Friday, April 22, 2011

Narendra Modi can never lose an election in Gujarat; more so if proven guilty in the Godhra riots case.....

The affidavit filed by ex-cop Sanjiv Bhatt against Narendra Modi in the anti-Muslim Godhra carnage of 2002 may be music to people ranged against him all over the country. That bunch of people includes me; having lived in Gujarat for two decades, I know exactly what sustains Modi in that state. Which is why I believe that this affidavit will only make Modi stronger. He may face trouble in the Supreme Court, but in Gujarat, he will become an even bigger hero.

I can say with a near guarantee that right now, the people of Gujarat must be building a protective cover around their CM. They have no doubts about Modi’s role in the riots.....in fact, he did what he did against the muslims, with the full support of his people. It may or may not be proven ever.....but the people of Gujarat know that Modi stopped the police from protecting the Muslims so that they could be taught a lesson. They are proud of him for this act of his. And they have rewarded him amply.....with 3 successive terms.

To understand why the Gujjus support Modi so much, it’s important to understand a little bit of the Gujarati psyche. Gujaratis are primarily a business community. For them, a college education and all that is fine, but the thing that really matters is business. So many college pass-outs opt out of the job market to start something of their own. Many who are unable to start off immediately do a job for a while......but start a little “side business”. Many college students prefer to do a part-time college, because they have already got into business. In fact, Gujaratis feel sympathy (given the humility built into Gujju culture.....they never “look down” upon anyone) for salaried people. No matter how much they may have studied.....how good a job they may be doing......in the eyes of a Gujju, the salaried ones are the unfortunate ones who could not do business. There is nothing new in this Gujju attitude towards “dhandha”.....this piece is not about that. This piece is about how this single minded attitude to business creates guilt in a Gujju’s mind and how he has outsourced the cleansing of this guilt to Modi.

In the single minded pursuit of business, the Gujju is willing to deal with anyone. Including with the many successful muslim businessmen of Gujarat. When it comes to business, it does not matter what the religion or caste of the other person is.....only the color of money matters! Gujjus like all businessmen, are willing to make any “concession”.....dealing with muslims is a concession in their minds......in order to close a business deal. This passion for business creates a huge amount of guilt in the minds of the gujju. Is he doing the right thing by dealing with muslims? Muslims are seen as being anti-Hindu.....the gujju has seen enough and more provocations from Muslims in his life. In the 1980s at least (I don’t know what the scene is now), Muslims in certain pockets of Ahmedabad used to cheer for Pakistan in a cricket match against India. In fact, certain parts of Ahmedabad used to be called “mini Pakistan”. There have been innumerable riots in Gujarat.....all Hindu-Muslim. The Gujju’s antipathy towards Muslim is well-known.....and yet the Gujju almost always put that aside in the interest of business. Manmohan Singh may have stopped talking to Pakistan for a couple of years after 26/11......the Gujjus would never have done that if the business with Pakistan was good!

This guilt haunts the Gujjus. Since most Gujjus are generally peaceful people (many are Jains), they realize they can never “fight” the muslims themselves. So, to get rid of their guilt, the Gujjus have decided to “outsource” the cleansing to Modi. Modi was smart. He grabbed at this opportunity with both hands. What Modi did in the form of muslim-bashing was on specific instructions from his people. Also, Modi keeps reminding his people about the cleansing he is doing for them. Every time before the elections, he will trigger something that will get all the Hindus to rally behind him. In one election, an ad appeared in the newspapers on the day of the election.....supposedly released by a Muslim organization......asking all Muslims to vote against the BJP. This obviously got the Hindus to support Modi and the BJP en-mass......this was the exact reaction that Modi wanted from his people! It is believed that the ad was planted by Modi himself! Every Gujju knows that Modi stopped the police from controlling the carnage.....but they love him for it. Theirs is a debt of gratitude for ever.

Modi was smart in one more respect. He realized that even while he continued to enjoy the support of his people, he could not possibly build his persona around it. He didn’t want to be known as another Hitler. He had dreams of becoming the PM one day. So he chose to focus the attention of the world on the economic growth of Gujarat. He took credit for Gujarat’s economic strength. People outside Gujarat attribute Gujarat’s spectacular economic growth to Modi.....but the truth is that the credit for this must go to the people of Gujarat. Between 1960-1990 (Gujarat was formed in 1960), Gujarat became a leader in textiles, engineering, chemicals, petrochemicals, drugs and pharma, dairy, cement and ceramics and Gems and Jewellery. From 1994 to 2002, Gujarat achieved an annual growth of 14% per annum......Modi only came to power in Oct 2001. Gujarat has no power problems because power production increased by 35% between 1995 and 2001. Modi had very little to do with Gujarat’s economic progress.....he was plain lucky to inherit a state like this. To his credit, he has continued with the economic focus......but it was the previous Congress government that made Gujarat as powerful economically as it is today.

Modi cannot be stopped politically in Gujarat. He will continue winning all elections in Gujarat. The need for Modi has only become stronger. 26/11 was a shot in the arms for Modi. Hatred for muslims flared up again after this 26/11. This resulted in a backlash against muslims all over India.....but politically, it was only Modi who could exploit it.

The real truth is that if Modi has to be removed for his complicity in the Godhra riots, it can only be done by the Judiciary. The Supreme Court could rule against him and ask for his ouster if he’s proven guilty. If however, the case against Modi remain unproved.....and Modi will try everything under the sun to do that......then Modi will rule Gujarat till the end of his life. Today, Modi is bigger than his party. Gujarat is not BJP-ruled; it’s Modi-ruled. Fortunately for all of us outside Gujarat.....what works for him inside Gujarat works against him outside. Modi may be CM of Gujarat forever....but I doubt if he can ever become PM of India.....

10 comments:

  1. Prashant, i guess perhaps you forgot, all riots that happened in Gujarat, were in Congress regim !
    None under BJP.

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  2. @ prashant... please have a look at your own post..... Congress allowed the cultivation and nursed the anti- Indian sentiments of Gujarati muslims for 5 decades. This led to an anti-muslim ideology. Riots were not new to Gujarat but just because there was a BJP-CM, the blame was pushed to him. A track record of almost a decade after the riots says there were no riots anymore..why? I have not seen any speeched of Modi which were anti-Muslim or pro-Hindu anywhere. Whereas nationwide there are Muslim and Hindu parties which openly give pro-Muslim and pro-Hindu speeches. Why are you not targeting these? Why was any CM not blamed for any riots throughout the country in the past? If CM was ineffective, why din't the PM take action? There are some people who have pessimistic views because they have already built mind-castles which oppose any change of thought. Ironically, to prove your point right, you are pushing the blame on ther gujarati muslim community to be "businessmen" and supporting Modi. This article is completely biased.

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  3. Amazing that the state prefers to be ruled by a fascist thug. I guess the Germans during the third reich gave the same lame duck excuses to justify hitler and his goons - that he pulled Germany out of recession and fear of the allies into European domination within one generation of world war 1

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  4. Hitler never won any election..he came to power on the basis of a coalition govt and never held another election again till his death.
    Learn history if you want to compare Hitler with anyone.

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  5. Also what makes you think Modi cannot be PM of India.
    There is nothing fancy about why Modi is popular in Gujarat..it is a highly urbanized state because of which caste barriers get broken down more easily than in the rural areas. So they can consolidate the people under Hinduism. The same thing can be replaced in any other highly urbanized state...for example Karnataka, Yeddyurappa could have become the Modi of that state but he screwed himself with corruption.
    India is a massively Hindu majority state..the Hindu vote gets broken down by caste which allows minorities to play the swing vote. If the caste barriers gets broken down..minorities do not matter. Modi broke the caste barriers.

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  6. @prashant-i agree with each n evrythng you wrote.

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  7. the modi cn never b a p.m...btw gr8 article..

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  8. Hi,

    Good you wrote on the deeper issues behind Modi's emergence to power every time. Is their any study which talks about the riots before the 2002 one (I am looking for an unbiased view backed by true numbers - No Congress vs BJP talk) ?

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  9. About ur claim that gujarat was "already developed"

    *Gujrath Government is 2nd best Govt in the world not just India and its Announced by International council not local Indian Council.(ITS FOR MODI's RULE RELEASED ON 2011-12)

    *Before 10 years they had 50,000 crores loan in World Bank. But Today they have deposited 1 Lakh crore in World Bank. (HAPPENED IN MODI'S RULE)

    *No Power Cut in Gujrath (27X7X365 uninterrupted power supply)

    *Whole India export 15% from Gujrath(TIME U HAV MENTIONED EXPORTS WAS 6% which MODI INCREASED TO 15%)

    *30% of Indian Share Market invested by Gujrath (PAST 7 YEARS DEVELOPMENT)

    *we got Not India's World's biggest Oil refineries in Gujrath (THIS WAS EARLIER BUT MERGED HAPPENED IN MODI's RULE...I hope atleast u knw wat is merged, In Jamanagar ther was two Oil Refinerey which was merged couple of year back)

    *Soon Gujrath will b able to supply water for other States (THis status yet come n its MODI's EFFORTS)

    *Every Graduate is Employed in Gujrath (THIS IS MODI"S ACHIEVEMENT)

    *All the major Automobile Plant like Tata Hundai Ford Reliance Honda BMW is in Gujrath

    National agriculture growth 10.8% vs indian agriculture growth 3.3%

    Gujarat farmers are 7 times richer than their rest-of-india counterparts

    106 to 145 hectares.40% increase in agriculture land in the last 10 yrs

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  10. Narendra modi is the lion of india .he is hero not hitler.now gujrat development is compared with singapore bcz of mr modi.he is a great hindu leader .congress is total antinational

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