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ShareTucked away on an inside page of one of the many newspapers I read was an item which said: "I am grateful to Narendrabhai."
No marks for guessing that it was one of Modi's numerous Gujarati supporters. Except that it wasn't. The gentleman in question was Gujarati, but he wasn't one of the state's many blood-thirsty Hindu bigots.
He was a Muslim from Ahmedabad. And the reason for his completely unexpected gratitude was as completely unexpected: Modi's vicious treatment of the minorities had made him realise that the only way to counter it was through self-help.
He was, therefore, determined to give his children a good education, and wanted even his daughter to become a doctor.
That man should be a shining example to every Muslim in the country. The knee-jerk way of dealing with Narendra Modi's terrorism is through terrorism.
It might give young Muslim hotheads a sense of satisfaction that they have extracted revenge, but that revenge is short-term, illusory and counter-productive.
That's because the 'revenge' doesn't strike at its targets but at innocents unconnected with the original crime.
It also has the effect of reinforcing the stereotype of Muslims as terrorists, which, in turn, unleashes its own prejudices, bigotry and, often, a violent reaction. As Mahatma Gandhi said, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."
Many Muslims may argue that this is advocating a strange course of action; that it's placing the onus of responsibility on the victims of a crime rather than the perpetrators. Perhaps yes, but it's a pragmatic way out of a vicious cycle.
That cycle began when LK Advani embarked on his rath yatra, spewing hatred and violence in his path and culminating in the destruction of the Babri Masjid.
The Muslim reaction to this, said by the CBI to have been masterminded by people like Dawood Ibrahim and others outside the country, was to begin a series of random acts of terrorism which, over the years, have claimed far too many innocent lives (including Muslims).
Has that improved, or made worse, the position of Muslims in India? One doesn't really need to respond to that question because the answer is so very obvious: Muslim now feel more vulnerable, there is greater ghettoisation, their employment prospects have dimmed more than before, and consequently the younger generation has become even more desperate. This isn't a recipe for a stable society.
Ideally, the way to fight the Modi form of terrorism is through the ballot rather than the bullet, but in a Gujarat seemingly over-run by mobs, that may seem like an unlikely prospect.
But in a democracy, the vote remains the only weapon politicians respect. So Muslims need to mobilise their votes and exercise their franchise in the largest possible numbers so that, at least in some constituencies, they can make a difference.
Outside this, Modi & co have to be fought through other constitutional means. These avenues are already being explored by a number of secular NGOs and activists, but what is needed is a multiplicity of NGOs throwing out a multiplicity of challenges in the courts.
This is what extremist Hindu organisations have done in the case of MF Husain, and what liberal NGOs must do in the case of Narendra Modi.
But all this is short term. In the long term, the central government must quickly evolve a policy of affirmative action as has been done for Dalits here and for black people in the United States.
And in this initiative, a new Muslim leadership must evolve, led by people like the father in Ahmedabad, which will stir itself to get out of a feeling of victimhood and grasp every opportunity that the Indian state may throw in its way.
This is vital because what is happening in Gujarat, doesn't affect just that state; it affects each and every one of us.
