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Stories Biased Criticism Backfires Anti-Modi Crusaders Run their Rabid Campaigns Blindfolded Author(s) : Madhu Purnima Kishwar The systematic demonisation of Narendra Modi in the media began with Medha Patkar's Narmada Bachao Andolan. Though Patkar has played a historic role in raising awareness about the plight of villagers whose lands are arbitrarily taken away for mega dams and "development projects", she did an incalculable harm to her own cause by overstating her case, especially with regard to resettlement operations of dam oustees in Gujarat. It projected Modi government in particular and all Gujaratis in general as intrinsically demonic forces that were out to decimate the "poor tribals".



But when I went to Gujarat to do a small reality check first hand, I was appalled at the wide gap between the NBA propaganda and the reality on the ground. There was serious mismatch between the NBA critique of Modi and the reality of resettlement in Gujarat. That gave me the first glimpse of the power of Modi the doer, an able administrator capable of delivering what he promised. He took up the challenge posed by NBA in all seriousness and provided the first of its kind rehabilitation anywhere in India. That is why dam oustees voted with their feet and abandoned the NBA plank. I hope to tell that story another time. But from then on, Modi became the most favoured hate object of leftists, liberals, feminists, radicals, environmentalists et al. However, the Gujarat riots of 2002 converted Modi bashing into an extremely rewarding career advancement strategy for media persons, NGO activists, academics and sundry intellectuals. Conversely, you are condemned to lifelong perdition, treated as a political and intellectual outcast subject to unending vilification campaigns starting with being labelled a fascist if you dare say one word either in defence of Modi or suggest a bit of caution to Modi bashers.



As the Congress party seems on decline there is increasing desperation in the air for all those who have survived on the Party's patronage. The possibility of Modi emerging as a winner has put them in panic. That is why the media in general and TV anchors in particular have gone so overboard in demonizing Modi that even people like me who have been consistent critics of BJP feel revolted enough to say: "This has gone too far. Please don't manipulate us beyond our tolerance limit."



We would be guilty of the worst form of intellectual cowardice if we kept quiet now. Let me illustrate why I say this from examining some of the key charges against Modi. Riot After Riot The most unforgivable crime attributed to Modi is that he orchestrated the "ethnic cleansing" of Muslims in 2002. He is alleged to be a man with a fascist mindset with Muslims of Gujarat supposedly living as an endangered minority in perpetual fear and insecurity. Interestingly this charge is most loudly and aggressively levelled by NGO activists who have received massive support-financial material and political form the Congress party and its governments as well as powerful international donor agencies.



As far as riots, communal massacres and divisive politics is concerned, no party in India dares match the track record of Congress party in post independence years. It starts with gross mishandling of Kashmir through rigged elections, installing puppet regimes and then misusing the army to deal with the resulting popular discontent and disaffection. The result is for all to see-tens of thousands of killings and 'disappearance' of Kashmiri Muslims, near total cleansing of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley, and permanent regional and communal polarisation in the state.



The Khalistan wave in Punjab was also a creation of the Congress party through propping up Bhindranwale with a view to wresting control of resource rich gurudwaras and Punjab Assembly from the Akali Dal. The same foolish formula was applied in Sri Lanka by propping up the murderous LTTE which exacerbated ethnic strife leading to endless massacres total brutalisation and marginalisation of Tamils in Sri Lanka.



Even with regard to Muslims, the riots politically orchestrated by the Congress in Jamshedpur, Bhiwandi, Bhagalpur, Hyderabad, Bokaro, Meerut, Malliana, Mumbai, Nellie and a host of other towns and cities as well as the most recent riots in Assam-all under Congress rule are not forgotten by the Muslim community which has stopped being a captive vote bank of the Congress.



Media collaborates with the Congress party in trying to make the country forget that the guilty of all these massacres have not been punished.



Gujarat itself was a tinderbox since the 1960s ever exploding into communal and caste riots after Indira Gandhi assumed power at the centre and Gujarat was ruled by her hand-picked chief ministers. Congress not only sowed the seeds of communal discord but also harvested several bloody crops from those poisonous seeds. The killings in 1969 and 1985 were on much larger scale and the violence lasted far longer than in 2002. By contrast BJP tried harvesting only one crop-that too in collaboration with the Congress party. The difference is the Congress party has not learnt any lessons whereas Modi became far wiser from the blunder of 2002.



Those pillorying Modi for 2002, display total amnesia over the fact that Congressmen and women had gleefully joined VHP/BJP goons in the 2002 massacre as well. It has consistently projected 2002 riots as a one way massacre of Muslims by Hindus. But as per figures given by the Congress party's minister of state for home Shri Prakash Jaiswal on 11 May 2005 in Parliament, those killed included 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus while 223 persons were reported missing. But anti- Modi brigade routinely overstates the case by talking of "thousands of Muslims" being butchered without every acknowledging Hindu casualties. Nor is the death of 59 Hindus burnt to death at Godhra railway station ever treated with the same seriousness. In fact, many among the Modi-bashers brazenly allege that the Godhra train massacre was a VHP/BJP conspiracy, even though several known Congressmen have been convicted by the courts for that mass murder.



Compare 2002 Ahmedabad to 1984 anti Sikh riots in Delhi. Over 3000 Sikhs were butchered in Delhi alone, with thousands more in different towns and cities of north India. The anti-Sikh massacre of 1984 saw Congressmen lead killer-mobs who gang raped Sikh women, looted and burnt innumerable Sikh homes and properties, and roasted alive thousands of Sikh men in broad day light with the police merrily assisting the gangsters. Not a single Hindu rioter died at the hands of Sikhs or in police firing. The massacre was not confined to Delhi. Similar mode of butchery took place in several north Indian cities and towns. Uncounted Sikhs were pulled out of trains and set on fire. For three long days and nights the police either stood and watched the fun or actively assisted hired assassins. No Hindu homes were burnt in retaliatory violence by Sikhs. No Hindu had to go and live in refugee camps. But in Ahmedabad, thousands of Hindus, a large number of them Dalits, had to take shelter in refugee camps. There were several instances of Muslim attacks on Hindu homes and shops. 34 Muslims have been sentenced by courts in Gujarat. But this is never mentioned even in passing in media discussion on 2002.



Numerous Congressmen have been indicted by courts and sent to jail, not only for their role in the Godhra train massacre but also in subsequent riots in Ahmedabad and other cities. However, there is studied silence in the media when Congressmen are indicted for the violence. But indictment of BJP leaders is gloated over for days on end.



I seriously believe that the dubious role of the Congress party in Gujarat riots needs to be thoroughly investigated by an independent credible agency. There is far more to it than has come out thus far because of media complicity. Is Gujarat Development Not Inclusive?



Another charge repeated over and over again is that Modi's model of development is not "inclusive". Firstly, this implies that development in Congress ruled states is "inclusive" when we are witnessing daily exposes of the Congress party -promoting crony capitalism and indulging in unashamed loot of public money and natural resources.



During the run up to the Gujarat Assembly elections, national TV channels vied with each other to convince us that rural Gujarat is reeling under water scarcity, crop failures, droughts anti-farmer policies of the Modi government, especially with regard to tribal areas. Compare this to the information provided to me by Chairman of the National Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices - Dr Ashok Gulati - among the most knowledgeable and respected farm policy experts in India, appointed to this post by none other than Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. I quote from an interview he gave me in January 2012. "While in large parts of India agriculture is in deep crisis and growing at 2% per annum, the rate of growth in Gujarat has been over 10%. A major factor for this consistent growth is the efficiency and speed with which Gujarat government has worked to spread irrigation. The check dam movement started by a religious leader in Gujarat has been carried forward in a determined manner by Modi's government. He got all manners of civil society organisations as well as village and caste panchayats involved in building 120,000 check dams. He also started the Khet Talawadi programme for creating a pond in every field. He told the farmers, I will give you funds under NREGA to build a pond on your farm if you earmark 5% of your land for this purpose. As a result of this mass participation in recharging groundwater, Gujarat is the only state in the country where water table is rising while it is fast depleting in most other states of India." While in other states, NREGA has created major distortions in the farm sector, made farm labour scarce and farming non-viable, in Gujarat it has given major boost to farm sector through careful targeted use of NREGA funds for improving productivity of individual farms instead of siphoning off funds through corrupt means.



Moreover, Gujarat government is providing 90% subsidy for drip irrigation in order to being about efficient water utilisation. This too has spread fast because of proactive approach of Gujarat government. As a result even in water scarce tribal areas farmers are harvesting three crops a year.



Modi has invested Rs 1200 crores for reforming the power sector under the Jyoti Gram program. No more free power with strong measures in place against power theft. But every household, rural and urban, is provided 24x7 power supply. The farmers are assured 8 hour supply for irrigation at pre announced timings. He has separated domestic lines from those going to farms and invested in technology to stop power thefts. Power subsidy is actually going down in Gujarat while its availability has increased manifold. Gujarat is actually selling surplus power to other states. No other state of India has succeeded in such far reaching power sector reforms. If this is not inclusive development, what is? Does one hear one good word in the media on this account?



Modi's government has built the best roads in the country-not just Expressways but even rural roads are far better than in most other states. This enhances connectivity of farmers with marketing and purchase of inputs. Any acknowledgement from compulsive Modi bashers that this is a hallmark of inclusive development? I haven't heard any yet.



Ashok Gulati also provided a vivid description of how every year in the lean months of May-June, Modi, with his entire official team, plus leading scientists of agricultural institutes of Gujarat, along with private companies involved in farm technologies, tours each of the 18000 plus villages of the state. This brings the highest echelons of the government as well as latest agricultural scientists with their latest quality seeds and technologies to the farmers' doorstep. This too is an important reason why agriculture is prospering in Gujarat but languishing in most other states of India.



Dairy farming in Gujarat has always been a strong point. This is witnessing further growth thanks to better road connectivity, water availability and spread of economic prosperity. Gulati also explains that Bt Cotton has produced an economic miracle in Gujarat. Cotton yields have gone up by 80% in Gujarat while pesticide consumption has come down dramatically. Gujarat government made it easy for its farmers to access high yielding sturdy seeds whereas the UPA government under pressure from ill-informed NGOs is putting all manners of hurdles in farmers acquiring better seeds. As per Gulati's estimates, Bt cotton has created a Rs 10,000 cr export potential per year. However, in Maharashtra Bt cotton is comparatively less successful; it has even led to farmer suicides and economic distress. This is because over 50% of the cotton crop area in Gujarat is irrigated while Vidarbha is growing cotton with less than 5% area under irrigation. Bt cotton can't grow without assured irrigation. If this is not inclusive development, what is?



Are Gujarati Muslims Endangered Minority?



Even the Prime Minister of India joins the unholy chorus and tells Muslims in Gujarat that they are unsafe in this state, unless they vote Congress back to power. Such irresponsible statements are expected from NGOs playing to international galleries who fund and support them but coming from national media or the PM of India, it is a shocker. Apart from other considerations, does he realize how much legitimacy such falsehoods lend to jihadi terrorists of Pakistan?



How safe Muslims are in Congress ruled states became evident during the recent communal massacres in Assam when lakhs were uprooted from their villages and forced to take shelter in make shift refugee camps. Muslims of Kashmir don't think that Congress-NC rule has brought safety and security to them. The kid glove treatment and patronage Shiv Sainiks and MNS get in Congress ruled Maharashtra is not the surest recipe for Muslim wellbeing. That Bal Thackeray himself was propped up by Congressmen to finish the communists and trade-unions in Bombay or that Raj Thackeray gets soft-treatment because his MNS is seen as a spoiler that divides the ant-Congress vote in Maharashtra, thus helping Congress electorally, is of course never mentioned in media discourse. One can list endless such examples. Have Sonia Gandhi or Rahul ever been taken to task on this account?



Even the highly partisan Sachar committee report provides concrete evidence that Muslims of Gujarat are doing far better than Muslims of Congress or Left ruled states in matters of education, jobs, business opportunities as well as crime-free environment. Recently, the Times of India reported that Gujarat with a 9 % Muslim population has 10% Muslim personnel in its police stations. No other state matches this figure. If this is not proof of inclusive governance, what is? Not a single TV channel thought this vital piece of information worth 5 minutes discussion even though it belies the myth of systematic discrimination against Muslims.



The demonisation of Modi is so compulsive and thorough that no matter what he does, the media throws muck at him. If he undertakes Sadbhavna Yatra to reach out to Muslims, he is berated for tokenism. If he is flocked by Muslims, if prominent Muslims join BJP or endorse his politics, he is accused of empty tokenism while those Muslims are attacked as traitors. I did not see one newspaper or TV channel give the slightest bit of importance to 120 Muslims winning zilla parishad elections as BJP candidates in the recent most elections to local bodies. But if Modi does not field any Muslim candidates for Assembly elections he is castigated, ridiculed for days on end by secular intellectuals and TV anchors



Modi's biggest contribution is the marginalisation of VHP and the RSS and their divisive agendas. He consistently addresses six crore Gujaratis, this includes all minorities. In fact, in this election VHP lumpen and RSS have provided foot soldiers for Congress candidates. The open alliance of VHP, RSS with the Congress party against Modi itself testifies that Modi has risen above divisive agendas and come to occupy centre stage. It is for "secularists" to say what implications it has for the Congress party.



Apart from the fact that Gujarat has had no riot, no retaliatory violence since 2002, not even when jihadi bombs exploded in Surat in 2008, Gujarat has far lower crime rate than most other states of India. Industry is flourishing because of social peace and stability.



Today Muslims of Gujarat are clearly scripting a new role for themselves and a new equation not just with Modi but also those who want to keep scratching their wounds and encashing their real and imaginary vulnerabilities. They are letting the world know that they can speak for themselves and manage their affairs without the help of manipulative mediators. ------- First published by Outlook India (see link: http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?283393) Comments (24) We welcome your comments This article is an eye opener. Posted By A DASGUPTA On Date: 25 Dec 2012 Dear Madhuji:

Thanks for the article on the Goebellsian propaganda of non-doers, non-achievers and green eyes. Admittedly governance in today's India is no easy task but Chief MInister Modi has been doing his best and is showing results. I cannot think of a single purposeful and successful achievement of those who have been opposing him. There is a canto on the world of falsehood, the Mother of Evil and Children of Darkness in Sri Aurobindo's epic poem, Savitri. So contemporaneous!

But Mother India will yet arise and this is but a beginning. With admiration and greetings for a grace-laden New Year,

Prema Nandakumar

Posted By Prema Nandakumarr On Date: 25 Dec 2012 Nice article. But what are you trying to say? That Modi is a PM candidate? That BJP is secular just because a handful of disillusioned Muslims joined the party?

It is true that congress is no better. Both the parties are same, the congress successfully hide its communal attitude while BJP does not. Such is politics in India. And the people are suckers they fall for the antics of the politicians.

And as far as I have heard from my friends in Gujrat FIRs are not lodged in the PS of Gujrat because the govt. there wants to project that the crime rate is low in their state.

And I have also heard first hand account about the plight of the Muslims living in refugee camps there and how much they are 'included' in the mainstream society.

And the very fact that the trials of the victims of the 2002 carnage have had to fight their trials in other state speaks volumes about the law mechanism there.

It is not fair to blame NGOs. You may be trying to sound un biased but honestly your article looks like it is.

Thanks anyway for the interesting article Posted By Nikhat On Date: 25 Dec 2012 In India Hate Modi is a big money minting industry and large number of secularists, intellectuals, lawyers, journalists, NGOs, activists etc., etc., are making fast and heavy bucks. Not only in India this industry is very liberally and heavy financed by foreign agencies. It is a well known fact that patriotism is not in the DNA and blood of Indians. They are secular traitors. So for a patriot like Modi it will be very difficult to become the PM. A foreigner like Sonia can wield all the power in this country but for a patriot it is almost impossible. Indians are Hippocrates of the highest order. Where is secularism in the this country and who is secular in this country? In this country no one is secular and there is no secularism in this country. Here all the leaders are Communal or caste-ist and language fanatic. No body can give even single example in this country of truly secular leader. Here every thing is on divisive pattern. India has got a Communal ministry "Minority Affairs Ministry." India has got a caste ministry Ministry of Social Welfare". India has communal institutions funded by the government, Minority Commission, Minority Educational Institutions like AMU, Jamia, Hamdard, St.Stephen, Khalsa. etc., India has caste offices like Scheduled Caste Commission, ST. Commission, OBC Commission. In this country admissions, appointments, promotions etc., are held on the basis of caste and communal identity. Funds and scholarship are granted on the basis of caste and communal identity. India has got full time communal and caste leaders like Mulayam Singh Yadav, Lalloo Yadav, Mayawati, Karunanidhi, Nitish Kumar, Badal, Azam Khan, Badruddin Azmal, Abu Azmi, Obbedudin Owesi, Shai Imam, Salman Khurshid, Paswan etc., Even India constitution and Indian Justice system recognize caste and communal provisions. The only difference here is That a Patriot Modi's patriotism is communal and divisive and other's communal-ism and divisive-ism are secularism and social jusrtice. Posted By Dr.Yogesh Sharma On Date: 25 Dec 2012 Very interesting and eye-opening. Love your title as well! Posted By Chitra On Date: 25 Dec 2012 I think you have it in reverse....its the deification of Modi that has led to others having to point out his methods. If anything Media by giving him so much space has helped in this deification, though they may or maynot be aware of it.



I have always pointed out that the beginning is the godhra fire. If it was pre-planned as Modi says, then it is his biggest failure. If it was indeed in response to a local event, then the government has failed in its duty to secure both the vendors who were harassed and the passengers who were killed. To allow the event to be used as an excuse, enabled him to allow his minions to carry out what they had planned for years. I have cousins who have said before 2002 that such plans are discussed routinely. the exclusion of muslims from hindu neighbourhoods have been in place for years. But all previous governments, held such people in bay and provided economic growth and security. He has presided over the riot and then carried on the work that others have done.



Modi as a Prime Minister scares the wits out of me, mainly because his minions believe it will be an carte blanche for them to do what they want to. See karnataka with bjp at the helm. He has never said it will not happen again or even taken responsibility for the events including godhra.



Ashis Nandy had interviewed him years before he became a CM and either mishandled or encouraged the 2002 riots, and called him a classic fascist and could believe him as a future killer. To me that is very believable.



On comparison with Congress, i agree they are not much better but that does not make him more right or give him an excuse. But i still feel that any chance of muslims getting a fairer deal still lies with a congress government than with any other. A lot of the muslim problems stem from the religious leadership which i think the people have begun to recognize. Sure they have been in power for the longest and have not solved a whole lot of problems. But I feel they are still the least bad apple. unfortunately i dont see any new alternatives in the horizon that can actually work. until that happens, i will still hope against Modi as a PM





Posted By V N Saroja On Date: 25 Dec 2012 Kudos to Ms Kishwar for a highly contrarian but a feisty and well-reasoned article.One hopes that this catalyses a healthy debate within the media community. Posted By Rajat Narain On Date: 26 Dec 2012 Thanks so much for writing this thoughtful and thought-provoking piece. I entirely agree with your theses. Posted By C M Naim On Date: 26 Dec 2012 It is indeed courageous of you to write what you have written. If 2002 Gujrat riots are not to be left behind, why should 1984 Sikh massacre by the congress, 1857 and Jalianwala Bagh massacre by the British and the Qatle-aam by Nadirshah should be forgotten?If one goes by the number of persons killed then Congress is ahead of Modi, and we should break off relations with UK and Iran. Posted By Lakshmi Bhargava On Date: 28 Dec 2012 A balanced article just accounting the facts & not trying to pass any judgement. My belief is getting stronger that Media is either paid or threatened to run anti-Modi stories. Posted By Abhijeet On Date: 01 Jan 2013 My comments come in instralments: 1.Agreed that Medha’s NBA revo was an overdose. The GoI too had an overdose of the ways of toppling NBA by offering compensations beyond imagination. e.g a person having a small house and four sons is asked to find out the market value of his house. The owner brazenly comes to tell that the market value is 16 lakh, the GoI had no time to verify the market value. The owner is ultimately claiming Rs16 lakhs for each of his sons instead of simply 16 lakh for his joint establishment. The GoI then gave him Rs 64 lakh ! Medha found that her revo was likely to be sabotaged by such largesse by GoI so she too started warning the aspirants of huge compensations not to do that! Of late it has been proved beyond doubt that acquisition of land has ultimately become a means of earning more and more money as compensation so initially the poor are led by some activists to cry for their land and then they start expecting huge amounts! If I remember correctly when there was a lot of hue and cry against factories in Delhi causing pollution the Sheila govt. offered alternate land to factory owners at a village Bawana near Delhi and the farmers were given amounts as huge as Rs. 2 crores! So opposing any acquisition of land by poor people has become a business sort of! Arundhati Roy too was a prominent activist in NBA but of late we heard less of her and more of Medha. I personally donno if Arundhati too abandoned Medha in the NBA. (more points on this article to follow as in spite of agreeing with Madhu ji on the NBA count, I feel she is tactfully deifying NM which I personally feel is itself a biased effort…) Posted By Prem Chand Sahajwala On Date: 11 Jan 2013 Its sad that still many muslims can't see through the tricks of congress. They are merely being used as a vote bank when needed and have been (and will be) exploited and massacred when it so suited the congress. It is time Muslims vote for development and betterment rather than pseudo-secular rhetorical CONgress. Posted By khan On Date: 05 Mar 2013 My issue with this article is simple – it is too biased for Modi and too biased against congress. If the purpose of the article was to discuss the failure of Medha Patkar's Narmada Bachao Andolan, then the author should have provided the data to demonstrate the lack of support for NBA and Modi’s successful policy. Not much data was provided. Instead, the article is written as if to demonstrate that Modi is bad but Congress is worse. The article as written does not demonstrate that the author is unbiased (strong pro-Modi bias in the articles) and detracts from the key issue in the article. I am not pro-congress but the article is written as if it is written by the Modi camp. Next time, please be more objective, provide more data and be less biased. Posted By Arun Mehta On Date: 02 Apr 2013 Thanks for providing the useful information. Posted By Kapil On Date: 03 Apr 2013 Madam,



A strongly worded article, and very specific too. It may have been difficult for you to come out openly against the "games people play", the malafide intentions of all and sundry but yeah, better late than never.



You are already being questioned; the "timing" of your articles, your "motivation" or if you have "taken upon yourself to....". However, you being a reasonable voice, we want you to keep up the good work. We are reading your articles, and so are they.

Posted By Bandev Ghosh On Date: 04 Apr 2013 Just WOW! Thank you... I think Modinama and this article must be translated to Hindi and Urdu and circulated to the muslims of India.. I hope and pray that Ma\'am you do devise a masterstroke to popularly circulate this material. I (And I am sure everyone who read this) will provide all the support possible in our own way by circulating / tweeting / sharing and by actually printing and handing over the pieces to everyone possible. Just one request.. please give us the translations. Posted By Say-No-To-Family-Raj On Date: 10 Apr 2013 Useless activity. The uneducated voters who ultimately vote in the govt. will never get to know these facts. And the educated ones, outside Gujarat don't care. We all need to hate someone and Modi is universally accepted hate point. Finding another one is too complicated. better stick to hating Modi. Posted By Subhojit Dhar On Date: 11 Apr 2013 Trustworthy journalism. It provides great deal of confidence about Indian meadia, with such sane and fact based voices coming out vocally. Posted By Rajnish On Date: 15 Apr 2013 Had Nitish Kumar Saab read these articles would he have changed his speech? Before commenting on any thing one should verify the facts not reying on media reports ,which may be biased.But sadly many are not verifying the facts .Is it the ignorance of Modi bashers? Posted By vageesh On Date: 18 Apr 2013 Madhu's Interview on youtube



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mz3CjQBtyJc Posted By rgn On Date: 20 Apr 2013 Cong silent on cadres linked to Guj riots





http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2003-08-09/india/27201201_1_congress-leaders-congress-mlas-gujarat-youth-congress



NEW DELHI: The Congress has been going to town over Best Bakery and other instances of the Narendra Modi government's complicity in the anti-Muslim violence which shook Gujarat last year.



But when it comes to the involvement of its own party cadre in the killings, 10 Janpath maintains a deafening silence. Even when confronted by a long-standing ally from the freedom movement days, the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind.



According to the JUH, "most Congress corporators" and some Congress leaders of Gujarat had actively participated in last year's riots.



Mahmood As'ad Madani, JUH general secretary told The Times of India: "We wrote letters to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, gave a list of Congress leaders involved in the riots, asked her to take action against them but to no avail."



On April 29, 2002, for example, the JUH received a list of 25 Congress leaders from its Gujarat chapter, which was promptly forwarded to her. This included a former Congress minister, a sitting MLA and a former MP.



Then on August 20, Madani reminded Gandhi: "Similarly our appeal forwarded to you in respect of involvement of Congress MLAs, corporators and workers in Gujarat carnage along with the list of culpable names remains disregarded."



When contacted by TOI, Ambika Soni, in-charge of Gandhi's office, said she was not aware of the correspondence. Ahmed Patel, Gandhi's political secretary, to whom copies were marked by the JUH was not available for comment.



The JUH insists it had accurate information from the ground. For instance, its Gujarat branch had written to the police commissioner of Vadodara city on March 21 that, "After the Godhra incident an urgent meeting of the activists of the BJP, VHP, RSS and Bajrang Dal was held under the leadership of Yogesh Patel (MLA)... Chinnam Gandhi (Congress corporator)... They had alloted the activists their jobs, they made a plan and instructed the activists to carry out this work without any fear and told them that they would get full support of police officers."



The Gujarat JUH had mapped the Congress leadership even at the district level. Mehsana and Patan districts' list has 8 names of Congress leaders including local MP Atmaram Patel as having played a "negative role." A fax message sent on May 1 from Mehsana has this against Patel's coloumn: "Still has not come to help Muslims; taking sides in favour of a criminal person of Sardarpur and Ladoi village."



A list of 15 from Anand is headed by a secretary of Gujarat youth Congress. But to be fair to the Congress and the JUH, the report is all praise for the "positive role" played by Patan MP Pravin Rashtrapal.



JUH secretary N A Farooqui says: "The Congress has committed sins of omission and commission during the riots. Former MP Ehsan Jaffri had called up Sonia Gandhi for help. She didn't take a strong stand in her subsequent visit to Gujarat. The local bodies were mostly headed by the Congress which could have done a lot for relief and rehabilitation, but it was all left to the NGOs."



Though Farooqui maintains that the JUH "has not severed its relationship" with the Congress, the party's ambivalence has led to debates within the Muslim intelligentsia over which political formation is best placed to defend the country from the danger of communal division.

Posted By rgn On Date: 26 Apr 2013 Cong silent on cadres linked to Guj riots





http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2003-08-09/india/27201201_1_congress-leaders-congress-mlas-gujarat-youth-congress



NEW DELHI: The Congress has been going to town over Best Bakery and other instances of the Narendra Modi government's complicity in the anti-Muslim violence which shook Gujarat last year.



But when it comes to the involvement of its own party cadre in the killings, 10 Janpath maintains a deafening silence. Even when confronted by a long-standing ally from the freedom movement days, the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind.



According to the JUH, "most Congress corporators" and some Congress leaders of Gujarat had actively participated in last year's riots.



Mahmood As'ad Madani, JUH general secretary told The Times of India: "We wrote letters to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, gave a list of Congress leaders involved in the riots, asked her to take action against them but to no avail."



On April 29, 2002, for example, the JUH received a list of 25 Congress leaders from its Gujarat chapter, which was promptly forwarded to her. This included a former Congress minister, a sitting MLA and a former MP.



Then on August 20, Madani reminded Gandhi: "Similarly our appeal forwarded to you in respect of involvement of Congress MLAs, corporators and workers in Gujarat carnage along with the list of culpable names remains disregarded."



When contacted by TOI, Ambika Soni, in-charge of Gandhi's office, said she was not aware of the correspondence. Ahmed Patel, Gandhi's political secretary, to whom copies were marked by the JUH was not available for comment.



The JUH insists it had accurate information from the ground. For instance, its Gujarat branch had written to the police commissioner of Vadodara city on March 21 that, "After the Godhra incident an urgent meeting of the activists of the BJP, VHP, RSS and Bajrang Dal was held under the leadership of Yogesh Patel (MLA)... Chinnam Gandhi (Congress corporator)... They had alloted the activists their jobs, they made a plan and instructed the activists to carry out this work without any fear and told them that they would get full support of police officers."



The Gujarat JUH had mapped the Congress leadership even at the district level. Mehsana and Patan districts' list has 8 names of Congress leaders including local MP Atmaram Patel as having played a "negative role." A fax message sent on May 1 from Mehsana has this against Patel's coloumn: "Still has not come to help Muslims; taking sides in favour of a criminal person of Sardarpur and Ladoi village."



A list of 15 from Anand is headed by a secretary of Gujarat youth Congress. But to be fair to the Congress and the JUH, the report is all praise for the "positive role" played by Patan MP Pravin Rashtrapal.



JUH secretary N A Farooqui says: "The Congress has committed sins of omission and commission during the riots. Former MP Ehsan Jaffri had called up Sonia Gandhi for help. She didn't take a strong stand in her subsequent visit to Gujarat. The local bodies were mostly headed by the Congress which could have done a lot for relief and rehabilitation, but it was all left to the NGOs."



Though Farooqui maintains that the JUH "has not severed its relationship" with the Congress, the party's ambivalence has led to debates within the Muslim intelligentsia over which political formation is best placed to defend the country from the danger of communal division.

Posted By rgn On Date: 26 Apr 2013 "Modi's biggest contribution is the marginalisation of VHP and the RSS and their divisive agendas"



Why you have to dub VHP and RSS as having divisive agenda out of context?

To look 'secular' ? Posted By S L Chowdhary On Date: 17 May 2013 The ruler of Dwarka rises again Posted By Garry Lav On Date: 29 Jun 2013

