The writer is a columnist. He is also a former editor of the Mumbai-based English newspaper Mid Day and the Gujarati paper Divya Bhaskar
aakar.patel@tribune.com.pk
Modi’s appeal is crafted on two narratives. The first is his record on Hindutva. This is formed by his work as a lifelong Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh man, as the organiser of LK Advani’s Rath Yatra, as the administrator under whose watch Gujarat burnt and continues to smoulder. Modi does not need to amplify this side and his record is manifest. The second part of his appeal is his image as a strong administrator and someone who is both incorruptible and uninterested in pushing his own family. In both aspects, he is someone who is decisive and firm.
This second part to Modi is the one that has made the BJP more palatable to those groups. It is not easy to talk about the BJP today without being challenged on the Congress record. It would seem that both parties are the same and represent the same sort of dangers to Indians. That while the BJP did its damage over Ayodhya and Gujarat, the Congress cannot be absolved on the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 and dozens of other skirmishes over the decades.
Is this an accurate comparison? I don’t think so. The fact is that the BJP is more dangerous than the Congress. While it’s true that the Congress has been opportunistic in its behaviour, it must be understood that the BJP has created its mischief. Three thousand Indians died in the violence that Advani’s Ayodhya gambit produced. In his autobiography, Advani absolves himself by saying little violence happened in the areas his Rath Yatra had visited, but he is aware of the fires he lit. He led a fired-up mob to the mosque and then says he’s surprised when they raze it and he’s unable to stop them.
Modi’s aide and his deputy home minister, Amit Shah, said in a recent interview to Rediff.com’s Sheela Bhatt that the violence in Gujarat was inevitable given the massacre at Godhra. In his words: “The BJP has nothing to do with the riots of 2002! The riots were the reaction of the people to the Godhra incident. The reaction was so huge that the established machinery could not meet the challenge of these spontaneous reactions.”
What he doesn’t say is that it is that the BJP, over the decades, has so polarised the state that a single incident led to a statewide orgy of revenge. The reason that so much anger and bitterness and hatred exists in Gujarat is because of the divisive language and policies of the BJP. These remain unchanged in the era of Modi but have been papered over by the second aspect to his image.
The Congress is guilty of the massacre of Sikhs, but it must be acknowledged that the party has tried to make up for its crime. Under Sonia Gandhi, we have had a magnificent gesture to Sikhs in the face of Manmohan Singh. His two terms as prime minister have done much to heal the feelings of Sikhs and non-Sikhs, offended by the way the community was treated in Delhi. The other way to judge how effective the Congress’s outreach to Sikhs has been is to observe the politics in Punjab. The fact is that the Congress has made its peace with Sikhs there. To see this, we need to only go through the names of Punjab’s legislators. Of the 46 Congress MLAs, 33 are Sikh (on the other hand, 10 of the BJP’s 12 MLAs are Hindu). It is the Sikhs who elected the Congress to government twice in Punjab after 1984.
How different this is from the BJP in Gujarat, where no Muslim has been given a BJP ticket to contest in three assembly and two Lok Sabha elections under Modi. The record shows that it is not wise to see the BJP and the Congress as being alike, even if Modi’s popularity has convinced many to see it this way.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 13th, 2013.
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COMMENTS (32)
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A meretricious article full of invidious comparisons. Is there anypoint in talking of Hindutva when Muslim league has been alive and active from 1957 in Kerala? They are as corrupt as the Kerala congress and Government after Government has looted the people just as the Congress did in Delhi. And the record of communal riots in India under secular parties is easily available;-and the data on who started the riots- and easily ignored Aakar Patel does not know his India.
Its election season. So yea the rhetoric is at an all time high. But do not worry, the moment they take power. They will be friendly.
Classic politics people :)
Dr gn seetharaman Aakar, I like you
Is it like or is it pity?
@ curious jizya tax existed in India some 500-600 years ago and was abolished by Akbar and reintroduced during Aurangzeb reign and thereafter no one heard of it. The concept is dead for centuries. Completely irrelevant today. It is used by some extremist right groups to create hatred. I wonder how educated people fall for it ! The BJP-RSS group make fool of people and their emotions. They are slow poison of India. Instead of looking forward and making a secular liberal society, they create intolerance and instability. Who would want to invest in such instability created by them. A bit of mis-governance and corruption is acceptable rather than war mongering, riots and instability. It will push Indian economy back by several decades Little option for voters. Idhar kua udhar khai !
@Curious: religious extremism and intolerance can never become torch bearing idea for any society to develop economically on a long term. BJP being political arm of RSS , which believes in Hindu Rashtra , Manu , sati practices, anti- minorities is sure recipe for economic disaster of a India in long term. Even the so-called development of Gujarat state under Modi , is full of doubt , because of selective & false data being thrown in by BJP/ RSS supporters. Support to minorities is a part of natural justice. In any society majority has to bear responsibility for inclusive growth. Even in USA , elements like KKK are hated ...any attack on Temples, Gurudwaras is deplored and criticised by masses. India's future lies not in few FDI in Solar or Auto industries..or building few toilets here and there. Peace, Social justice, equality precedes all economic theories. BJP / RSS will have to bury its Communal agenda to convince Majority of voters so that they can sniff victory to Delhi.
I am not interested or endorsed BJP. but mr .patel remember becoz of guys like u I want to vote BJP. people are now very well aware and no pseudo secular propaganda will impress the people any more. there is a growing realization about UPA-2 failure and modi's administration skill. see the 2014 results
My earlier comment was not published. ? Why? Fascism ET? Are you sensitive to the word jizya? You think it didn't exist?
@alan There is another simpler explanation. While Pakistanis claim India has not accepted partition, the truth is other way round. Partition has been highly dis satisfactory to THEM not us. The obsession with India and Indian politics comes from that. Most telling of this fact is a recent ET blog "Indians shouldn't vote for Modi".
Reminded me of jinnah's Lahore speech: "brother Gandhi, you have 3 votes I have only one vote". Moving into a corner, that too is not working, collapsing all around, in their mind Indian Muslims are Pakistanis living in India. Must be very frustrating.
Big difference in 1984 and 2002 is while Congress no more discriminate Sikhs on the basis of religion. BJP continue to do so. BJP and VHP/Bajrang dal/xzy senas are like two eyes of larger RSS ideology. They cannot be separated. Modi is very much part of it, he may deny it on face for sake of votes. Every time there is communal riot in India you can see these organization people dividing society. If it is assumed that congress flares the riots, why people from these organization take part in it? All riots had complicity of these organizations. India has always been a diverse society in terms of language, religion and customs. Bringing them under one Hindu umbrella is plain stupidity and can be reason for demise of very idea of India. Unity in diversity is foundation of India and should remain so.
@indiafirst Your latest post sounds more reasonable. Only somewhat. Only now you talk of Muslim extremism. Previously quiet. Consider the (?remote) possibility people who call themselves Hindus can have and do have grievances. BJP has grown because of your mentality Hindus should always be suckers and be quiet. In your utopian secular India there was endless Muslim pampering. 2 separate countries followed by Hajj subsidy ( modern day jiziya tax). I 'm aware of Muslim leaders agreeing no need for Hajj subsidy. But the point is being honest helps, instead of chest beating with false sense of moral superiority.
Read my earlier post. No one should indulge in actions that disrupt economic progress. Correction to my earlier post BJP rule from late 90s not 80s.
@Question for AP from a Sikh: "I was hoping to read about massacre of Sikhs by clicking on that. So much for that. I think you are inaccurate on purpose."
Aakar Patel of course is being biased and projecting, in a way, an inaccurate 'reality' to his Pakistani readers (and Indian readers of ET alike), but that link work is not done by him. It is ET's mods who like generating website traffic by linking lines in an article to similar anti-Modi articles, are the ones at fault. What I don't understand is, no other country gives so much coverage to internal matters of another country. Pakistani websites, in a way, try to keep generating articles regarding India every single month, most of them 'appropriately' titled (and some even written) to malign certain figures or sometimes just ANYTHING in India. It might be a successful way of generating revenue for the websites, but on the moral front, it is a sad attempt/ thing to do.
@Curious: BJP was never in power at centre on its own..BJP was one of 21 political party alliance called NDA. Because BJP was part of alliance, it was constrained to implement its communal agend. Mandir never got constructed at Ayodhya during NDA , because BJP was held in check by secular parties in NDA. Regarding violence by sectarian forces be that Muslims or Hindus was due to communal forces leading such violent, fanatic propaganda during 1947 or later on. RSS / Hindu Mahasabha , and other Muslim extremist groups have been playing with fire in Secular a India. But thanks to Secular, Plural fabric of Indian society, all these elements have failed to come to power on their own. BJP can never ever dream of coming to centre on its own. Secular India consisting of majority Hindus will continue to boot out all the extremist forces..be that Hindus or Muslims.
Aakar, I like you - you are a talented guy but unfortunately you are losing the plot think long and hard about what you have written
Modi /Gujarat = Modi / India, is a mistake..............but only time will tell.
For many critics of Narendra Modi, Gujarat has to do better than simply prosper and Modi has to achieve better than stellar record.
Just one riot in 2002 riots (within 3 months of his assuming any office in his life) and Modi has been made an example by pseudo-secularist journalists and minority-appeaser parties for the last 12 years while the Special Investigation Team of the Supreme Court of India did not find any proof of his involvement.
Modi is a mass leader who has been prepared by the past, not defined by the past. He has been ever evolving leader with mass base that no one in India can match at this time.
He is a transformational leader like Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel, the other two giants from Gujarat who transformed India by their leadership skills and conviction. Now it is his turn.
This is based on Modi's recent election speech in Delhi: Apparently taking on the allegations of Modi being anti-minority, the BJP leader asserted he would abide by the Constitution and invoked his Gujarat election slogan — 'Sabka sath, Sabka vikas' — to reiterate that he seeks growth that benefits all communities, including minorities. "For me, the government has only one religion — nation first, India first. The government has only one holy book — the Constitution. The government has only one way to administer — sabka saath, sabka vikas," Modi said. The UPA rule, however, was marked by corruption, mis-governance and leadership deficit, he said, accusing "governments within government" for the state of the economy. "The UPA coalition is run by a sardar, but it's not asardar (effective)," Modi said
Secularism is a red herring to obfuscate the real issues such as corruption, inflation, misgovernance, spread of poverty and hunger, safety of women and misuse of power...there is a long list. Secularism is not Minority Appeasement, what is being practiced by CONgress.
Great piece Aakar. Your fellow countrymen, however, will refuse to see the reality.
In this age of social media and internet it is easy to make false claims and propaganda. Say one thing 100 times and people will believe it to be true. Thats what Modi is doing. Making exaggerated claims. I am from Rajasthan and have been to Gujarat thousand times past ten years and Gujarat is pretty much like other Indain states, equally haphazard and corrupt. The development seen by Gujarat is equal to all other states, the only difference is how it is projected. As an Indian citizen it worries me how the Modi brigade is so blinded by the false claims that they fail to see the reality in front of there eyes. A person who claims to do development is always welcome, but not at cost of stability and social fabric of India. The very affect of this divisive man is reflected in comments of my fellow Indians @ Sid
According to To this columnist, the burning of hundreds of Hindus in the train was a minor incident which Hindus should have overlooked and moved on.
Every party in India polarizes the electorate in some way. What about the Congress that has polarized the Muslims, Maywati who has polarized the Dalits and Samajwadi party that has polarized Muslims as well as Yadavs?
There is no such thing as my polarization is better than yours.
Get real, Mr. Patel.
@sid: So true..selective reporting...Aakar patel is losing credibility over his prejudice of BJP
the Sikh genoicide and tamil genocide of the 1980's occured via congress rule, so in reality both are two sides of the same coin(one is just more obvious)
Here is a fact from an another congress chamcha in this news paper about 'secular' congress rule states: http://tribune.com.pk/story/606475/it-feels-like-1989/ "..The home ministry said that India had seen 451 incidents of inter-religious violence in 2012, and this year already 410 until western Uttar Pradesh lost its cool..."
451 hindu-muslim riots in just one year (2012) in congress controlled central and state government!
How many inter-religious violence in 'communal' modi's gujrat since godhra 2002 (toatl of 13 years)?? Zero, zilch, nada!
I hope that should be enough to bust you balloon mr. patel. I am not condoning the riots of 2002 but do tell your reader that Modi had been chief minister of gujrat just for 3 months prior to the 2002 riots. Before modi it was congress who had ruled gujrat!
Judging from the above 'facts', i will take 'communal' modi over congress any day.
BJP should have more muslim MLAs and MPs. This should be rectified by Modi. May be Irfan Pathan or Yousuf Pathan could volunteer.
We should focus on nation building, reducing poverty and cleaning up the garbage and building toilets, roads and schools instead of focusing on divisive issues like religion, caste, language, etc.
I read your column, you are mainly talking about what happened >20 years ago and >10 years ago. There is one sentence in your column which is in present tense "The reason that so much anger and bitterness and hatred exists in Gujarat".
Yet Gujarat is peaceful and progressing. Can you be more objective? Are muslims in Gujarat leaving Gujarat due to the discriminatory rule of Modi? Is it possible you are practicing what you are accusing BJP of? Are muslims in Gujarat agitating against the state government or complaining? Aren't you Indulging in polarising journalism?
ET, In the interest of fair journalism hope my comment is posted.
One sided view and prejudiced. There is no intelligence in this piece.
So according to Aakar Patel, if a massacre has happened, people get justice by electing one of the people belonging to the victimised communities as a PM or giving them tickets, not by the RULE OF LAW. The people convicted for Godhra massacre doesnt mean justice for the victims , isnt it Aakar? Unless a muslim PM or CM is elected, they wont get justice rite.
@author "The fact is that the BJP is more dangerous than the Congress."
Do you forget about riots against Sikhs in 84. Do you forget about bombay riots or bhagalpur riots where more than 900 from minority community were killed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989Bhagalpurviolence).
I am not endorsing BJP but I am surprised that you choose to be in some case monkey of Gandhi and in some case pseudo secularist parrot.
Pls get some life. You guys are driving me to other end of this fake secular discourse.
Basic difference between Indian National Congress and BJP is in their DNA.Congress exemplifies secular, tolerant, inclusive party..while BJP has genetic code from Hindu fanatics RSS . All this talk on Modi being decisive leader is all humbug. Where was Modi's decisive leadership when BJP kept opposing introduction of GST. While GST was designed to simplify taxation structure and reduce cost in long term, whereby benefitting Aam Admi and industries, Modi remain ambivalent & played dirty, opportunistic politics by skitling GST . Gujarat under Modi has not grown to the extent other states have grown.modi may appear to be shinning in the media today, BJP and RSS are blinded by glare of Modi's shine .
Gujarat is not polarized by BJP the hate exist much before that.......who demolished Somnath Temple again in again?????......If u destroy others when you had power you will get reply... ET please publish