Narendra Modi’s green thoughts may not clear his image
It cannot be denied, whatever his public posture, Modi cannot easily shake off the dark legacy of the 2002 post-Godhra riots.
Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi has authored a book on climate change and how the state is dealing with it.
His supporters are likely to see this as another feather in the cap of this unapologetic right-wing politician. But this is something that is likely to drive his critics — most of them from the other end of the political spectrum — into a paroxysm of anger. They are sure to see this saffron attempt to go green as a conspiracy against secularism.
It cannot be denied, whatever his public posture, Modi cannot easily shake off the dark legacy of the 2002 post-Godhra riots though the Special Investigation Team, appointed by the Supreme Court, has not found any evidence of his involvement. For a political leader legal exoneration is never sufficient.
It is true that Modi has been trying to move away from that ghastly episode, and his green thoughts seem to be one more step in the opposite direction. But he may not fully succeed. In the moral and political ledger, his positive deeds will not cancel out the negatives.