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Attacks on Muslims: What individuals, events or policies are responsible for the recent attacks on Muslims in the Indian state of Gujarat?
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Dr. Khilnani's Response:
We must begin by recognizing that the recent attacks on Muslims in Gujarat are qualitatively different from earlier forms of such violence -- and it is very misleading to suggest that these attacks merely represent the latest outbreak in a long-running religious conflict. The
attacks were different because they occurred while both the goverment of
Gujarat state and the federal government in New Delhi were dominated by
the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a party whose ideology is founded on
Hindu chauvinism and xenophobia. The BJP has been pushing its agenda of
Hindu chauvinism for decades, and in Gujarat the party has made deep
inroads: it has propagated a divisive politics, inciting Hindus first to
attack Christians (a series of such incidents occurred in the late
1990s) and now to attack Muslims. At the national level, the BJP has
been a motive force in the destruction of the Babri Mosque at Ayodhya,
and in the demands to build a temple on the site.
It's in this context that the incident which triggered the Gujarat
violence occurred -- the awful burning of a railway carriage carrying 57
people at Godhra. These were Hindu activists returning from Ayodhya,
where they had been agitating for the construction of the temple (a
demand which the Indian supreme court has rejected). The incident at
Godhra set in motion what appears, according to all reliable accounts
(provided by the independent press and by independent groups
investigating the incidents), as an orchestrated campaign of terror and
violence against Muslims across the state of Gujarat in which
officials of the state government (the police, civil service and elected
officials) took an active lead in these attacks or at best connived in
them.
It is the job of the police and courts to determine individual
responsibility for the attacks. But there appears to be sufficient
evidence to support the view that the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Mr.
Narendra Modi, failed in his constitutional responsibility to protect
the lives and property of citizens. There also appears to be evidence to
suggest that he was at the very least aware of a planned campaign of
terror and violence against Muslims, and may even have ordered such a
campaign himself. In which case, he stands charged of the gravest human
rights abuses.
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Dr. Kak's Response:
The carnage in Gujarat was a breakdown of the rule of law. Such breakdowns occur from time to time in various parts of India (and elsewhere outside India as in the Sept 11 attacks in New York) due to a variety of reasons, some of which are local and others which are international. In India, a complicating factor is the support of terrorist activity by groups based in Pakistan. It doesn't help that nearly every week there is a massacre of civilians in Jammu and Kashmir by terrorists from across the border.
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Dr. Kak's Rebuttal:
I don't think it is accurate to say that the unfortunate events in Gujarat represent something unique. There have been other situations in the past when similar charges were made. For example, during the ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Hindus from Kashmir in 1989, the government in Delhi was the left-supported Janata government and that in Srinagar [capital of Jammu and Kashmir state - ed.] was its ally, National Conference. At that time fleeing Kashmiri Pandits complained that the government agencies looked the other way during the killings and the burning down of their houses. In 1993, during the riots in Bombay, the Congress Party ran the government both in Delhi and Maharashtra. It was claimed then that the police did not protect the Muslims from the rioters. Likewise, going back to the violence during Partition in 1947, there were charges of one community or another being massacred with the connivance of the police.
Given that many published stories related to the Gujarat riots have turned out to be false, it is important to establish the facts first and then punish the guilty. But mere rehashing of accusations is not helpful in understanding the tragedy of Gujarat.
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Dr. Khilnani's Rebuttal:
After the incident at Godhra, the subsequent state-wide
breakdown of the rule of law which lead to violence against Muslims was
produced or at least abetted by the state government of Gujarat itself.
Government officials and the police connived with and even encouraged
gangs to attack, kill and loot.
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