03-24-2005, 10:38 PM
Member SSridhar has written the letter below..
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Defending Modi is indefensible
I have sent the following response to him. Let me see if he replies:
<!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Dear Mr. Ahmed,
Your Op-Ed in Daily Times of Pakistan dated today on the subject in question was disappointing to say the least to a person like me from across the border, who regularly reads
your column. Before I go any further, let me say emphatically that
neither do I belong to any political party nor do I condone the
Gujarat riots of 2002. I have no doubt in my mind that the
Muslims had suffered a lot in the Gujarat riots and I feel ashamed that
such a thing happened. Yet, I take strong objection to your Op-Ed
because what you have stated are morally and ethically wrong and is
based on a series of conjectures and incorrect information.
I seek your patience in reading this rather long mail.
You state that the Gujarat CM is a "rabid communalist". Pray, on what
basis did you make that statement ? Do I see pseudo-secualarism on
display here from you ? To the best of my knowledge, he has never
denigrated other religions nor did he incite the Hindus to "kill" any
non-Hindu infidel. At worst, he could be "accused", if at all, of
being unable to stop the communal orgy that engulfed his State after
the gruesome killing of Kar Sevaks returning from a pilgrimage. But,
the fury, the suddenness and spread of the violence were on such a
scale that nobody else could have done anything else as well more
effectively. We see so many violent sectarian clashes in Pakistan day
in and day out and why does it not generate as much passion in you ?
The only conclusion I can come to is that you probably feel that
internecine war is of a much lesser evil than one involving the kaffir
Hindus. My example of a "rabid communalist" will be a Qazi Hussein
Ahmed of JI or a Fazlur Rehman of JUI or Maulana Masood Azhar of JeM,
the late Mufti Shamzai of Binori, Fazlur Rehman Khalil of HuM, Maulana
Haq Nawaz Jhangvi of Sipah-e-Sahaba, or even Lt. Gen. Hamid Gul or Lt.
Gen Javed Nasir who have openly called for Jihad-al-saif against India
in general and Hindus in particular. I can assure you that none of
the communal leaders in India, whether Hindu, Muslim, Christian,
Budhist or Sikh come anywhere near the above gentlemen, if one can
call them so. It is strange and even shameful that you should quote
such right-wing Pakistani bigots to indirectly accuse a secular,
multi-ethnic, plural and democratic India in which a few shameful
aberrations have indeed happened whether they be Gujarat riots or the
Godhra carnage or the Bombay/Coimbatore serial blasts, anti-Sikh riots
etc. If you have no compunction in citing them to "make India feel
guilty" of being a "sham democracy where the minorities are under
majoritarian tyranny", what else can one say ? While not condoning any
of the later-day riots, I welcome you to go even before Independence
to a united India and the terror let loose by your revered leaders
like Jinnah or Suhrawardy under the garb of "Direct Action Day". Or,
even the Butcher of Bengal Gen. AAK Niazi in 1971.
You say next that "he has Muslim blood on his hands" but correctly
state immediately thereafter that no court has found him guilty. As a
human being, I am not going to distinguish between Hindu, Muslim,
Ahmedi, Budhist and Christian bloods. But, what surprised me was the
rather defensive and factually incorrect statement you make about the
Godhra train carnage. Why should you be in an indecent hurry to say
that the Hindu kar sevaks killed themselves in Godhra and shifted the
blame on Muslims ? For starters, it was not the Supreme Court that
said so. It was an enquiry commission set up by Laloo Prasad (despite
the two other comprehensive Commissions already on the job), the new
Railway Minister that gave an "interim" report just in time before the
elections in Bihar. Without getting into the merits or otherwise of
the report, the intentions are quite obvious.
You have to realize that the NHRC, however much it could be respected,
is no substitute for a constitutionally formed inquiry commission or
the Courts. Ultimately, cases have to be proven in Courts of Law and
punishment meted out by Judges, not by media or the NHRC. One should
remember that Mr. Modi has been returned to power with two-thirds
majority in an election conducted after the riots under a very strict
Chief Election Commissioner, Mr. Lyngdoh (who was a Christian just to
set any speculation at rest) who used his unfettered powers to ensure
that those officials tainted by the riots were not in influential
positions at the time of voting. Your comparison with Hitler is
totally incorrect. Hitler "subverted" democracy through the Beer Hall
putsch and ran a reign of terror. That was clearly not the case in the
Gujarat elections. In fact, the Election Commission went to
extraordinary lengths to ensure a fair election. If NHRC of India is
respected, so is the Indian Election Commission, its electoral process
and democracy. Why should only the NHRC be conveniently praised and
not the other ? So, what is the next step in the process of
villification ? Paint the millions who voted Mr. Modi to power as
criminals ?
As for your inopportune reference to Mahatma Gandhi, I wish to recall
that Gandhi called for disbanding the Congress after independence was
won as he felt that the Congress had served its purpose and the
continuation of the party would lead to power struggle. Your citing of
Congress apologizing to the Sikhs is thoroughly misplaced. They did it
a full twenty years after the event. Yet, the instigators of the
anti-Sikh pogrom, HKL Bhagat, Maken and others went scot free and were
even given tickets to stand for elections much after their involvement
became public affair. So, why do you seek to take moral support from a
non-existent source such as the Congress ? As for the Communists, can
there be bigger murderers than them in the history of this world ?
Josef Stalin is the worst dictator the world has seen, far worse than
Hitler or Gengiz Khan or Aurangzeb put together perhaps. The support
of the Communist parties in India for Naxal violence that kills
everyday scores of civilians is too well known.
However, the Congress and even the Communists who are more staunchly
opposed to the BJP (the first aim of the Communists anywhere is to
decimate the majority religion of the land in order for them to sow
their brand of governance), are together in objecting to the US move
because they see a greater strategic threat in the unabashed misuse of
"religion" by the US. It has always been a Pakistani failing in that
they only take "tactical" positions and fail to perceive the
"strategic" implications. It is an open secret that the US employs
such concepts as "human rights" and "religious freedom' to further its
own hegemonic interests.
Though I could glean from your columns that you have a more tolerant
and secular outlook than an average Muslim, especially from Pakistan,
it is inappropriate for anyone to derive satisfaction from Modi's
situation. Though I would hate to say this so openly, yet the fact
remains that Hinduism is far more tolerant and secular than Islam
especially of the Salafist Sunni, Wahhabi, Deobandi and even the
Berelvi varieties so widely practised in your country and most of the
Middle East. The US Govt, which has suddenly donned the mantle of
espousing religious freedom, has been cosying up to despots, dictators
and mass murderers like the Shah of Iran, the absolutist Kings in the
Middle East and a series of dictators in Pakistan, not to say anything
of the murderers in Latin American countries. I recall Gen. Zia-ul-Haq
led an armoured-brigade attack on unarmed, civilian Palestenians in a
Jordan refugee camp killing hundreds of them in a few days. Not that
any of these can be cited to "support" a similar re-enactment
elsewhere, but, we have to have an overall sense of history before we
jump to point fingers.
The US itself has blood on its hand. The Vietnam war, especially the
My Lai massacre, the massacre in the Korean war of unarmed civilians,
its toleration of Israeli terrorism and even the overt and covert
support for the Zionist state, its recent unwarranted attack on a
secular Iraq leading to bloodbath, the arrogant and humiliating
treatment of civilian (including woman) prisoners in Abu Gharib, the
preparations for an impending attack on Iran etc. are there for
everyone to see. So, the US is not exactly a paragon of virtue to be
modelled after. That is what makes this unfortunate episode all the
more tragic.
It is clear in my mind at least that the US is using the Modi episode
to retrieve some lost leverage among the Muslim ummah. They have
decided to sacrifice Narendra Modi at the altar of expediency.
I wish you would be as passionate in highlighting state-sponsored
atrocities against "human beings", whether it is Muslims of
Palestine/Kosovo or Hindus/Sikhs of Kashmir/Pakistan/Bangladesh or
Shias/Ahmedis of Pakistan or Coptics of Egypt.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd--><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Defending Modi is indefensible
I have sent the following response to him. Let me see if he replies:
<!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Dear Mr. Ahmed,
Your Op-Ed in Daily Times of Pakistan dated today on the subject in question was disappointing to say the least to a person like me from across the border, who regularly reads
your column. Before I go any further, let me say emphatically that
neither do I belong to any political party nor do I condone the
Gujarat riots of 2002. I have no doubt in my mind that the
Muslims had suffered a lot in the Gujarat riots and I feel ashamed that
such a thing happened. Yet, I take strong objection to your Op-Ed
because what you have stated are morally and ethically wrong and is
based on a series of conjectures and incorrect information.
I seek your patience in reading this rather long mail.
You state that the Gujarat CM is a "rabid communalist". Pray, on what
basis did you make that statement ? Do I see pseudo-secualarism on
display here from you ? To the best of my knowledge, he has never
denigrated other religions nor did he incite the Hindus to "kill" any
non-Hindu infidel. At worst, he could be "accused", if at all, of
being unable to stop the communal orgy that engulfed his State after
the gruesome killing of Kar Sevaks returning from a pilgrimage. But,
the fury, the suddenness and spread of the violence were on such a
scale that nobody else could have done anything else as well more
effectively. We see so many violent sectarian clashes in Pakistan day
in and day out and why does it not generate as much passion in you ?
The only conclusion I can come to is that you probably feel that
internecine war is of a much lesser evil than one involving the kaffir
Hindus. My example of a "rabid communalist" will be a Qazi Hussein
Ahmed of JI or a Fazlur Rehman of JUI or Maulana Masood Azhar of JeM,
the late Mufti Shamzai of Binori, Fazlur Rehman Khalil of HuM, Maulana
Haq Nawaz Jhangvi of Sipah-e-Sahaba, or even Lt. Gen. Hamid Gul or Lt.
Gen Javed Nasir who have openly called for Jihad-al-saif against India
in general and Hindus in particular. I can assure you that none of
the communal leaders in India, whether Hindu, Muslim, Christian,
Budhist or Sikh come anywhere near the above gentlemen, if one can
call them so. It is strange and even shameful that you should quote
such right-wing Pakistani bigots to indirectly accuse a secular,
multi-ethnic, plural and democratic India in which a few shameful
aberrations have indeed happened whether they be Gujarat riots or the
Godhra carnage or the Bombay/Coimbatore serial blasts, anti-Sikh riots
etc. If you have no compunction in citing them to "make India feel
guilty" of being a "sham democracy where the minorities are under
majoritarian tyranny", what else can one say ? While not condoning any
of the later-day riots, I welcome you to go even before Independence
to a united India and the terror let loose by your revered leaders
like Jinnah or Suhrawardy under the garb of "Direct Action Day". Or,
even the Butcher of Bengal Gen. AAK Niazi in 1971.
You say next that "he has Muslim blood on his hands" but correctly
state immediately thereafter that no court has found him guilty. As a
human being, I am not going to distinguish between Hindu, Muslim,
Ahmedi, Budhist and Christian bloods. But, what surprised me was the
rather defensive and factually incorrect statement you make about the
Godhra train carnage. Why should you be in an indecent hurry to say
that the Hindu kar sevaks killed themselves in Godhra and shifted the
blame on Muslims ? For starters, it was not the Supreme Court that
said so. It was an enquiry commission set up by Laloo Prasad (despite
the two other comprehensive Commissions already on the job), the new
Railway Minister that gave an "interim" report just in time before the
elections in Bihar. Without getting into the merits or otherwise of
the report, the intentions are quite obvious.
You have to realize that the NHRC, however much it could be respected,
is no substitute for a constitutionally formed inquiry commission or
the Courts. Ultimately, cases have to be proven in Courts of Law and
punishment meted out by Judges, not by media or the NHRC. One should
remember that Mr. Modi has been returned to power with two-thirds
majority in an election conducted after the riots under a very strict
Chief Election Commissioner, Mr. Lyngdoh (who was a Christian just to
set any speculation at rest) who used his unfettered powers to ensure
that those officials tainted by the riots were not in influential
positions at the time of voting. Your comparison with Hitler is
totally incorrect. Hitler "subverted" democracy through the Beer Hall
putsch and ran a reign of terror. That was clearly not the case in the
Gujarat elections. In fact, the Election Commission went to
extraordinary lengths to ensure a fair election. If NHRC of India is
respected, so is the Indian Election Commission, its electoral process
and democracy. Why should only the NHRC be conveniently praised and
not the other ? So, what is the next step in the process of
villification ? Paint the millions who voted Mr. Modi to power as
criminals ?
As for your inopportune reference to Mahatma Gandhi, I wish to recall
that Gandhi called for disbanding the Congress after independence was
won as he felt that the Congress had served its purpose and the
continuation of the party would lead to power struggle. Your citing of
Congress apologizing to the Sikhs is thoroughly misplaced. They did it
a full twenty years after the event. Yet, the instigators of the
anti-Sikh pogrom, HKL Bhagat, Maken and others went scot free and were
even given tickets to stand for elections much after their involvement
became public affair. So, why do you seek to take moral support from a
non-existent source such as the Congress ? As for the Communists, can
there be bigger murderers than them in the history of this world ?
Josef Stalin is the worst dictator the world has seen, far worse than
Hitler or Gengiz Khan or Aurangzeb put together perhaps. The support
of the Communist parties in India for Naxal violence that kills
everyday scores of civilians is too well known.
However, the Congress and even the Communists who are more staunchly
opposed to the BJP (the first aim of the Communists anywhere is to
decimate the majority religion of the land in order for them to sow
their brand of governance), are together in objecting to the US move
because they see a greater strategic threat in the unabashed misuse of
"religion" by the US. It has always been a Pakistani failing in that
they only take "tactical" positions and fail to perceive the
"strategic" implications. It is an open secret that the US employs
such concepts as "human rights" and "religious freedom' to further its
own hegemonic interests.
Though I could glean from your columns that you have a more tolerant
and secular outlook than an average Muslim, especially from Pakistan,
it is inappropriate for anyone to derive satisfaction from Modi's
situation. Though I would hate to say this so openly, yet the fact
remains that Hinduism is far more tolerant and secular than Islam
especially of the Salafist Sunni, Wahhabi, Deobandi and even the
Berelvi varieties so widely practised in your country and most of the
Middle East. The US Govt, which has suddenly donned the mantle of
espousing religious freedom, has been cosying up to despots, dictators
and mass murderers like the Shah of Iran, the absolutist Kings in the
Middle East and a series of dictators in Pakistan, not to say anything
of the murderers in Latin American countries. I recall Gen. Zia-ul-Haq
led an armoured-brigade attack on unarmed, civilian Palestenians in a
Jordan refugee camp killing hundreds of them in a few days. Not that
any of these can be cited to "support" a similar re-enactment
elsewhere, but, we have to have an overall sense of history before we
jump to point fingers.
The US itself has blood on its hand. The Vietnam war, especially the
My Lai massacre, the massacre in the Korean war of unarmed civilians,
its toleration of Israeli terrorism and even the overt and covert
support for the Zionist state, its recent unwarranted attack on a
secular Iraq leading to bloodbath, the arrogant and humiliating
treatment of civilian (including woman) prisoners in Abu Gharib, the
preparations for an impending attack on Iran etc. are there for
everyone to see. So, the US is not exactly a paragon of virtue to be
modelled after. That is what makes this unfortunate episode all the
more tragic.
It is clear in my mind at least that the US is using the Modi episode
to retrieve some lost leverage among the Muslim ummah. They have
decided to sacrifice Narendra Modi at the altar of expediency.
I wish you would be as passionate in highlighting state-sponsored
atrocities against "human beings", whether it is Muslims of
Palestine/Kosovo or Hindus/Sikhs of Kashmir/Pakistan/Bangladesh or
Shias/Ahmedis of Pakistan or Coptics of Egypt.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd--><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->