Mr. Advani, our Deputy Prime Minister was recently (Mid August 2002) touring UK for rejuvenation of the contact with the UK based NRIs, who like other NRIs are not only a big source of moolah for Sangh Parivar but are also promoters of the fundamentalism here by a remote mechanism of sorts. Our Hindutva leaders get a sort of transformation when they travel abroad. And in different forums they play different tunes to win over new friends, to retain the bonds of old friendships and to spruce up the image, which gets sullied due to the acts undertaken to promote their agenda of Hindu Rashtra. Multiple goals; so multiple pronouncements and so multi speak. One recalls that during such a visit to Staten Island our PM, Mr. Vajpayee's carefully painted mask of liberalism fell and he thundered like a swayamsevak. This was obviously to win over the support base of BJP in lands far and wide. One also recalls Mr. Advani in one of his previous visits to London made the famous pronouncement that we want a Hindu Rashtra but it will not be a theocratic state! Incidentally, a bit later Babri demolition was organized under his leadership as a stepping-stone to the blessed Rashtra for the Hindus of Advanis ilk.

This time around when Mr. Advani was visiting U.K. he has an added burden on his shoulder. The responsibility of Home ministry and deputy Prime Minister ship. In the face lift exercise he went on to express his sorrow and apology over the Gujarat violence! Did he think London is a better place to apologize for his sins? Is it that a new fatwa is in the offing from the Sangh stable that from now on Thames River is a better place for washing one's sins than our own Mother Ganga (river). Whatever be his strategic calculations, the apology could not appeal to those who have gone through the hell orchestrated by Mr. Advani's parivar. And they humbly rejected the 'apology'. We say that the generous accept the apologies. Could the battered Muslim minority come up to the magnanimity to accept the apology? Is it that they have been too numbed by the stunning blow on their very existence that they are not able to accept the apology of the man of the stature of Mr. Advani? Though they may like to bury the past memory and forgive and forget, is it that they feel that apology is not a sincere one?

Does one doubt the sincerity of our Home minister? Has their been a change of heart of Mr. Advani so that after seeing all the violence taking place right under his nose he feels a wrong has been perpetrated by him and his parivar? It is not easy to forget the horrific happenings of Gujarat since they have shown the dumps to which the doctored minds can take the society. Never before has the Nation seen the total and gross violation of all the norms of human behavior. Never before have we seen such a total collusion of the state machinery and the pogrom organizers. Never before have we witnessed such a humiliation of the women. Never before have the children undergone such massive suffering. Even today the refugee camps have the residents who have nowhere to go. Even today their ex-neighbors are telling them that they can return back only if they give an undertaking that they will not file any FIR against them. The net result of this carnage has been that Muslim minority can no more live in Gujarat in a dignified way. They have either to subjugate themselves to the dictates of the Hindu nation or to migrate elsewhere. If this elsewhere happens to be in India then they have to wait in perennial fear as to when another Gujarat type genocide will befall upon them.

Where was Mr. Advani when all this was happening? Barring his parivar most of those who were witnessing the process were aghast with the complicity of state. Or rather most of the Human rights investigation teams could see that it is not a intercommunity clash, it is not a communal violence, it was plain and simple state sponsored genocide, being led by Advani's junior, (Advani being the reincarnation of Sardar Patel as they claim, so in the Sangh terminology, Advani is Sardar; Modi chote Sardar), chote Sardar Narendra Modi. And what was Mr. Advani's role, complicity in the genocide. As the central minister of Home, the state law and order is his area of responsibility. And he parroted Modi's words that all is well in the state. And further, to encourage the doings of his junior, he patted the chief of Genocide squad, as being the best Chief Minister India has ever seen. He as home minister could have surely exercised his power to reduce the death dance, if not totally stop it, in Gujarat, but he did not even lift his little finger to stop it. In Goa when his party was supposed to take stock of the situation in Gujarat, he ensured that Chote Sardar is raised in the stature, that Modi is conferred Hero Dom for his labors in Gujarat.

So what is this apology of Mr. Advani? Is it to say that the state has faltered and now the things will be set right? Generally what an apology should mean is that, so far so good (bad) and now as a remorse we will
ensure that the injustices done are rectified. That even now whatever is possible to restore normalcy will be done. Whatever is possible will be done to restore the faith of the victims. The ghettoisation of Muslims in Gujarat is complete by now and his junior's Gaurav yatra will be creating a further terrifying atmosphere for them. Is Mr. Advani going to stop all that? No, plain and simple no. Mr. Advani is more interested in baking the electoral bread in the oven of carnage. He wants to fish in the rivers of blood to consolidate his Hindutvaa project. He wants to snub the upright Election commission to be reprimanded, to change its decision so that Elections can be held early in Gujarat. The need for early elections in Gujarat is the need of Sangh Parivar, which wants to capitalize on the 'gains' of carnage. Since the polarization due to the violence is always built up on the basis of the rumors and propaganda that the 'enemies' are going to attack us so lets preempt the attack by destroying them And so the majority community sees that those perpetrating the barbarism are saviors of theirs'. So the feeling that 'every single days delay in election, is votes lost for Hindutva' and so this hurry by Advani and company to take the election commission to Supreme Court via the President. 

Clearly Mr. Advani is not just hands in glove with the Gujarat violence, he is currently also adding salt to the wounds of Gujarat victims. That this is a fake apology is as clear to the Gujarat victims as it is to Mr.
Advani himself. But if a lie can brighten up your image what is the harm in resorting to such a tactic? But Mr. Advani should know that he can not fool all the people all the time. The cat, which came out from the bag of Gujarat violence, is growling loud enough to let victims believe what Mr. Advani is saying. And so this rejection of apology. One only hopes there was an element of genuineness in the apology but to expect such a change of heart from a die hard swayamsevak is to expect that Hitler will be leading the Jews to the garden path of bliss and not to the Gas Chamber.

(Writer works for EKTA, Committee for Communal Amity, Mumbai)