The Criminal as Victim

Guilt by any other name
- By M.J. Akbar



So is Narendra Modi a hero then, thanks to George Bush and Condoleezza Rice?

Of the many reasons for taking a position on the Gujarat chief minister and his adoring fans in the American Asian Motel Owners Association, who have been seeking his charismatic presence on their motel-soil for perhaps two years now, this has to be silliest. The relevant point is not whether Narendra Modi has become a hero. The point to note is that he is already a hero to those who hero-worship him.

It did not need Bush or Rice to persuade the motel-owners, many of them fellow-Gujaratis, to adore Modi or make him their star guest. They did not want Atal Behari Vajpayee or Lal Krishna Advani; and certainly not Dr Manmohan Singh or Sonia Gandhi. They wanted Narendra Modi and no one but him, which is why they were prepared to wait. He became their hero when he supervised a pogrom against the Muslims of Gujarat after the Godhra incident three years ago. It was the kind of ``revenge`` that pleased the heart of hate-mongers. Since then Narendra Modi’s problem has been to check similar heroism without losing his fan base.

Narendra Modi is a politician with both ambition and a strategy, which itself is unusual. All, well, most, politicians are ambitious, but rather than developing a strategy they wait for stars to bring them luck and joy. Modi believes that the infamous riots have provided him with a cushion-vote of some 15 million Indians. This, apparently, is his estimate of the core ``anti-Muslim`` vote in India. He is building other vote blocs on that to become the most popular leader of his party and by virtue of that a future Prime Minister of India.

His strategy is cool and logical. Having taken command of the venom vote he does not need to spew venom anymore. He can now concentrate on proving that he is an excellent administrator, which he is. His reputation as an effective chief minister is growing steadily but surely. Moreover, his palm does not itch in the manner of, say, Pramod Mahajan, a contemporary with similar ambitions if less strategy. As politicians go, Modi is among the least corruptible. Money is not his weakness. So there you are: a hero to minority-haters, competent, honest, ambitious. It is the kind of biodata that can take you places. There are enough middle-roaders who would be happy to overlook the riots in exchange for competence and personal probity. Liberals may loathe Modi, but they would be foolish to ignore him or his potential.

The principal yardstick of public life is not justice, but success. Success tends to drown out accountability, while failure invites quick punishment. Modi’s success in the Assembly elections, when he brought the BJP back to life from a comatose state, exonerated his mischief.

This was not mischief behind a curtain. This was not corruption ferreted out by either fearless or sleazy journalism. This was not a crime that needed too much investigation. It was a macabre, brazen use of state power for political gain, in front of the world’s television cameras and print media. It was a crime whose evidence lies in dozens of photo exhibitions, on Internet sites and archives, and most painfully, in the minds of a generation of young people who watched helplessly as a government abetted hooligans gone berserk, torching homes and killing their loved ones. If there is another definition of genocide I would be grateful for some education.

We in India did very little about Modi. His leader Vajpayee made some noises, which spluttered away and exposed the impotence of a Prime Minister. Nor have his adversaries done anything in particular. The UPA government that succeeded the BJP-led coalition has not even bothered to worry about those riots, except to the extent that a Lalu Yadav wanted to derive his own quota of political mileage from Godhra. It will soon be a year since it has come to power, but the Congress, always ready to expend serious heavy firepower against Mulayam Singh Yadav, who destroyed the BJP in UP and effectively prevented its return to power, has not mounted any effective political campaign against Modi. To be fair, no one else has, either.

Congress and non-BJP chief ministers gladly shake Modi’s hand at ministerial conferences, while media lines up to seek the favours that he can offer from office. (By the way, notch up another Modi success: he has eliminated a great deal of corruption within media.) His party, which saved him from its Prime Minister, does not dare interfere with the rising trajectory of his star. It is sometimes whispered that BJP president Advani would like to remove Modi, but they remain mere whispers. In any case, Advani, who retains a persistent memory of Delhi in the 1984 riots gets amnesia about Ahmedabad in 2002. If India did not bother, there was no reason why the rest of the world should. Britain, Switzerland, Australia and Singapore were happy to give Narendra Modi a visa when he asked for it.

It is extraordinary, then, that, quite out of the blue, Washington took a stand. It is of course symbolic. America can only exercise its right to deny a visa to a non-American. Most of us were unaware of the American law that ``makes any government official who was responsible for, or directly carried out at any time, particularly severe violations of religious freedom, ineligible for a visa``. America cannot do anything more, because Modi does not need anything more from America. He has no desire for a green card, or even a holiday. If he was interested in the members of the motel association it was because many of them are of Gujarati origin, and their applause would have resonated well among some sections back home.

According to some knee-jerk analysis, this decision could even become counter-productive. Well, so what? Is justice to be weighed on the scales of popularity, or its not-very-distant relative, prejudice? I am certain that extremists and even terrorists often have popular support. That does not make them less culpable. If we make justice conditional, we erode the foundations of civilisation and sap the life-energy of democracy.

A psychoanalyst would probably find much more in the sometimes overlapping and sometimes disparate layers of Modi’s arguments against the American decision than a columnist. There is a hint of self-incrimination in the plea that if others who have violated human rights can be permitted to visit America, and even welcomed (he can hardly resist mentioning President Pervez Musharraf), why should he be denied a visa? At other moments, there are suggestions that India’s sovereignty has been undermined. Er, not quite. It takes more than a denied visa to undermine our sovereignty. But Narendra Modi does provide one splendid suggestion. Should India refuse a visa to the United States Chief of Army Staff because of the alleged violation of human rights in Iraq? I don’t know about others, but I consider this an absolutely splendid idea. Should Pranab Mukherjee, as our defence minister, lead the campaign to prevent any such visit? That might be over the top, but how about letting this idea loose among all the liberal NGOs and human rights activists whose combined efforts persuaded the United States establishment to stop Modi’s visit? After all, the same yardstick must apply. The evidence for the abuse is visible in hundreds of photographs, and we do not know how much abuse took place with those who were not photographed. There is serious evidence of culpability at the highest levels of the American military. Jeff Jacoby, writing in the Boston Globe and the International Herald Tribune, says: ``In August 2003, when he was commander of the military base at Guantanamo Bay, Major General Geoffrey Miller visited Baghdad with some advice for US interrogators at Abu Ghraib prison. As Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, the military police commander in Iraq, later recalled it, Miller’s bottom line was blunt: Abu Ghraib should be ‘Gitmo-ized’ — Iraqi detainees should be exposed to the same aggressive techniques being used to extract information from prisoners in Guantanamo. ‘You have to have full control,’ Karpinski quoted Miller as saying. There can be ‘no mistake about who’s in charge. You have to treat these detainees like dogs’.``

Treat these detainees like dogs. Any more evidence needed? Here is some from Afghanistan. ``A detainee in the ‘Salt Pit’ — a secret, CIA-funded prison north of Kabul — is stripped naked, dragged across a concrete floor, then chained in a cell and left overnight. By morning he has frozen to death.`` What was his crime? ``He was probably associated with people who were associated with Al Qaeda,`` a US official explained.

Of course the American military high command never accepted that they were guilty of what happened under their nose.

Neither did Narendra Modi.

#411 by Tupac on March 27, 2005 10:38am PT
”Will somebody filter out Prashant`s posts please? He`s calling for genocide and mass rape and indicating his willingness to participate.”

He is the poster boy for Hindutva followers on this site. People like AlephNull, sadna, Harimau, manayd, monac, singularity, Rsridhar and a couple more love his posts and rants here.

He is the true face of Hindutva why should his interacts be removed?

kardesh:

I request you to not respond to those two offensive posts and add to this person`s arsenal of pathetic ideas. By replying to the points he is making, you are legitimising them. This time I am serious about some action being taken...time-zone differences do not permit me to moderate this board now, but I should hope other interactors do not encourage him even by default.

Thanks....

Prashant #410, {``Damn..all that talk of f ucking got me excited. I wanna f uck some muslim b1tch too. Wish some mullahs set fire to the Mysore-Bangalore train or something like that...``}

Gujju, if it turns out that the train was burned by someone as hopeful and as affectionate as you for Muslim girls, would you concede that such people need to be especially ``honored`` for their nefarious planning? Imagine murdering innocent Hindu pilgrims just to have an excuse for Hindutva-ordained orgies?

Prashant 123 #409,
{``So an elected representative of the Indian people gotta honor the aspiration of those who vote for him. So if those who vote for him , the majority , wanted to f uck muslims , then their elected representative had no choice but to allow them to f uck muslims``}

Gujju, thank you for your honesty. Now we know the real reason why right-wing Hindus do what they do. At least you are more truthful than the lame excuses offered by harimau, singularity, masanamuthu, and nb (on Chowk UP).

On a more serious note, maybe someone will do to Modi, what those brave Sikhs did to Gen Dwyer for the Jillianwalla Bagh massacre.

Chowk staff:

This is my first time. In the past I have never asked for deletion of posts, warning posters, removing interactors…I have not asked for intervention when there was personal abuse. But, with your new guidelines, one thought you would keep an eye on the disgusting stuff. The front page is the showcase of Chowk and this is where people put their energies into discussing relevant issues and providing their varied insights. But, I notice there is no vigilance.

It is time you took action against Prashant123…I do not care about what he has to say about me, but the nonsense he is spouting in posts #409/410 should be self-evident examples of a sick mind. I would like to emphasise that these statements have come without provocation or anyone engaging him in a dialogue of this nature on the board here.

Would appreciate it if you did something about it. I am not a lone voice on this…

Prashant!!
You make me sick!

Prashant123 and other Modi supporters,your logic is that Muslims had to die in Amedabad and other places because some Muslims burnt Hindus at Godhra.Do you apply the same logic to the killing of Sikhs in 1984 following Indira Gandhi`s murder by his Sikh bodyguards??????

Will somebody filter out Prashant`s posts please? He`s calling for genocide and mass rape and indicating his willingness to participate.

As for your demented rantings about Muslims, leftists and JNU students being ``ISI agents`` and ``pro-Pakistan`` - I`m so glad I`m not in your hate-filled, sick, paranoid head.

When you`re done with all the hating, raping, torturing and killing, do you sit back and feel really good? Really proud? Do you sleep well? Do you know the number of Hindu suicides in Gujarat shot up exponentially after the massacres?

All that sickness and violence and hatred will do you no good, buddy, in this life or the next. Being twisted and full of negativity will most likely result in rebirth as a cockroach, that anybody can even mistakenly step on.

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Tupac...most hindus are Modi supporters. And most Indian muslims and leftists are Pakistan lovers. Would you agree ?

Tupac. Do you live in India ? I strongly suspect you have links with ISI of Pakistan. And you are from JNU to boot. The hotbed of anti-India activity.

So how much do they pay you , the ISI guys ?

#404 by Tupac
“you and certain other self-righteous seemingly anti-Modi types are actually soft Sanghis.”

Soft Sanghis? Most of them are card carrying members.

#403 by rsridhar
///...What would u rather have: human capital or Oil? If your answer is oil, you are dead wrong. Look at Saudi Arabia.....//

If your answer is ``human capital`` - then YOU are dead wrong. Look at India ..... For years India has been touting this ``human capital`` - and yet, it is dirt poor and will remain so for any foreseeable future.

What good is human capital if you allow commies and laloos to rule you? From looks of things - it ain;t changing anytime soon - fools will continue to rule India for any foreseeable future .... SO I will rather have OIL, $5000/- per capita income for next 100 years is not bad at all.

Re: # 393 kaalchakra
``I am sorry to see that you have turned out to be a fraud. Please stop associating yourself with Africa`` etc etc etc

Eh????????? Where did that come from?!! I`m alive, I`m around, and I`m associating with Africa like there was no tomorrow. Sorry to ruin your day :).

PS: I strongly suspect that you and certain other self-righteous seemingly anti-Modi types are actually soft Sanghis. You particularly with that ``five pillars`` stuff give off a strongly Sanghi vibe.

I am shocked that Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is a Modi supporter. I don`t much follow the news on Gurus but I know of Muslims and Christians who have attended his seances. The plot thickens.