The year 2003 had many a disturbing events. These are portents for the polity of India as a secular democracy. The backdrop of Gujarat carnage was too heavy in the social conscience to be overcome. The tragedy of Gujarat violence was followed by the massive victory of the ‘butcher of Gujarat’, due to whose acts of commission and omission the carnage took the honorific scale unprecedented in the post independence India. The nation was stunned to watch the gross abuse of the human and democratic values, with the active connivance of the state machinery. The connivance of state apparatus was so gross that it will be better to call it a state sponsored anti Muslim program. Apart from its many firsts, the violation of the women of minority community, the state hostility to those who tried to provide some relief to the riot victims was unimaginable in any society in the current times. The face of a frightened Muslim pleading for mercy stated the nature of violence and the state of mind of minorities in Gujarat. The slitting open the womb of Kausar Bano to burn her unborn baby underlined the scale of hatred, which by now has become the part of social psyche all over and more so in Gujarat.

Muslims in Godhra were presented as the culprits and the whole genocide was presented as a reaction to the burning of the train. Interestingly the Godhra tragedy again highlights the state of the affairs and the manipulation of events. There was no room to question the Modi’s spot investigation that Muslims have burnt the train, there was no place for introspecting the reasons for the train burning, who did it, as the aggressive propaganda dished out the theory that ‘they’ have burnt the train in collaboration with the ISI and international terrorism, ‘we’ the Hindus are under threat and so lets retaliate. By a sleight of hand the active violence was presented as a reaction of the unfortunate event, which could have been investigated properly and guilty of the crime punished in an impartial manner. This bogus theory exposed itself, but not in the popular psyche, and the well-planned pogrom unleashed itself. The question was that if it was a reaction, than why the neighboring Hindu of Madhya Pradesh or Rajasthan are not taking revenge? The questions it raised were innumerable. But the popular psyche did accept the Modi thesis and a section of people unleashed the first major anti-Minority pogrom of 21st century, well coordinated by different wings of RSS and its affiliates, Sangh Parivar (SP).

How come that the one who presided over the biggest genocide, of course with due protection from the fellow swaymsevaks in the central govt., the Prime minister and Home minister, could come back to power in such a massive majority? This was simple enough to explain as the polarization brought about due to pogrom was highlighted continuously and majority community was given the signal that defeat of Mr. Modi is equivalent to victory of Pakistan, the country with our permanent enemy status, and of international terrorism. Also the inroads which BJPs affiliate, Vanvasi Kalyan Ashsram (VKA) has made in the adivasis areas did the rest, by winning over a large to section of Adivasis to the politics of Hate.

Emerging as a Hero from the electoral battles, Mr. Modi’s arrogance reached sky high. The process of giving justice to the Gujarat victims is being obstructed in all possible ways. To begin with Justice Shah-Nanavati commission, which has been appointed to investigate the Gujarat riots, has been giving the signals that it is going to play to the tunes of RSS and its affiliates. Mr. Shah is a known RSS sympathizer. Supreme Court had quashed his judgments in TADA cases against Muslims. Mr. Nanavati also once a while drops a line, which shows as do where do his sympathies lie. The FIR’s have not been filed in innumerable cases and in few cases, which have come up, the witnesses have been intimidated by the state authorities and the sundry politicians who were involved in the riots. The case of Best Bakery said it all. Zahira Sheikh, whose twelve relatives were burnt alive, initially gave the evidence against the culprits. Later under the threats and pressures, most of the witnesses along with her turned hostile and retracted their statements and in the court denied that she had seen any of the accused. Many a civil liberties groups helped her and in the case filed in the Supreme court, the court reprimanded Modi for his governments failure to book the culprits of the riots and to provide due protection to the victims and those deposing in the courts. Since it is perceived that situation in Gujarat is totally hostile to the minorities and those seeking justice, it is being argued that hearing of riot related cases be shifted out of Gujarat since the atmosphere there is not conducive to the proper conduct of the riot related cases so they should be shifted out.

Many a social activists have started perceiving that the menacing grip of the state is strangulating the civil liberties in general and those of minorities in particular, the same is exemplified times and over again. Mallika Sarabhai, one of the most respected names in Gujarat is being hounded for raising her voice against the atrocities of the state. She has been one of petitioners in the public interest litigation in the case file in the Supreme Court. She had also raised her voice against the carnage in Gujarat. The state Govt. managed to put up one of the ex-applicants to Sarabhai’s dance troupe, and cooked up a false case. The matter went to the extent of putting her behind bars, for trafficking, violation of visa laws and for fraud. Sarabhai’s Darshana Academy had duly returned the deposit to the applicant, there was no violation of any of the norms of the land. She had to appeal to courts to avoid her arrest and to ensure that the Modi Govt. does not victimize her. After the genocide, it is a different Gujarat, one feel the Big Brother Modi breathing down One’s neck all the time. A prelude to a Fascist state?

In one of the other ongoing court cases, Dara Singh the culprit involved in the murder of Pastor Graham Stains was sentenced to death. One recalls here that Dara Singh has nebulous links with different wings of Sangh Parivar. After he committed this crime, the Home minister, Advani, went on to exonerate his links with Bajrang Dal. M.M.Joshi and others went into assert that the murder of Pastor stains is part of an international conspiracy to destabilize the BJP led coalition. Also Dilp Sing Judeo who is the champion of Gharvapasi, reconversion of Adivasis to Hinduism, vowed to fight Dara Singh’s case in the courts. On having been reprimanded by the RSS-BJP top brass for this, he retracted. Incidentally, Judeo’s brother took the brief for Dara Singh.

The NRI funding of RSS and its progeny has been brought to the surface by the human rights groups based in US. The web site SACW and Sabrang prepared a report on this expose. RSS sympathizers have set up IDRF, and have been projecting it as a charity organization supporting the work in India. The report points out that most of its funds go to the RSS affiliates and a large chunk of this is used in the hate propaganda and in Hindutvasing the Adivasis. Those NRI’s looking for an avenue to do charity are presented with IDRF as a non-sectarian charity organization. These funds have played a major role in doctoring the psyche of the masses leading to various acts of violence against minorities.

As per the order of Allahabad High Court, Archeological Survey of India (ASI) undertook the excavation at the site where Babri mosque was demolished. The report goes on to say that a massive structure of 10 century, the one like the temple existed at the site. This conclusion of ASI totally goes against its own findings. It has conveniently ignored uncomfortable findings in order to forcibly prove the existence of temple. While the Sangh Parivar has quietly picked up on this and is going around saying that a massive Ram Temple existed and was demolished, the discerning archeologists have quashed the ASI thesis in a very convincing manner. The report has not "taken into account" certain features of the western-wall of the pre-Babri Masjid chamber. The burnt brick wall of the pre-Babri Masjid structure had a carved stone laid in the foundation. If this finding is analyzed it precluded the possibility of the structure being associated with Hindus, since they never used carved stone in foundation. Many an outstanding archeologists-historians have refuted the possibility of the temple being there on the ground of the same findings.

The project undertaken by the MHRD to saffronise the school textbooks reached it culmination in the release of new textbooks. These new lots are a blot on the academic standards so far achieved by Indian historiography. Not only is there a heavy Hindutva slant in these, they are also blatant in their anti-Minorityism, anti-weaker sections of society and these books eulogize the fascist type of Nationalism. What shows the caliber of the writers of the books is that have lifted paragraphs and pages from the US books in the matters of World affairs. And on the top of this, the naked plagiarism is being defended by the MHRD minister. One is sure that these books will create a havoc in the times to come as the central core of these is paying blind obeisance to the traditions, glorification of all the obscurantist values and to spread hate against the Muslims and Christians in blatant and subtle way.

The fact that communalization process is not just restricted to North Indian states became clear in various incidents in other states. In Madhya Pardesh Uma Bharati tried to kick start her election campaign with by making an issue around Bhojshala/mosque issue. Fortunately her ploy did not work. The Baba Budan giri dargah in Karnataka has been repeatedly brought to fore and the Sangh brigade aims to convert it into Ayodhya of South. Every year they are holding a rally to declare that it is Datta Pitham, which has been converted by Muslims rulers into a Dargahg. In current year’s function, the peace protesters were arrested in large number while the state Govt. silently watched the rally by Sangh Parivar, which spewed poison against minorities.

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