The Unmaking Of Gujrat

...gaaaarbage...

Ferz:

welcome back to the new chowk!...will read and comment later... a quick glance tell me you will be bombarded with the usual...some things do not change...therefore you will need a lot of bspnd and rah...

...t

PS:

TO CHOWK EDITORS:

if and when i submit `fishing` you dare not cite length as a reason for rejection;)

Farzana,

This is a very good piece. Sarcastic, hilarious and deeply sad. One wonders what kind of politicians India has chosen. It seems that the people you mention want to play holi with blood and bathe in blood as if it is all fun and game and human lives don`t mean anything. What is wrong with them? Where are taking their country towards? Is their vision and goal for their country lies at the end of a river flowing with blood and they are happy to sail on a boat in this river of blood? Apparently so.

If Mr. Advani wants to fight a war with Pakistan, why have so many people killed? We can have a duel, in Kashmir, between Advani and Musharraf like a couple of gladiators and whoever wins will take Kashmir. This way only one life will be lost instead of annihilating millions of innocent people from both sides of the border. Is Mr. Advani up to it, or he is as coward as his words indicate? I wish someone posed this question to him.

Your end comment is extremely frightening. You are a very brave soul to stand up to the ignorance and primitive thoughts. Keep writing and keep us informed. You are much admired by all the intelligent people here at Chowk.

Welcome back Behain! We`ve missed you!

BLESS YOU FARZANA -- A MASTERPIECE!

Agreed it is very hard to find anything positive about Gujarat on the eve of its election. Of Modi/Advani, well what can I say? These are cunning chauvinists, demagogues with an eye for gesture and sound bytes. Their creativity begins and ends with creating division and distress.

These are also people who are unable to learn about anything from history. Chauvinism in Sri Lanka caused and a civil war and 60,000 dead out of a population of 20 million. I do not even want to think about the corresponding figure for India.

I still have hope for the civil society of India which saw it through the emergency and some of the terrible periods around the punjab insurgency. But instead of focussing on the future, on having every indian child in school, on abdul kalams ``vision for india``, we will have to spend all our energies on dealing with these short-sighted, spite-ridden, losers with their murderous lumpen allies. It is a sad prospect but it must be sadder still to be a muslim in Gujarat today.

re: godot #5
[ ... We can have a duel, in Kashmir, between Advani and Musharraf like a couple of gladiators and whoever wins will take Kashmir. This way only one life will be lost instead of annihilating millions of innocent people from both sides of the border. Is Mr. Advani up to it, or he is as coward as his words indicate? ...]

Chaalaak aadmi! You know that Musharraf is an ex-commando and will whip Advani`s ass within microseconds.

;-)

Farzana
Just to begin with, donot mix too many issues. AB Vajpayee should be pinned down on the communal angle, the nuclear/Pakistan angle doesnot work.

( For instance, Pakistan was selling nuclear weapons technology to N. Korea in BB`s tenure before India did its tests. Also, its said in many accounts that Pakistan threatened India with nukes at least as early as Brasstacks in the early 90s. Similarly there is Congressional testimony that people like Reagan and Bush Sr kept giving waivers to Pakistan(and China) in the 80s despite knowledge of weapons and missile development. Pakistan testing brought to forefront Pakistan`s and its maibaaps China and US`s longstanding missile and nuclear nonproliferation hypocrisy much before BJP came to power)

Back to communal angle. As I said, AB Vajpayee needs to be pinned on this, but not on the basis of misquoting him, please.

Also, I may be mistaken, but apart from Arun Jaitley, wasn`t Pramod Mahajan also among those who supported Modi within the BJP when he was going to be fired.

Hello Farzana . . . to quote from your otherwise mundane article which at the end of the day does not address the larger issue from an impassionate world view but tries to break everything down into a sadly myopic treatise on rampaging Hindus killing Muslims unaware of their environments . . . ````As a citizen on this country, I need the answers. And you owe me an apology as well.```` Fine, as another citizen of the same country, let me try to respond, if that is fine by you. I am, after all, Hindu and I do take the truble to study as well as understand the Upanishads, the Vedas . . . as also the Quran, the Bible. I do not profess to be anything close to a scholar on these books, but I do hope you shall let me try?


So, here is my take on matters . . . and please try to take an objective world view IF you or anybody else choose to debate.

a) I am glad that you & I are citizens of a country where we can seek answers. On his single point in isolation, are you glad too? If not, why? As for apologies, what is their value?

b) Churn is inevitable, and has been around since the year dot. If out of the churn evolves, say, emancipation of women otherwise forced to live like sub-humans, why do you object? Where is the position of women headed, otherwise, in fundamentalist society, Hindu, Muslim or otherwise, in India?

c) What have the undamaged pillars of the Swaminarayan Temple got to do with anything relevant to your artice? Come on, say it? Or scavenging cows? Are you trying to join unconnected anecdotal dots or are you looking at the broader picture? Was the scavenging cow owned by a Hindu or a Muslim, or maybe a Parsee or a Sikh?

d) Do 2, 20, 200, 2000 or 20000 deaths feel different? Think about this one, especially, when responding? Did somebody deserve some credit, however out of place it may be, for stopping 18000 deaths at the cost of 2000?

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````, and I am afraid India today is clay in the hands of the saffron brigade.
````. That, lady, shows how much you really are out of touch with reality. Out there in the semi-urban and semir rural and rural parts of the country I travel and do not see any ``wave`` based on religion. On other parameters, sure. But increasingly, as sure as there is a nature that seems to be changing weather patterns and monsoons, there is, all over the country, no saffron or green wave, for sure.

+++

India, luckily, has plenty of people who are, across social and economic lines, good people. Whether Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Cristian, or any other religion, sect, caste, community, tribe. Sure, they take advantage of the situation as it unfolds. But to club all of them into saffron brigade, green wave, nishaan sahib pole, cross conversion club, jewish conspiracy, man on the moon . . . that is a bit off.

+++

One last point, on this issue of multiple wives, growth of populations and so on and so forth. Read the Quran, the Ramayan, the Bible and the Mahabharat and analyse who had how many wives, husbands, children . . . and tell me if it makes even the least difference?

+++

Farzana:

Your article reflects pain and sadness of inumerable peaceful people, Indians and non-Indians alike. To me, your artcile also has an underpinning message that you believe in India and however flawed, its democracies. Modi-Advani-and-Vajpayee (for his unbelievable words that you have quoted) team must be very vulnerable to make Gujrat election a India v Pakistan show down. That too in the land of Gandhi and Jinnah too.

ANIL

Farzana,
It`s good to see you back at Chowk...you`ve been missed. As for the disheartening feedback from `intelligent` readers...ji, ye log bhi aksar ghalat paRRhtay haiN. you stand by the courage of your convictions, and keep on doing so! Judging by the remarks, and continuing actions of so-called intelligent people here in the US...i am now convinced that the centre has stopped holding, things have fallen apart, and many of us are clay in the hands of rabid brigades. Chalo, enough cynicism...and t. is right...the attack is at hand, but you`ve been able to weather it before na?
Courage!
love, ana

Its a long article so I will respond in installments sorry.

Re the Akshardham pillars and damage to them. I read somewhere that the Swaminarayan trust designed and built the temple with the intention that it should last a 1000+ years(it survived the earthquake too), so its no surprise that nothing happened to its pillars.

The better motif is of innocent Muslims surrounded by a mob and no help available, as in why commandos are not called when mobs are on the rampage. Mr Ehsan Jafri, when he was surrounded by a threatening mob, kept calling for help for 6 hours, he contacted senior Congress leaders, reportedly even Sonia Gandhi was phoned. In contrast, the commandos were dispatched within 1-2 hrs of the temple attack. It could be `lessons learned`, but how can we wait for another riot to find out? The thing to do is pin Modi/Gujarat home minister/Advani/ID Swami/etc down on this exact point, the Ehsan Jafri point, what government procedure was used when and why and who decided? Why is mob violence not listed as a urgent threat to public security as much as a couple of gunmen?

To raise these and other questions and demand answers is very important and IMO hence its also important(though difficult) to avoid Hindu-Muslim wrangles/angles, because
1. for me as a Hindu its not a Hindu-Muslim thing. If Indian citizens are killed barbarously while the govt. connives or watches, I as an Indian citizen demand answers and accountability irrespective of whether I am Hindu or Muslim. If someone frames the issue on a Hindu-Muslim angle, that puts me among the murderers on count of my religion, so how does this help ?

2. the Hindu-Muslim angle gives the Hindutva demagogues an opportunity to detract from the human angle. If you notice, those opportunities are what Modi has been consistently making use of.

Whataresaaying Farzana !!

****Ravana had to burn Lanka with tail to save Rama****

Patel Bhai maybe not knowing rapidex hinglish, having lousy grammer, fuzzy logic and black heart - but NAEVER mixing up gods and demons !! Ravana having ten heads and acheeles heel in toondi NOT burn Lanka with tail like anjali-putra-pawan-suth Hanuman. Me thinking you making BIG mishtake !!

(haven`t got beyond the first few lines - what a great way to fight fundoos !! laught at them ! When they start making bad jokes about fundoos in Bollywood blockbusters they shall vanish in a puff of smoke!)

Farzana,
I totally agree with the first few paragraphs (before the analysis of Modi begins). I think you `over analysed` Advani, but liked your take on Jaitley. Wish you had written about Arun Shourie too.
On the Gujarat elections, I am confident that they will not be rigged - have some faith in our election commission.
Finally, it was not Ravana whose tail set Lanka on fire, it was Hanuman.

Half century is gone after Independence, yet again - we have stumbled on the same old road-blocks: Hindu-Muslim antagonism. We haven`t yet been able to reconciliate our communal differences. We haven`t yet learnt to how to prevent riots, a basic law and order problem.

Democracy, Development, Technology , Space Research - it doesn`t matter. Our basic instincts have not changed , age-old fundamental deficiencies that have always held us back - have not been improved upon. We as a people seem to be incapable of focusing our passions on things that really matter.

Will there ever be a day when Modi and Sonia would fight an election on how much investment they would be bringing to the state - they would be starting their election campaigns from the doorstep of a chip manufacturing plant rather than the doorstep of a goddamned temple or mosque? I doubt it. Stupid people led by stupid leaders!! Stupidity all around.

As far as portrayal of various characters of the drama is unconcerned, I completely agree with this article. Infact a strong case could be made out of the material that already exists against Modia and company. But if anybody wants a lesson on how to botch up your strong case, this article is an excellent testimony. Leave aside the trivial mistakes made by the author for the time being regarding Ramayana and focus on the two paras below:

1. ``We have so much culture. 44 people died, 100 were injured but not one pillar of the Rs. 60 crore Swaminarayan Temple was harmed. We are knowing how to preserve our heritage. Gujaratis must export this technology (this is one thing the Yankees cannot patent, no?). I am giving you all this idea because I am now respecting you. You know how to keep purity of Gujarati language. In whole state nobody could immediately translate that Urdu chit in the terrorists’ pockets. (Why those chaps were carrying dry fruits and chocolates``

Note three points: one about the pillars, second about Urdu chits and the third about dry fruits. The author ignores that the fact that AK 47 can not bring down the heavy pillars of the temple, at best it could leave the scar. The purpose of the terrorist attack was to kill Hindu worshippers. Secondly author presumes that apparently nobody in the police could read Urdu chits. Let the author present the names of the policemen in the group who read these chits and show that none could read Urdu. A lot of people especially Muslims(policemen could also be Muslims) in India could easily read Urdu. Thirdly it is well known that LeT/JeM terrorists carry dry fruits along with them. The reason why dry fruits are preferred is because apart from being a quick source of carbohydrates, they are non-perishable items. The people are requested to note the ``innuendo`` style rhetoric.


2. ``Be sure of one thing: these elections will be rigged, and the winner will be the party that is better at booth-capturing, horse-trading and monkeying around. Even if the BJP were to lose here, it will make up at the Centre in a few months. ``

Once again notice the language and the purport of the author. So Gujrat elections are over today and these were one of the most peaceful elections with almost no reports of booth-capturing or rigging. One thing that Indians are proud of is democracy amidst the dictatorships and pseudo-dictatorships in the third world. Nobody has ever won a 99% vote in the free India ever, not even Nehru. If Modi could have rigged elections or if BJP could have done so, they would not have lost in one election after the other in so many states in India. If BJP could have rigged the elections they would not have come third in UP, where it almost became a matter of survival for BJP. Elections in India are mostly free and fair and are held by an independent constitutional authority called Election Commission. If Mr. Lyngdoh, The Chief Election Commisner is a man of honor and has stood against the govt time and again despite onslaught of VHP goons. If Democracy is alive in India it is bacause of the mostly free and fair elections. By these statements, the author has directly questioned the impartiality and the constitutional authority of EC in India.

PS Any conscientious person can make a better case against Modi in Gujrat. You dont need to stoop to the level of innuendos and baseless aspersions for making what is a perfectly just case. Alas only if these so called ``saviors`` who write length articles were more honest and sincere !!!