhagwaan"
