Sadbhavana sans justice is a joke, Mr Narendra Modi

It’s never too late for a person to realise his/her guilt and seek forgiveness; there is always an opportunity to make amends. In case the burden of the 2002 Gujarat riots has finally become unbearable for Narendra Modi, it is the moral obligation of every conscious person irrespective of his/her religious belief to accept his urge for atonement.

To accept the transformation of a man who in the first place failed to discharge his responsibilities in protecting citizens under his rule is a noble cause. However, some may argue that Modi is not accused of dereliction of duties alone, there are serious allegations against the Gujarat chief minister: that he was directly or indirectly involved in hatching a criminal conspiracy for the carnage.

That’s solely for the courts to decide. (Regardless of the Supreme Court judgement on Zakia Jafri’s plea seemingly coming in his favour, Muslims have still not lost all hope with the judicial system, particularly the Supreme Court.) However, Modi will never be able to redeem the guilt of utterly failing to discharge what is being described as his raj dharma. Losing hope in man’s ability to undergo reform is to lose hope in humanity itself.

If Modi is sincere in his desire to build an atmosphere of peace and harmony in the country — Sadbhavna is the ultimate objective of any normal society — through his much publicised five-star three-day fast, why should he not be allowed to do so. Let him have his fast and Sadbhavana also. But few aggravating questions still haunts an ordinary mind. Is this fast business the outcome of a genuine transformation or is this grandstanding an effort by Modi to catapult himself to the national stage? Can a leopard change his spots?

It is very distressing that the Hindutova brigade in the country has acquired such a lunatic frame of mind that they go on to describe the persistent pursuit of justice as an ‘entrepreneurship of victimhood’. Obviously, in the absence of any justice and effective rehabilitation, the distressing cries of the innocents, butchered and maimed, has now become intolerable for the hate mongers.

Let us assume for a while that the riots were not an organised pogrom. The death of over a thousand innocents and numerous incidents of rape and arson was just a spontaneous reaction to the burning of Sabarmati Express where 59 innocent Karseveks lost their lives. Even then Modi cannot escape blame. He needs to answer a few questions. Like, why did the Gujarat administration maintain a criminal silence and give the rioters a freehand for several days? Like, how many perpetrators of the mob violence have been brought to justice and sentenced to death by the free courts in Gujarat? And how many hapless survivors have since been properly rehabilitated. A growth rate of 11% indeed is impressive. Is this economic development inclusive in nature?

Why are the minorities ostracised and still continue to live in abject poverty?

Today, Modi claims that he was pained during the riots. Why did he have to wait for almost a decade to embark on his self-professed Sadbhavana mission? Why has word ‘harmony’ suddenly started sounding like music to him, only after the Supreme Court refused to intervene in the Gulberg society case? Could it be that in 2002, Modi was keen to prove himself as a strongman and true protector of Hindu rights, and hence the Gujarat riots and now that he is nursing prime ministerial ambitions, therefore the tamasha and pretence of the fast? This country does not deserve to be ruled by a tyrant. Nevertheless, democracies sometimes are capable of producing mass murderers; was not Hitler an elected leader?

Every transgressor will expect for his victim to forget and forgive. Every murderer after committing the worst crime against humanity will like to masquerade as an apostle of peace. To describe it as reconciliation is disgusting; it’s victor’s justice. Reconciliation without retributive justice is no reconciliation, it is mockery in the name of reconciliation.

The real reconciliation will only happen when the victim’s desire of justice gets fully fulfilled — yes justice alone, nobody is seeking revenge here. Only then will the victims be ready to forget and move on. In the absence of any meaningful justice, the hullabaloo of Sadbhavana is not only pointless, it’s insulting also. A snake sheds its skin frequently; does that change its basic character?