South Asia Citizens Web

livemint.com
Feb 29 2012
Of all the potential and credible contenders to be the next prime minister, the one least deserving is Narendra Modi
Of all the reasons given to counter charges that Narendra Modi failed to protect the lives and property of thousands of Gujaratis (a large majority of them being Muslims) in the 2002 riots that followed the burning of a train compartment in Godhra in which 58 Hindus died, the most despicable is to equate those riots with the anti-Sikh riots of (…)

BJP president Nitin Gadkari’s projection of Narendra Modi as one of the party’s prime ministerial candidates for 2014 should be taken up as a challenge by all those who value democracy, secularism and human rights. In the 2002-12 decade, the Gujarat chief minister has presided over the worst carnage of Muslims and embarked upon a path of soulless capitalist growth. The 10 years of his rule are both a continuity and distinctive. When he became chief minister, Gujarat was already saffronised by Hindutva forces and had a fast growing economy.

Women’s groups and other democratic rights groups in Delhi held a daylong hunger strike on 29 February 2012 at Rajghat [New Delhi] from 6 am to 6 pm in solidarity with Soni Sori [a woman political prisoner in Chhattisgarh state]. Programmes were held also in Bangalore, Bhopal, Jaipur, Bombay, as well as in San Francisco and Boston.

Civil- military relations appear to be seriously disturbed in all of South Asia. The president of the Maldives was forced to resign by the military and police as the vice president took his place. In Pakistan, the assertion by the military over the civilian government following the leak of an anonymous note, allegedly from the Pakistan president asking for the United States help because of fears of a military takeover, continue to haunt the nation as the matter is now in the courts. In India, for the first time the military chief has contested the government in a court of law over the issue of his date of birth. In Bangladesh, a recent attempt of coup was foiled because of the army chain of command. In Sri Lanka, the army chief who led the country in a triumphant civil war remains in jail after he accused the defence secretary of war crimes and tried to contest presidential elections against President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

It is highly necessary to fight Hindutva in India through strengthening secularism and secular forces. In Gujarat though communal forces have weakened to some extent but it is yet miniscule achievement. A great deal of concerted efforts needs to be made to take on this challenge. In Gujarat even Congress is nothing more than soft Hindutva and Congress High Command is also unable to do anything.