UNTOLD STORY OF GUJARAT RIOTS FRANTIC POLICE WARNINGS OF RIOTS IGNORED 2002 WASN’T SUDDEN, SPONTANEOUS BACKLASH

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/gujarat-riots-2002-godhra-sudden-spontaneous-backlash-frantic-police-warnings-ignored/1/262413.html

UNTOLD STORY OF GUJARAT RIOTS
FRANTIC POLICE WARNINGS OF RIOTS IGNORED
2002 WASN'T SUDDEN, SPONTANEOUS BACKLASH 
:By Ashish Khetan


In the past 10 years, the Gujarat government and senior BJP leaders have often said that the riots that broke out in the state in February 2012 were an 'instantaneous reaction' to the carnage at Godhra. The Chief Minister himself in an interview to Zee News on March 1, 2002 had said, 'what we are witnessing in Gujarat at this time is a chain of action and reaction. We want that there neither be action nor reaction.'

But now Headlines Today has uncovered the police control room messages and the state intelligence bureau reports which show that the police had received a constant stream of inputs from its field officers about VHP leaders making provocative speeches, about crowds being mobilized and warnings about the possibility of major riots breaking out. Despite the flurry of ground reports and advance warnings, no curfew was imposed in Ahmedabad till noon the next day. The BJP Government supported the VHP called bandhs that, as events turned out, proved to be the pretext under which violent mobs were mobilized. VHP leaders were not warned or put under preventive detention.

But the most intriguing aspect of these messages is that while they have been produced before the court as annexures, they don't find any mention in the 541 page closure report filed by the SIT. No attempt has been made by the SIT to reconstruct the sequence of events as they unfolded immediately after the news of Sabarmati train incident broke. The SIT did not assess the adequacy or appropriateness of the State's response in a chronological fashion as the law and order collapsed in large parts of the state. 
Perhaps, that's the reason that the facts that emerge from these messages are hard to reconcile with the conclusions drawn by the SIT. 

There were two centralised police control rooms in Ahmedabad in 2002 — Ahmedabad Police Control Room situated at Shahibaug in the heart of the city. Naroda and Gulberg Society, where around 150 people were burnt to death on the 28th of February lay within a radius of 6 KMs from this Police Control Room 9Gulber was 2 to 3 kms from the control room while Naroda was roughly six kilometers).

The second one -- the State Police Control Room -- located at Police Bhawan in Gandhinagar.

The Ahmedabad Police Control Room received messages of the build up taking place in Ahmedabad City. The State Control Room got messages from different districts in the state.

In February 2012 the SIT submitted before an Ahmedabad court, in a sealed cover, only the Ahmedabad City PCR messages... a copy of these are now with Headlines Today. The State Control Room messages are still missing.

There was also a third control room...this was at the State Intelligence Bureau Headquarters situated inside Police Bhawan, Gandhinagar...the same building where the State DGP's office is located. The SIB Control Room was also flooded with field intelligence reports filed by its intelligence units located across the State including Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar. These SIB reports too have been submitted before the Court by the SIT. A copy of these too are now in the possession of Headlines Today.

By the afternoon of February 27, the Gujarat home department was being bombarded with messages from cops on the ground about mobilisation of VHP and Bajrang Dal cadre.


Rightwing activists across the state were holding public meetings, making provocative speeches and inciting mobs. All this is documented in hundreds of wireless messages sent by policemen to the state intelligence bureau. But the State failed to take any effective steps to prevent the imminent massacres. Within a few hours after the Godhra tragedy, the three senior-most office bearers of Gujarat's VHP unit —Jaideep Patel, Dilep Trivedi and Kaushik Patel-- issued a statement declaring a state wide bandh and containing remarks that were designed to incite the mobs.

A field level officer faxed this statement to SIB headquarters at 20:38 hours on the 27 Feb 2002.


Feb 27, 2002
Time: 8:38 pm
State Intelligence Bureau Message No: Page No. 188 (Annexure III, File XVIII)
+ VHP gen secy Dilip Trivedi & VHP joint secretaries Jaideep Patel & Kaushik Mehta issue a statement.
+ VHP declares bandh
+ Gujarat bandh to protest killing of kar sevaks Statement says Muslims
+ pre-planned Godhra attack
+ Innocent ladies were molested and compartments were set on fire and Ramsevaks were burnt alive.

Through out the day on 27th February the SIB control room received messages of provocative sloganeering and mobilisation by the VHP.


Feb 27, 2002
Time: Not Known
State Intelligence Bureau Message No: Page No. 345, Order No. 24 (Annexure III File XIX)
Sender: D.O, Ahmedabad
Recipient: Intelligence Office, Virangam (Ahmedabad)
+ 75 VHP & Bajrang Dal members gathered at Virangam Town Chali & Golwada
+ area Situation in the area very tense

The PCR messages warned about the tension that was spreading from the moment sabarmati express (the same train that was attacked by Muslim mobs at Godhra and later after detaching the burnt bogies made its way to Ahmedabad) arrived at Ahmedabad station.

Feb 27, 2002
Time: 6:10 pm
State Intelligence Bureau Message: No. 531 Page No. 19 (Annexure III, File XVIII (D-160)
+ Sabarmati Exp arrived at Ahmedabad station from Godhra at 4:30pm Kar
+ sevaks armed with rods & sticks, shouting slogans 'khoon ka badla khoon'

At 10.12 PM, Police Inspector of CID, Intelligence in Bhavnagar sent a fax to Inspector General, Gujarat State Intelligence Bureau in Gandhi Nagar saying that Sadhu Samaj president Gopal Nand and local VHP leaders exhorted crowds at Junagadh to retaliate. The message said that the VHP leaders delivered hate speeches and called on all Hindus to unite.


Feb 27, 2002
Time: 10:12 pm
State Intelligence Bureau Fax Message: 311/02 Page No.: D-1/ HA/Jaher Sabha/Junagadh
Sender: CID, Bhavnagar
Recipient: IG, Gujarat & Intelligence Bureau, Gandhi Nagar
+ Sadhu Samaj president Gopal Nand gave provocative speech at Junagadh
+ Kadva Chowk between 7.30pm-9pm Gopal Nand questioned lack of response
+ from Hindus even 12 hours after burning of train Gopal Nand questioned
+ Muslim patriotism to India and incited mobs to attack them

By the afternoon of the 27th, the riots had begun.

Feb 27, 2002 Time 17:45 State Intelligence Bureau Fax Message No 273 File XIX Annexure III Sender: B M Mohit Anand Centre
+ Sabarmati Express reached Anand Railway Station at 1500 hrs Karsevaks
+ from the train stabbed 4 Muslims present at the station One victim
+ named Abdul Rashid aged 65 years, resident of Anand, died The
+ remaining were hospitalized at Anand government hospital.


Reports of violent attacks by karsevaks came from across the State. A VHP mob was reported as swelling at Vadagam village in Modasa..that was to become another epicentre of violence. There were desperate SOS messages seeking reinforcements. Mobs were on rampage through the night, setting ablaze houses and vehicles.

Feb 27, 2002
Time: 11:59 pm
State Intelligence Bureau Fax Message: Com/HM/550/ Out No. 398
Sender: ACP, Gandhinagar Region
Recipient: IG, Gujarat & Intelligence Bureau, Gandhi Nagar
+ 50 kar sevaks on special bus from Ahmedabad reached Modasa, Vadagam
+ village at 6:30 pm 500-strong mob received kar sevaks Kar sevaks told
+ mobs about attack on Sabarmati Express Crowds swelled to thousands by
+ 9:30pm Police presence insufficient to maintain order 10 shops owned
+ by Muslims & several vehicles set ablaze by mobs
END GFX

Despite these warnings there was no clampdown by the Gujarat Government on the mobilisation being carried out by the VHP leadership and neither were VHP and Bajrang Dal members taken under preventive detention.

The Speical Investigation Team in its report accepted that the Modi Govt supported the bandh called by the VHP.

Page 134 of SIT closure report: "Shri Vijay Badheka, Under Secretary to Home Department has stated before the SIT that both Gujarat bandh on 28.02.02 and Bharat bandh on 01.03.02 were supported by the BJP."


The bandh allowed the VHP cadre a free run even as the SIB kept sending signals of impending riots and sought preventive action.


TAKE GFX:
HEADER: DECODING THE GUJARAT RIOTS
SUBHEAD: NEVER BEFORE SEEN DOCUMENTS
Feb 28, 2002
Time: 9am-10am
State Intelligence Bureau Message No: 73/02 Page 365 (Annexure III File XXI (D-166)
Sender: ACP (Intelligence) Surat
+ VHP, BJP leaders gave provocative speeches at Sardar Chowk, Vapi Town
+ VHP's Dinesh Behri, Bajrang Dal's Acharya Brahmbatt, BJP's Jawahar
+ Desai & RSS member Vinod Chowdhary present Speakers exhorted crowds to
+ take revenge for Godhra
END GFX

When the Ahmedabad police commissioner PC Pande and State DGP K Chakravarty were questioned by the SIT, they were not confronted with these specific SIB reports. P C Pande was not asked why curfew was not imposed in Ahmedabad city on the 27th afternoon itself, particularly in the face of such specific intelligence inputs.

Pande told SIT on page 7 of his statement recorded on 24.03.2010: "The circumstances did not exist on the 27.02.02 or even on 28.02.02 to warrant the imposition of curfew and any hasty decision would have led to panic in the city. Even otherwise with limited forces available imposition of curfew becomes a serious problem and large scale breach becomes common."

Pande and Chakravarty were also not asked why VHP and Bajrang Dal leaders were not put under preventive arrest even as they were threatening violence.

But the SIT has not explained what were these specific measures. General and vague claims made by Gujarat State Officials that all possible efforts were made to control the riots have been accepted by the SIT.

The State Intelligence Bureau repeatedly pressed the panic button, sending SOS' to the home department about the possibility of riots. Bodies of kar sevaks in public display and funeral processions by mobs…proved to be the trigger. But records show the VHP and its cadres succeeded in stoking mass hysteria.

30 minutes past midnight on the 28th of February 2002, the state intelligence bureau received a fax giving a specific warning about possibility of riots with bodies being brought to Ahmedabad. Then VHP state unit president Jaideep Patel was already on his way escorting the 54 bodies from Godhra to Ahmedabad.

GFX HEADER: THE RIOT TINDERBOX
SUBHEAD: CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE
Feb 28, 2002
Time: 12:30 am
State Intelligence Bureau Fax No. 525
+ Bodies will be brought to Kalupur Railway station, Ahmedabad Dead
+ Bodies will be carried in funeral processions VHP gave a bandh call
+ High possibility of riots in Ahmedabad. Take preventive action

Feb 28, 2002. Time: Not Known State Intelligence Bureau report to Home Secreetary and All Police Commissioner, All SPs +VHP has given a call for "Gujarat Bandh"
+ Appropriate vigilance be exercised.

The motorcade carrying bodies finally reached Sola Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad at 3:34 AM. By then there was a already a mob made up of VHP and RSS members outside Sola Hospital.

The PCR Van positioned at Sola Civil Hospital sent a message to City Police Control Room situated at Shaibaug. The distance between Hospital and Control Room was 11 kilometres.

GFX HEADER: THE RIOT TINDERBOX
SUBHEAD: STATE INTELLIGENCE BUREAU REPORTS Feb 28, 2002
Time: 4:00 am
Page No. 5790 (Annexure IV, File XIV)
+ Mob of 3000 RSS members gathered at Sola Hospital.
Feb 28, 2002
Time: 7:14 am
PCR wireless message (Sola Hospital)
Page No. 5796 (Annexure IV, File XIV)
+ Mob assembled at Sola Hospital
End gfx
The crowds were getting restless… Soon violence sparked off.

GFX HEADER: THE RIOT TINDERBOX
SUBHEAD: STATE INTELLIGENCE BUREAU REPORTS Feb 28, 2002
Time: 7:17 am
PCR wireless message (Sola Hospital)
Page No. 5797 (Annexure IV, File XIV)　
+　Mob of 500 people holding up traffic.
End gfx
At 8:10 there is a message from the Control Room saying that 3 SRP Companies have been sent to Sola Hospital for extra bandobast.

Feb 28, 2002
Time: 11:55 am
PCR wireless message: Page No 5894(Annexure IV, File XIV)
+ Mob set vehicle on fire, arson on highway
Feb 28, 2002
Time: 11.55 am
PCR message
State Intelligence Bureau: Page No.6162 (Annexure IV File XV)
+ Riots have started at Sola Hospital & near High Court where bodies
+ were brought
Feb 28, 2002
Time: Not known
PCR message (Sola Hospital)
State Intelligence Bureau: Page　No.　6172　
+ Sola Hospital staff surrounded by 500-strong mob Please provide
+ security at hospital urgently

(ENDGFX)
These revelations show how mobs were allowed to congregate at the hospital to take out funeral processions. Though violence had erupted, curfew was still not clamped.

Pande claimed in his statement before the SIT that he visited the Hospital at 10 am and found everything to be normal.

GFX: "I went to Sola Civil Hosptal around 10:00 and found that doctors were under pressure to complete the documentation wheras relatives were in a hurry to take the bodies. However, I didn't find anything alarming and as such returned around 11:00 am." Gfx ends

Pande also claimed there were no funeral processions, a claim accepted by the SIT. But the PCR messages show that there were not only processions but also riots at the hospital, nailing Pande's lies.

GFX HEADER: THE RIOT TINDERBOX
SUBHEAD: STATE INTELLIGENCE BUREAU REPORTS Feb 28, 2002
Time: 11:58 am
PCR message (Sola Hospital)
State Intelligence Bureau: Page No. 5907 & 5925(Annexure IV File XIV)
+ Funeral procession of 10 bodies taken out from Ramol Jantanagar to
+ Hatkeshwar crematorium 6,000 people accompanied procession
End gfx

As funeral processions wound through the city, mobs ran amok at Gulbarg Society, Naroda Patiya and Naroda Gaam in Ahmedabad.

VO: Funeral processions were allowed in other parts of the state as well.

GFX HEADER: THE RIOT TINDERBOX
SUBHEAD: STATE INTELLIGENCE BUREAU REPORTS Feb 28, 2002
Time: Not known
PCR message (Khedbrahma, Sabarkantha) Com/538 State Intelligence Bureau: Page No. 258 (Annexure III File XIX)
+ Funeral procession allowed at Khedbrahma town in Sabarkantha district
+ Situation tense, 2 Muslims stabbed at Khedbrahma

Feb 28, 2002
Time: Not known
PCR message (Khedbrahma, Sabarkantha)
State Intelligence Bureau: Page No. 262(Annexure III File XIX)　
+ 150 Bajrang Dal members on way to Khedbrahma
Feb 28, 2002
Time: 3:32 pm
PCR message (Khedbrahma, Sabarkantha)
State Intelligence Bureau: Page No. 254 (Annexure III file XIX) Com/574
+ Funeral procession organised for Godhra train victim Babubhai Patel in
+ Sabarkantha
End gfx

Special Investigation Team in its closure report on pages 59 to 64 had concluded there were no funeral processions and gave a clean-chit to the Gujarat government on this count.

PCR messages detailing incidence of violence in Ahmedabad clearly warned about a brewing unrest. Rioting was reported from Naroda and Meghani Nagar where Gulberg Society is located. The PCR messages of violence in Ahmedabad are contained in Annexure IV File XIV. Here are some samples of the several wireless messages sent by policemen on the ground.

TAKE GFX

HEADER: EYES WIDE SHUT
SUBHEAD: THE RIOT TINDERBOX
Page No. 5798, 5803, 5804
Date: Feb 28, 2002
Time: 12:30 am
PCR Message:
Factory burnt at Ambikanagar on Feb 27
Area: Odhav


FIR No.80/02
Page No,: 5746
Date: Feb 28, 2002
Time: 1:10 am
PCR Message: Between 2:30-3:00 pm on Feb 27, mob stoned bus, vandalized shop

Area: Bapunagar
FIR No.: 64/02
Page No.: 5768
Date: Feb 28, 2002
Time: 2:38 am
PCR Message: Mob torched buses & rickshaws, damaged public property on Feb 27 at 5:15 pm

Area: Odhav
FIR No.:78/02
Page No.: 341, Order No. 534
Date: February 27, 2002
Time: 8:25pm
State Intelligence Bureau Message:
Man succumbs to stab injuries on Feb 27 at 8:25 pm


Area: Meghani Nagar
FIR No.: 65/02
Page No.: 341, Order No. 534
Date: February 27, 2002
Time: Not Known
State Intelligence Bureau Message:
Man succumbs to injuries on Feb 27 at 7:45 pm at Saralaben Hospital


Area: Meghani Nagar
FIR No.: 65/02
Page No.: 347, Order No. 8535
Date: February 27, 2002
Time: 8:30 pm
State Intelligence Bureau Message:
Man critically injured after attack at Ahmedabad railway station at 5pm



Area: Ahmedabad
FIR No: Not Known
Page No: 348, Order 541
Date: February 27, 2002
Time: 9:30pm
State Intelligence Bureau Message:
Juhapura resident attacked at V.F Hospital


Area: Ahmedabad
FIR No: 116
Page No.: 5807 & 5808
Date: Feb 28, 2002
Time: 4:28 am
PCR Message:
One critically injured near Kathwada Road, Naroda, on Feb 27 at 7.30 pm


Area: Naroda
FIR No.: 97/02
Page No.: 5805 & 5806
Date: February 28, 2002
Time: 4:20 am
State Intelligence Bureau Message:
One critically injured near Law Garden on Feb 27 at 8:15 pm

Area: Ellisbridge
FIR No: 116/02
Page No.: 5801
Date: February 28, 2002
Time: 3:50 am
State Intelligence Bureau Message:
One critically injured in mob attack near Mahalaxmi Crossroad, Paldi on Feb 27 at 8:30 pm
Area: Ellisbridge
FIR No.: 114/02

End gfx

Inspite of all of this, the then Ahmedabad Police Commissioner told the SIT that he didn't find the "circumstances on the 27th and 28th fit for curfew."

PCR and SIB reports show that there were regular inputs of VHP and Bajrang Dal led mobs swelling at Naroda and Gulberg Society.

Pande admitted before the SIT that at both these places curfew was declared only after 12:50 pm ...by then the mob had already swelled to between 10 and 15 thousand people in number. It is no wonder that the curfew that was finally imposed remained only on paper - it had no effect on the ground.

Hundred and fifty men, women and children were burnt and hacked to death at Naroda and Gulberg society in the four hours between 2 and 6 PM on Feb 28.

Police Headquarters at Shahibaug was only 2 to 3 kilometers from Gulberg Society and around 6 kilometers from Naroda Patiya.

Pande admitted before the SIT that through out the day he didn't move out of his office and visited Naroda Patiya and Gulberg only late in the evening...by that time the massacre was over and done with. 

SIB messages show that there were three alerts about the impending massacre at Gulberg.

Graphics:

Date: 28.02.02 Time: 12:15 Sender: Police Inspector CJ Bharwad To: State SIB Control Room
+ Muslims reside in Gulberg Society
+ Mob is surrounding the place
+ Strict watch should be kept there.

Date: 28.02.02 Time: 14:50 Sender: Police Inspector CJ Bharwad To: State SIB Control Room
+ Mob of 3000 rioters has surrounded Gulberg Society take immediate
+ action.

Date: 28.02.02 Time: 17:00 Sender: Police Inspector CJ Bharwad To: State SIB Control Room
+ Mob attacked the society from all sides Ehsan Jaffri and women and
+ children burnt alive Houses are ablaze Mob is looting from homes

Graphics: In his defence Pande said in his statement: "On 28.2.2002 requests were received from different police stations seeking additional force and SRP and whatever forces were available with me the same were dispatched. However, I found that no feedback had been received by any one of them. This led me to presumption that additional forces reached in time and they were able to control the situation." END GFX

SIT accepted Pande's defence and gave him and the Gujarat Administration a clean chit.

The state government told the SIT that the 2002 riots were a spontaneous reaction to the Godhra tragedy, but documentary evidence tells a different story.

Eleven years after the after the horrific incidents as Narendra Modi aspires for the prime minister's chair, Headlines Today has tried to throw fresh light on why his ascension remains so contentious.

Gandalf And His Flo Chart

http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?284905

MAYUR BHATT

EXCERPT

Gandalf And His Flo Chart

As Narendra Modi sets about pursuing his ambitions with a well-crafted image of a 'doer' and a politician 'who means business', a new biography separates the man from the myth

KINGSHUK NAG

The hype created by GSPC soon emboldened Modi to egg the state government-owned company to go international. GSPC took up blocks in Egypt, Australia, Yemen and Indonesia. Earlier, Modi had signed an MoU with Russia's Astrakhan province for the same purpose.

Less than eight years later, the GSPC bubble burst. After some false indicators, the discovery proved to be nothing but a mirage. The Directorate-General of Hydrocarbons, which independently evaluates such 'discoveries', had figured out that the find was not worth 20 tcf but only about 2 tcf. GSPC managers realised that even this 2 tcf would be difficult to extract because the costs would be very high. According to a senior official, Modi was informed about all this two years ago. He heard the matter out and said nothing more. Obviously, no public announcements were made, but GSPC had reputedly borrowed upwards of Rs 9,000 crore to fund the exploration that has, so far, yielded little. At the fag-end of the campaign for Election 2012, Arvind Kejriwal had also brandished documents to show that GSPC had entered into a partnership with a company based in Barbados and had thrown away its stakes for a pittance. This has apparently rattled Modi who has built his image on probity.

Modi may not have berated his officials. But to cover up all this and in a bid to be seen as a successful venture, GSPC has spawned several subsidiaries in related businesses like gas transmission, gas purchase and sale and even supply of gas to domestic households. In the first week of October 2012, it bought 65 per cent of the equity in Gujarat Gas Company, an entity owned, till then, by British Gas, an MNC. If newspaper reports are to be believed, there was an element of coercion in the takeover: by raising the prices of supplies, Gujarat Gas, which supplies domestic gas in Ahmedabad, was locked in a dispute with the Gujarat government.

Later, British Gas put up Gujarat Gas for sale. Media reports allege that Adani Gas and Torrent Power, two private companies interested in the purchase, were advised to keep away. In the end, GSPC took over Gujarat Gas at a cost of Rs 2,694 crore that was a heavy discount from the market price of Rs 4,000 crore British Gas was expecting. Barely three weeks later, on October 21, Britain's high commissioner in India, John Bevan, called on Modi, ending 10 years of boycott of the Gujarat chief minister. Her Majesty's government announ­ced that the engagement was to further British business interests in Gujarat. Thus, Modi was able to achieve twin objectives: provide for a profitable revenue stream for the down-in-the-dumps GSPC, and rein in the British, whose attitude had been troubling him for long.

Riots and After

It was as if the entire Gujarati society held the community of Gujarati Muslims responsible for the Godhra train incident, even though it had taken place far from Ahmedabad. The collective national conscience was jolted by these acts and yet the local press seemed in sync with the mood in the state. Worse still, representatives of the Cong­ress, who should have been galvanised into action, were untraceable. Gujarat Congress chief and former chief minister Amarsinh Chaudhary was nowhere to be seen. Protesting the mayhem were only members of ngos; their voices did not carry far. In some places, though, local communities refused to be drawn into the rioting: a good exa­mple is a 20,000-population slum, Ram Rahim Nagar, that had both Hindus and Muslims living side by side, which maintained absolute peace. In many places, Dalits who had lived cheek-by-jowl with Mus­lims were being drawn into the conflict. Leaders of the Left and the Samajwadi party did arrive in town on the night of February 28, but they were unable to get the police commissioner to act.

News of the trouble shook the Delhi esta­blishment. Defe­nce minister George Fer­nandes was dispatched to Ahmeda­bad to deploy the army (if the state government wanted it) and bring the situation under control. Fernandes, a socialist who had visited Ahmedabad in 1969 as an activist in the midst of major riots, was shocked by what he saw. I met him on March 2 at the Circuit House. Though I had no previous acquaintance with Fer­nandes, he sent away the chief secretary and other heads of civil administration, and sought a detailed report from me. It was clear from the conversation that Fernandes was getting contra-indications about the intention and seriousness of the government in trying to put down the violence. At the end of a three-hour conversation, Fernandes volunteered that he had heard the arsonists had been given three days to do whatever they wanted. I told him this was unconfirmed news off the grapevine. The meeting ended when minister of state for defence, Harin Pathak—who was also the Ahmedabad MP and a hardcore Hindutva man—barged into the room. He flung himself on the sofa: his body language suggesting that he did not want this meeting to continue. Meanwhile, Modi was seen doing nothing to control the situation. There were murmurs in senior police echelons that their chief had been asked to keep silent. Stories were doing the rou­nds about how Modi had called a meeting of senior civil and police officials at his home on the evening of February 27 saying that if there was a Hindu reaction it should be "allo­wed". The allegation of such a statement being made by Modi has persisted for many years. But it has been denied by Modi, who was many years later quizzed by officials of the SIT.

The decision to bring the charred bodies to Ahmedabad was taken at a meeting presided over by Modi, despite being told it was ill-advised.

The SIT gave him a clean chit saying there was no "prosecutable evidence" to try Modi. Of course, the fact that such a meeting to review law and order was held has never been denied. I asked Modi's then private secretary, Anil Mukim, whether his boss had ever spoken of allowing a "Hindu reaction". He told me: "Not in my presence." However, it is a fact that the decision to bring the bodies of those who perished in the Godhra carnage to Ahmedabad was taken at a meeting presided over by Modi, even though civil servants and police had warned that such a move was ill-advised and could lead to a law-and-order situation. The charred bodies were brought in trucks to Ahmedabad in the wee hours of February 28. This contributed towards inflaming the public mood, especially because no curfew had been imposed in anticipation of trouble. It was also strange that the bodies of those killed in Godhra were handed over to the office-bearers of the VHP, and not to the next-of-kin of the deceased.

Rioting started in the early morning of February 28. In one of the first instances, a British Gujarati Muslim family ret­ur­ning to its ancestral village was waylaid on the highway and killed. Modi's minister Haren Pandya, who was later slain, told me he had also advised against a move to bring the bodies to Ahmedabad, but was shouted down by cabinet colleagues who said a "reaction" in Ahmedabad would benefit the BJP in the next elections. Pandya subsequently tend­ered this evidence in camera to a Citizens' Tribunal comprising retired high court judges. He told them about a meeting of ministers where Modi had talked about allowing a "Hindu reaction". I later asked Pandya whether he had, in fact, given such a testimony and what made him do so. He claimed he understood the "Hindu anger" as a reaction to the Godhra incident but could not reconcile with the killing of people in retaliation.

Incidentally, Pandya was also part of a mob which had participated in arson, but not killings. An inquiry by the nhrc later reported that the then home minister, Gordhan Zadaphia, had raised his fingers in a victory signal even as killings were going on. So bad were the riots that even a sitting Muslim judge of the Gujarat high court was targeted at his official residence. He had to be rescued by well-wishers and shifted elsewhere. The collector of Gandhinagar—a Muslim—had his car stoned. In many parts of the state, hoardings came up welcoming visitors to the 'Hindu rashtra'. A sign in Ahmedabad welcomed them to 'Karnavati' (the anc­ient Hindu name of the place where Ahmedabad came up in 1411). When a journalist queried VHP president Keka Shastri how marauding crowds were able to target commercial establishments owned by Muslims—in spite of their carrying no board proclaiming their ownership—and leave out Hindu-owned establishments, he said that a list of the ownership of establishments—religion-wise—was available with his organisation.... Journalists like Sheela Bhatt believe (though these views do not have many takers) that when riots broke out after the Godhra carnage, Modi "got damn scared", but persisted with (ill-advised) bravado.

Modi: The Man

Modi's knack for gauging the public mood is attributed to his days in the RSS. Like all organisers, he was groomed to speak and listen to a huge number of people and gather information. "I am half a newsman," remarked Modi when I entered his chief ministerial office one day, many years ago. Modi was reading reams of papers on his table: printouts of freshly-filed stories on the newswires. "The way he gossips is not funny..." says a journalist who knows him well. "He can be a newsman's delight or nightmare, depending on which way you look at it," says ano­ther reporter. His reason: Modi makes it a point to read and scrutinise newspapers and websites and react to the stories almost immediately. Most contemporaries of Modi across the nation are not known to be so alert and on the ball. This reliance on gathering information has also helped Modi develop another skill: that of public relations which, in some ways, is a related trade. A good example is the 3D technology Modi leveraged in the last election. Film director Mani Shankar from Hyderabad, who imported the technology from the UK where it is used to beam music shows, shared: "We did not approach Mr Modi with our services. His men sought us out." Modi was dressed differen­tly each day for the 3D show: in an array of multi-coloured kurtas. A public relations specialist says Modi seems to bel­ieve in the dictum that "style is the man". He is well-groomed, wears good clothes, dons Ray-Ban sunglasses and shows off pedicured feet with clipped nails and scrubbed skin.

When TOI reported how Modi and Advani entered Akshardham to pose next to the bodies of the slain assailants, Modi was incensed.

Those who know him well say he has been fond of good attire and personal grooming from the beginning. "He came from a very small town where most people did not iron their clothes. Modi, as a boy, had no access to ironing services. But he would try to press his clothes by using some heavy objects or whatever he could lay his hands on," says journalist Darshan Desai who has researched his early days. RSS insiders remember how he ran afoul of his bosses in his early days in the organisation, when he trimmed his beard in order to look better. This apparently was not the norm in the RSS, at least then. In the early '80s, he started patronising a barber—a Muslim incidentally—who had his salon close to the RSS headquarters and who gave him a Rajesh Khanna-style haircut. A few years later, Modi started riding a Bajaj Chetak scooter. After becoming chief minister, he began patronising Jade Blue, a clothing outfit in Ahmed­abad. Tailors from Jade Blue reportedly go to his house and take his measurements. The shop has now developed its own brand of Modi kurtas.

If stylish clothes go a long way in enhancing personality, so do pictures. Modi knows this well. If those who have had a peep at his portfolio are to be believed, it contains hundreds of shots of the big man striking various poses. Modi loves to project himself as a hero, a powerful man, destroying all villains. Any contra-projection ang­ers him. I got a taste of this on the morrow of the Akshardham incident in Sep­tem­ber 2002. When the Times of India reported how Modi and Advani ventured to enter the complex and pose next to the bodies of the two assailants who had been shot to death, I was greeted by an early morning call from an incensed Modi. "Why are you writing that we went in after the intruders were killed? It conveys that I am a weak man," Modi said.

Analysts agree that Modi loves his image of an Alpha-Male. "He is especially the subject of adulation amongst women. Many well-educated, well-heeled women swoon over him. Many are head-over-heels in love with him, without knowing him personally," confirm observers. "Gujarat is essentially a mercantile state with no martial tradition. Heroes of the Bollywood type, successful in doing the impossible, are conspicuous by their absence in Gujarat. Perhaps there is a perceived need for such heroes, especi­ally amongst women. The image of Modi satiates that need," speculates Reema Desai, a 40-year-old Gujarati woman who lives in Mumbai. Many journalists on the Modi trail in the last elections confirm this adulation is waning.

Weaving fantasies is part of the Modi myth. Many in Gujarat who participated in the Navnirman movement of 1974 say Modi fans try to project him as the hero of the movement, when he did not even have a role in the affair. They also say it is ludicrous to suggest Jaya­prakash Narain was impressed by what he saw of Modi in those days. "This is absolute balderdash," says social activist Hanif Lakdawala."'I am not too sure JP even encountered Modi." "Wonder if such myth-making has the support of Modi," says another student leader of those days. He points out how the cries of "dekho dekho kaun aaya, Gujarat ka sher aaya", which greet Modi at election meetings, may not be all that spontaneous. Even Modi's men do not deny their boss has the knack for creating hype. Every­body agrees Modi is a good orator and an effective public speaker. Part of this ability is God-given and part developed by training in the RSS. But almost everybody agrees Modi hits opponents below the belt and resorts to cheap humour that titillates but is not expected of a person so high in public life. "To that extent, he has not overgrown his mofussil days. Such cheap diatribes are lapped up by rural crowds," says a minister in his government. A TV anchor says Modi used to be crude on the box before he became chief minister—"he was ready for a fight and often his facial expressions put off many vie­wers." All through Election 2012, he referred to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as 'Maun' Mohan Singh, alluding to the silence he maintained on many public matters. "This is the sort of stuff that goes around in SMS jokes, not fit to be part of a speech of a leader," says journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta. The instance of Modi labelling Sunanda Puskhar as the "Rs 50 crore girlfriend" of Congressman Shashi Tharoor also indicates the Modi brand of humour. This author also recollects how he was the butt of this cheap humour in the midst of the 2002 riots. A colleague received a phone call from an inspector of the intelligence branch, who informed her that there was the threat of physical attack upon the author. The author immediately called up the chief secretary and dgp, who were nonplussed and seemed to be ignorant of the threat. A little while later, Modi called up the author himself and guffawed: "What is all this that I am hearing about a life threat to you? Arrey, I only told the intelligence to ensure your safety. After all, you are writing so much against the police that I thought that somebody could attack you, ha ha ha." In another instance when the author encountered Modi in public after many months, during which he had lost a substantial amo­unt of weight, the big man said: "You seem to be suffering from diabetes." The statement was greeted by a stunned silence by Modi's men. A minister in attendance tried to cover up by saying that Modi sahib was wondering whether you have started going to the gym.

Can he become prime minister?

It takes neither a degree in rocket science, nor one in psephology, to guess who was happiest when Modi won the Gujarat assembly elections for the third time in a row. Of course, the party in question will never admit to its euphoria in public. But when Modi took oath at a glittering event at Sardar Patel Stadium, leaders of the Congress—albeit priva­tely—applau­ded the loudest. To them, Modi's victory was a certain sign that he would inevitably make his way towards Delhi as the BJP's next prime ministerial candidate—and therewith consolidate minority votes across the nation against the BJP and in favour of the Congress.

"Muslims in Gujarat—to some extent—may have made their peace with Modi, but in minority circles across the nation, he is nothing but a hate figure. His projection of being a great performer on the economy front cuts no ice with the minorities," says a senior Congress leader.

Photograph by Siddharaj

With Modi being projected as PM candidate, Congress believes it'll get Muslim votes. But Muslims are fed up of being taken for granted.

India's electoral system—called the first-past-the-post—does not require a candidate (or a party) to get a majority of votes to get elected. Often, candidates and parties come to power based on minority votes. Now consi­der the fact that Muslims make up nearly 15 per cent of the electorate. The belief in Congress circles is that Muslims will vote for the Congress with a vengeance. To get another 15 per cent is not such a great deal, feel Congress leaders. In fact, the victory of the Congress-led alliance in both 2004 and 2009 is attributed to the votes it got from Muslims. This was topped up by votes from other sections. The performance of the Vajpayee gover­nment (1999-2004) was good and India was really 'shining'. In 2004, liberalisation was more than a decade old and the benefits of reforms were being felt across India in the form of higher disposable incomes and better lifestyles. Vajpayee's image was good and the government did not provoke a strong anti-incumbency. Yet, much to analysts' surprise, the NDA government was booted out of power. What happened?

"Vajpayee had made an attempt to make Modi quit his post in 2002, but failed. The consolidation of Hindu votes in Gujarat brought Modi back to power in Gujarat, but the consolidation of minority votes against the BJP forced the government out of power in New Delhi," confesses a BJP insider. The same sentiment returned the Congress-led alliance back to power in 2009, at a time when there were murmurs that Modi could possibly cross over to Delhi. "The Congress allowed itself to be destroyed in Gujarat by Modi, but in the process strengthened itself at the federal level," chuckles a Congress leader.

The Congress is hoping for an encore in 2014, but politics seldom follows a predictable path. For one, Muslims are fed up of being taken for granted by the Congress government. "They feel that they have nowhere else to go and that with the BJP around, they will have no option but to vote for the Congress. But this is a fallacious belief," says Altaf Hussain, a Muslim businessman from Mumbai. "I would say that many Congress leaders are soft Hindutva proponents who pay only lip service to our cause."

Changing alignments in the Muslim pattern of voting have been confirmed by the estrangement of the Majlis-e-Itte­hadul-Muslimeen (MIM) from the Congress. Staunch allies for nearly three decades, the MIM, which is a force in Hyderabad (where Muslims constitute some 35 per cent of the population), has walked out of the UPA alliance in New Delhi and the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh. Though he refrains from calling Sonia Gandhi names, MIM party chief Asaduddin Owaisi has been shouting from the rooftops that the Andhra Pradesh chief minister is 'communal'. MIM is now expected to join hands with a breakaway Congress faction: the YSR Congress led by Jagan Reddy. The latter, who has ruled out a tie-up with the BJP, favours a loose alliance of third parties across the nation. Such an alliance may potentially include the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) of Sharad Pawar in Maharashtra, Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party in UP and the YSR Congress in Andhra Pradesh. This alliance may tilt the Muslim votes in its favour, so the Congress gambit may be misplaced. But this will be of little solace to Narendra Modi, other than the fact that the two combinations may undercut each other. In fact, this is what had happened in the recent Gujarat elections over some seats: though the Congress could have won because of sizeable Muslim votes, the BJP did instead. The presence of independent Muslim candidates divided the vote, thereby affecting the Congress. A prime example was the Jamalpur-Khadia assembly seat in Ahmeda­bad, where Muslims account for 60 per cent of the votes. Yet the BJP had the last laugh, because up against the Congress Muslim candidate was another—a rebel Congress Muslim. They cut into each others' votes and the BJP candidate sailed through.

Senior leaders of the BJP are falling over each other to congratulate Modi and hail him as the suitable prime ministerial candidate. Many of them, both BJP national leaders as well as satraps of different states, scrambled to Ahmedabad to attend Modi's investiture. Still insiders say that the last thing they would want is to have him lead the party.

"Even the RSS, the mother organisation of the Sangh parivar where Modi began his political life, is opposed to him," confides a party insider. "The RSS is a disciplined party but everybody who knows him well is aware that Modi will not listen to Nagpur at all and hijack the BJP to serve his own end," the insider, who has risen from the ranks of the RSS and is now in the BJP, discloses. Incidentally, the RSS, even in Gujarat, is opposed to Modi because of his 'self-willed' ways. If party veterans are to be believed, the trio of L.K. Advani, Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj, too, would like to keep Modi at bay. "Advani is already 85 years old. This is his last chance to become prime minister. He would not like Modi to upstage him," party sources reveal. Though Advani was Modi's original benefactor in the BJP, those who keep close tabs on the relations between the two aver that the former is totally dependent on the Gujarat chief minister to get elected to the Lok Sabha from the Gandhinagar constituency. They also point to how Modi has drawn more applause at election rallies they have jointly addressed since 2004.

Photograph by Jitender Gupta

"In some ways you don't have to formally designate him candidate for PM," says a political analyst. "He is already so in public perception."

The crafty 'legal eagle', Arun Jaitley, is close to Modi and has contributed hugely to the latter's cause. "Jaitley is a great strategist and a brilliant lawyer. But he has no political base of his own," says the insider. He deduces that even if a BJP-led coalition comes close to power, it could succeed only if it has a prime ministerial candidate acceptable to all. "That means a Manmohan Singh-type of prime minister. Jaitley feels that he himself could fit the bill," a party insider asserts. Of course, there is no concrete proof of Jaitley's strategy. But the insider says that if Modi fails to become prime minister, Jaitley wants that Modi should support him. The argument is that since the lawyer has no political base, Modi will not be threatened by him and therefore he can afford to bide his time as Jaitley holds the reins. But in the corridors of power in Delhi, the belief is that the relations between Modi and Jaitley are a bit frosty these days. This would imply that if push comes to shove, it cannot be taken for granted that Modi will root for Jaitley, who is a Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat and has got a fresh, six-year mandate in 2010. But the days preceding his nomination were marked by intense speculation that the Delhi lawyer would have to seek accommodation from some other state. Sushma Swaraj wants to be the first woman prime minister of the BJP. Indeed, during Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray's lifetime, she had sought and secured his support too. But to the RSS, Swaraj is suspect because of her husband Swaraj Kaushal's socialist background. There is no love lost between her and Modi either. Her comments at Vadodara amidst the heat of electioneering, that Modi could be a prime ministerial candidate, are attributed to convoluted political logic that only politicians can make head or tail of. In the words of a BJP insider, Sushma, by projecting him as a prime ministerial candidate, wanted to keep Modi in Gujarat till 2014 and prevent him from becoming the BJP president. The argument goes that as BJP president in Delhi, Modi would consolidate his position faster than if he were to remain in Gandhinagar as the chief minister. In the event, Modi did not press for his candidature after (Nitin) Gadkari stepped down. This was perhaps due to strategic reasons and internal opposition.

Strong BJP chief ministers like Shivraj Singh Chauhan of Madhya Pradesh and Raman Singh of Chhattisgarh have not shown any inclination to bid for the top post. The possibility of them throwing in their hats at a later stage cannot be discounted. "Our chief minister's performance has been brilliant. Chauhan is a great administrator and has brought so much investment into the state. But he works silently and does not make a big song and dance like Modi. He is good material to be a prime minister," says Anil Sharma, a merchant from Indore and a BJP supporter. There is a similar support for Raman Singh whose strong stand against Maoists is cited as evidence of his being a strong man. It is not that Modi does not know of these inner machinations of senior leaders of his party. But he also knows that he is very popular with the middle-rung leaders and the rank-and-file of the party, the kind of people whose personal ambitions don't clash with his and who are looking for a leader who can take them to victory. Modi knows that it is only a BJP victory that can give such smaller leaders a share of the spoils of office. He is also aware that these leaders consider him the only one cut out for the job. "Modi sahib will overpower the opposition inside the party bec­ause of the massive support he enj­oys at the grassroots level. The BJP bosses may lock the doors in Delhi, but our leader will break open the lock and with the tremendous support of the state party workers Modi will be anointed as the bjp's PM candidate. A chief minister like Shivraj Singh Chauhan can be good but they can­not lead the party to victory nationally," says a Modi acolyte in Gujarat....

"In some ways you don't have to formally designate him as prime ministerial candidate of the BJP, he is already so in public perception," a political analyst suggests. Though it is virtually a fait accompli that Modi will be the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, can he actually pull off a victory and occupy South Block? Or will the Congress gambit pay off?

---

(Nag is currently resident editor, Times of India, Hyderabad, and was chief of bureau in Ahmedabad during the riots.)

'कोल कर्स' में दिखेगा कोयले का अभिशाप

ऊर्जा के लिए कोयले पर निर्भरता पर सवाल उठाती फिल्म

सिंगरौली एक तरफ तो भारत में बिजली उत्पादन का केंद्र है, वहीं दूसरी ओर खोयला खनन के चलते यहां विस्थापन, बर्बादी और निराशा की कहानियां मौजूद हैं. यहाँ से देश के बड़े शहरों में बिजली की आपूर्ति की जाती है, दिल्ली जैसे शहर को 15 फीसदी बिजली यहीं से मिलती है...

अप्रैल का महीना आते ही देशभर में बिजली का भीषण संकट शुरू हो जाता है. ऊर्जा संकट के ऐसे ही वक्त में सामाजिक सरोकारों के लिए मशहूर पत्रकार प्रंजॉय गुहा ठकुराता ने नई दिल्ली में अपनी डॉक्यूमेंट्री फिल्म "कोल कर्स" को प्रदर्शित किया. इस फिल्म के जरिए एक बार फिर सवाल उठा है कि भारत कब तक अपनी ऊर्जा संबंधी जरूरतों के लिए कोयले पर निर्भर रहेगा.

तैंतालीस मिनट की इस डॉक्यूमेंट्री फिल्म में मौजूदा समय के भारत में कोयले से जुड़ी राजनीति और अर्थव्यवस्था को दर्शाया गया है. फिल्म का उद्देश्य इस कारोबार से जुड़े भ्रष्टाचार के पहलुओं को सामने लाना है. कोलगेट स्कैम के दौरान देश की जनता इसे पहले देख चुकी है, लेकिन निर्देशक इसकी हकीकत को जानने के लिए भारत के मध्य क्षेत्र स्थित सिंगरौली इलाके में चल रहे कोयला खनन उद्योग की पड़ताल बारीकी से करते हैं.

फिल्म में उस विरोधाभास को दर्शाया गया है जिसके मुताबिक सिंगरौली एक तरफ तो भारत में बिजली उत्पादन का केंद्र है, वहीं दूसरी ओर कोयला खनन के चलते यहां विस्थापन, बर्बादी और निराशा की कहानियां मौजूद हैं. सिंगरौली से देश के बड़े शहरों में बिजली की आपूर्ति की जाती है, दिल्ली जैसे शहर को 15 फीसदी बिजली यहीं से मिलती है. 

फिल्म प्रदर्शन के दौरान प्रंजॉय गुहा ठकुराता ने कहा, 'कोयला अर्थव्यवस्था को चलाने में आधार की तरह काम करता है, लेकिन इसके लिए हमें भारी कीमत चुकानी पड़ रही है. सिंगरौली में कोयला खनन का विपरीत असर आम लोगों के जीवन पर दिख रहा है, ख़ासकर स्थानीय आदिवासी समुदाय के लोगों को जितना नुकसान हुआ है, उसकी कभी पूर्ति नहीं की जा सकती. भारत के विकास के रास्तों के चलते आमलोगों को कितना नुकसान उठाना पड़ा है, इसका आज का सिंगरौली प्रतिमान बन गया है.'

फिल्म प्रदर्शन के बाद भारत में मौजूदा ऊर्जा संकट के मुद्दे पर एक पैनल परिचर्चा का आयोजन भी रखा गया. इस परिचर्चा का संचालन प्रंजॉय गुहा ठकुराता ने किया, जिसमें ऊर्जा, राजनीतिक और सिविल सोसायटी से जुड़े विशेषज्ञ शामिल हुए. इस परिचर्चा में भी कोयला खनन मामले से जुड़े भ्रष्टाचार का मुद्दा उभरकर सामने आया. इसके अलावा यह सवाल भी उठा कि क्या देश की ऊर्जा संबंधी जरूरतों को पूरा करने के लिए पागलपन की हद तक जारी कोयला खनन ही सबसे बेहतर उपाय है.

कोलगेट स्कैम को सामने लाने में अहम भूमिका निभाने वाले कोयला मंत्रालय के पूर्व सचिव पीसी पारेख भी इस परिचर्चा में शामिल हुए. उन्होंने कहा, 'जब मैं कोयला मंत्रालय में सचिव था, तब मैंने कोयला ब्लॉक के आवंटन के लिए एक पारदर्शी नीलामी व्यवस्था का प्रस्ताव रखा था. इस प्रस्ताव को प्रधानमंत्री ने जिनके पास कोयला मंत्रालय का भी प्रभार था, इसे स्वीकृति दे दी थी. लेकिन तत्कालीन दो कोयला राज्य मंत्री राव और शिबू सोरेन इसके पक्ष में नहीं थे. सोरेन तो बाद में केंद्रीय कोयला बने. इन लोगों ने इस प्रस्ताव को लेकर टालमटोल वाला रवैया अपनाया. मेरे विचार से नीलामी की प्रक्रिया को तब तक वैसे ही रखा गया जब तक अच्छे ब्लॉक का आवंटन नहीं होगा. नीलामी की प्रक्रिया के जरिए देने के लिए कोई ब्लॉक बचा ही नहीं.'

ऊर्जा की समस्या के समाधान के मसले पर भी पैनल में चर्चा हुई, जिसमें यह तथ्य उभरकर सामने आया कि अक्षय ऊर्जा क्षेत्र में निवेश के नजरिए से सबसे बड़ी बाधा नीतिगत खामियां हैं. यह कोई तकनीकी समस्या नहीं है. इस परिचर्चा में ऊर्जा के क्षेत्र में दक्षता हासिल करने पर कोयला की मांग घटने की संभवनाओं को तलाशने को लेकर सरकार की उदासीनता पर भी चर्चा हुई.

ग्रीनपीस इंडिया की पर्यावरण और ऊर्जा क्षेत्र की कैंपेनर अरूंधति मुथू ने कहा, 'देश उस मुकाम पर आ पहुंचा है जहां से उसे यह तय करना होगा कि वह किस तरह की ऊर्जा के लिए निवेश करना चाहता है. सस्ते कोयला का युग अब बीत चुका है. अक्षय ऊर्जा की कीमतों में कमी आ रही है और कोयले की कीमत लगातार बढ़ रही है. दोनों में अंतर तेजी से बढ़ रहा है. ऊर्जा सुरक्षा और ऊर्जा के क्षेत्र में आत्मनिर्भरता ऊर्जा के अक्षय स्त्रोतों से हासिल होगी. कोयला खनन के बदले में जिस तरह की तबाही देखने को मिल रही है, उसमें अक्षय ऊर्जा का स्त्रोत ही बेहतर विकल्प होगा.'

'कोल कर्स' फिल्म को ग्रीनपीस की मदद से बनाया गया है. आने वाले दिनों में इसका प्रदर्शन दूसरे शहरों में किया जाएगा.

http://www.janjwar.com/2011-06-03-11-27-26/2011-06-03-11-46-05/3914-coal-curse-men-dikhega-koyale-ka-abhishap

INTERVIEW ‘Corporates Will Back Anyone Who Can Ease Profiteering’ The Rajya Sabha MP and CPI(M) politburo member on the state of politics today SABA NAQVI, PANINI ANAND INTERVIEW SITARAM YECHURY

TRIBHUVAN TIWARI

INTERVIEW

'Corporates Will Back Anyone Who Can Ease Profiteering'

The Rajya Sabha MP and CPI(M) politburo member on the state of politics today

SABA NAQVI, PANINI ANAND INTERVIEW SITARAM YECHURY

At a time when Narendra Modi is making his presence felt from New Delhi to Cal­cutta and the talk of a non-Congress, non-BJP front has also taken off, the Left, once central to any such initiative, appears to be a non-player. Saba Naqvi and Panini Anand spoke to Rajya Sabha MP and CPI(M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury about the state of politics today and the Left's scope for action. Excerpts:

How do you read the state of politics  today and the Left's role in it?

The country needs a non-BJP, non-Congress alternative. But past experience shows that such alternatives are often formed just for the sake of coming into office. So that's not going to help unless we have an alternative policy proposal. That is why we are saying we are going to join hands only on the basis of a programme. We know this is a very difficult job. There are inconsistencies in many regional parties but I have not lost hope because there is tremendous discontent at the ground level. In 40 years of politics, I have never seen such disconnect between ground realities and the disco­urse at the top level. People want relief from this. I think this will put pressure on all regional parties. We are not only hoping for this, we are working on this.

The corporate sector is lobbying rather openly for Modi....

This is not something new. Whenever there is a serious economic crisis, there is a rightward shift in politics and ind­ustry cries for a 'strong leader' who is able to deliver for them. If you look into history, look at the support the German ind­ustry lent Hitler. He was actually projected as the messiah of capitalism and, for a short while, it worked well.

So you are suggesting that big business has shifted support from the Congress to BJP and Modi?

No, it's a section of them who have done so. There is a feeling in the corporate sector that time for 'decisive' action has come. That means they'll back anyone who can put down the people and let them earn profits. Be it mines, land acq­uisition, anything. They keep harping on the many clearances requ­ired to do business in India. What they mean by decisiveness is someone who eases profit-making. Modi is hoping to exploit that. That's why he is going to all these forums like FICCI, CII and so on.

Can you recall business chambers promoting anyone else on this scale?

No, I don't think so. But one should not forget that this is sort of a designed campaign. This is a new kind of corporate campaign; it's closer to the US presidential elections model. And they are very careful about it; the selection of target audience, where to go, whom to talk to, what to say, the style of saying things and selection of issues.

Do you see a link to the India Shining campaign of 2004?

In 2004, the feelgood factor and NDA's India Shining plank was also a reflection of their disconnect with real India. This is one thing you can again see in Modi's campaign. I'm hoping this time the disconnect is larger. Another important thing is the irr­econcilable  contradiction between the BJP's capacity to attract allies and its own growth based on Hindutva. The stronger one becomes, the weaker the other becomes. It was only A.B. Vajpayee who understood this.

What do you think about the current state of the Congress?

"This is a new kind of corporate campaign, a carefully designed one that's closer to the US presidential poll model."

They're driven by their own agenda. One goal is to keep everyone confused; that's part of the plan. Then the PM hopes that in six months the economy will be in a better condition through foreign excha­nge inflows, which would pump up the Sensex. They hope for a feelgood factor, though nothing will change in actual terms. Then they have three agendas to imp­lement before the elections: the right to food bill; direct cash transfer—which is a meani­ngless and disastrous proposal (though put­­ting money in voters' hands works well on election eve); and then the land acq­uisition bill. We have sugge­s­ted a system where the compensation would be higher and landowners would remain stakeholders in the pro­fit on that piece of land for some time. According to my reading, this is their plan.

Is it going to be RaGa vs NaMo?

There is a lovely saying in Telugu: Aalu ledu choolu ledu, koduku peru Som­a­lingam, which means 'I don't have a home, I don't have a wife but my son's name is Somalingam'! So they have alr­eady named their sons. What else can one say? I also believe the elections will take place on time, not early.

Was it a mistake to support the UPA in 2004 or pull out in 2008?

That was what the country required and I think we succeeded in bri­n­ging back  focus on the people's agenda. The forest rights act, loan waiver sch­eme, Right to Information and NREGA were achieved when we were supporting UPA. Hones­tly, if Sonia Gandhi and the NAC didn't support us on those, nothing would've worked. Withdrawal was also not a mistake. We had no choice. We said we support you on the basis of the CMP. The moment you deviate from it, don't take our support for granted. The Indo-US nuclear deal wasn't part of CMP, nor was it something we'd have agreed on. There were two sections within the government; one wanted us to remain, the other wanted us to go so that they could have a free run on the economic front.

If a possibility of UPA-III emerges, will you support them?

That's up to them. Our support will dep­end entirely on the programme they'll come up with.

The numbers have changed for you; does Mamata Banerjee now become a problem for you vis-a-vis any role the Left can play in the future?

Of course she is a problem for us, but people are already turning against her. The problems in a third front option arise not because of us, but others. The Samajwadi Party is an example; regi­o­nal parties also have inconsistencies.

Why is there such a dominance of upper castes in the Left?

Look at the state-level committees and the party's students unions; a majority of them come from backward and Dalit communities. So things are changing. We don't believe in symbolic change, where one face is projected and the rea­lity remains unchanged. This is a serious problem in the sense that we don't have this in our consciousness.

"The problems in a third front are not because of us. Regional parties also have their inconsistencies. The SP is one such example."

Once I and Kanshi Ram were holding a public meeting at the same place. He asked why there wasn't a single Dalit minister in the West Bengal governm­ent. I was shocked, so I said let me find out. I discovered many Dalits and tribals. Kanti Biswas was the education minister for many years in West Bengal. I had no idea he was Dalit. We used to travel all across the country in the same coupe. I did not know he was Dalit till Kanshi Ram asked this. The point was these things were never a part of our consciousness. Unf­or­tunately, ins­tead of raising the country's level to mine, where I, a Brahmin, did not even know I am in the same carriage as a Dalit, we had to stoop down to the Kanshi Ram level. We are doing it now.

Would you agree, you can't be intellectually arrogant and be the centre of an alliance?

(Laughs) That is for you to see. But I agree we have to reach out, and we are.

Do you see yourself as the Comrade Surjeet of your generation?

I'll do what the party asks me to do.

TRIBHUVAN TIWARI INTERVIEW 'Corporates Will Back Anyone Who Can Ease Profiteering' The Rajya Sabha MP and CPI(M) politburo member on the state of politics today SABA NAQVI, PANINI ANAND INTERVIEW SITARAM YECHURY COMMENTS PRINT MORE SHARING SERVICESSHARE ON FACEBOOKSHARE ON PINTEREST_SHARESHARE ON TWITTERSHARE ON EMAIL TEXT SIZE    ALSO IN THIS STORY    At a time when Narendra Modi is making his presence felt from New Delhi to Cal­cutta and the talk of a non-Congress, non-BJP front has also taken off, the Left, once central to any such initiative, appears to be a non-player. Saba Naqvi and Panini Anand spoke to Rajya Sabha MP and CPI(M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury about the state of politics today and the Left's scope for action. Excerpts: How do you read the state of politics  today and the Left's role in it? The country needs a non-BJP, non-Congress alternative. But past experience shows that such alternatives are often formed just for the sake of coming into office. So that's not going to help unless we have an alternative policy proposal. That is why we are saying we are going to join hands only on the basis of a programme. We know this is a very difficult job. There are inconsistencies in many regional parties but I have not lost hope because there is tremendous discontent at the ground level. In 40 years of politics, I have never seen such disconnect between ground realities and the disco­urse at the top level. People want relief from this. I think this will put pressure on all regional parties. We are not only hoping for this, we are working on this. The corporate sector is lobbying rather openly for Modi.... This is not something new. Whenever there is a serious economic crisis, there is a rightward shift in politics and ind­ustry cries for a 'strong leader' who is able to deliver for them. If you look into history, look at the support the German ind­ustry lent Hitler. He was actually projected as the messiah of capitalism and, for a short while, it worked well. So you are suggesting that big business has shifted support from the Congress to BJP and Modi? No, it's a section of them who have done so. There is a feeling in the corporate sector that time for 'decisive' action has come. That means they'll back anyone who can put down the people and let them earn profits. Be it mines, land acq­uisition, anything. They keep harping on the many clearances requ­ired to do business in India. What they mean by decisiveness is someone who eases profit-making. Modi is hoping to exploit that. That's why he is going to all these forums like FICCI, CII and so on. Can you recall business chambers promoting anyone else on this scale? No, I don't think so. But one should not forget that this is sort of a designed campaign. This is a new kind of corporate campaign; it's closer to the US presidential elections model. And they are very careful about it; the selection of target audience, where to go, whom to talk to, what to say, the style of saying things and selection of issues. Do you see a link to the India Shining campaign of 2004? In 2004, the feelgood factor and NDA's India Shining plank was also a reflection of their disconnect with real India. This is one thing you can again see in Modi's campaign. I'm hoping this time the disconnect is larger. Another important thing is the irr­econcilable  contradiction between the BJP's capacity to attract allies and its own growth based on Hindutva. The stronger one becomes, the weaker the other becomes. It was only A.B. Vajpayee who understood this. What do you think about the current state of the Congress?     "This is a new kind of corporate campaign, a carefully designed one that's closer to the US presidential poll model."     They're driven by their own agenda. One goal is to keep everyone confused; that's part of the plan. Then the PM hopes that in six months the economy will be in a better condition through foreign excha­nge inflows, which would pump up the Sensex. They hope for a feelgood factor, though nothing will change in actual terms. Then they have three agendas to imp­lement before the elections: the right to food bill; direct cash transfer—which is a meani­ngless and disastrous proposal (though put­­ting money in voters' hands works well on election eve); and then the land acq­uisition bill. We have sugge­s­ted a system where the compensation would be higher and landowners would remain stakeholders in the pro­fit on that piece of land for some time. According to my reading, this is their plan. Is it going to be RaGa vs NaMo? There is a lovely saying in Telugu: Aalu ledu choolu ledu, koduku peru Som­a­lingam, which means 'I don't have a home, I don't have a wife but my son's name is Somalingam'! So they have alr­eady named their sons. What else can one say? I also believe the elections will take place on time, not early. Was it a mistake to support the UPA in 2004 or pull out in 2008? That was what the country required and I think we succeeded in bri­n­ging back  focus on the people's agenda. The forest rights act, loan waiver sch­eme, Right to Information and NREGA were achieved when we were supporting UPA. Hones­tly, if Sonia Gandhi and the NAC didn't support us on those, nothing would've worked. Withdrawal was also not a mistake. We had no choice. We said we support you on the basis of the CMP. The moment you deviate from it, don't take our support for granted. The Indo-US nuclear deal wasn't part of CMP, nor was it something we'd have agreed on. There were two sections within the government; one wanted us to remain, the other wanted us to go so that they could have a free run on the economic front. If a possibility of UPA-III emerges, will you support them? That's up to them. Our support will dep­end entirely on the programme they'll come up with. The numbers have changed for you; does Mamata Banerjee now become a problem for you vis-a-vis any role the Left can play in the future? Of course she is a problem for us, but people are already turning against her. The problems in a third front option arise not because of us, but others. The Samajwadi Party is an example; regi­o­nal parties also have inconsistencies. Why is there such a dominance of upper castes in the Left? Look at the state-level committees and the party's students unions; a majority of them come from backward and Dalit communities. So things are changing. We don't believe in symbolic change, where one face is projected and the rea­lity remains unchanged. This is a serious problem in the sense that we don't have this in our consciousness.     "The problems in a third front are not because of us. Regional parties also have their inconsistencies. The SP is one such example."     Once I and Kanshi Ram were holding a public meeting at the same place. He asked why there wasn't a single Dalit minister in the West Bengal governm­ent. I was shocked, so I said let me find out. I discovered many Dalits and tribals. Kanti Biswas was the education minister for many years in West Bengal. I had no idea he was Dalit. We used to travel all across the country in the same coupe. I did not know he was Dalit till Kanshi Ram asked this. The point was these things were never a part of our consciousness. Unf­or­tunately, ins­tead of raising the country's level to mine, where I, a Brahmin, did not even know I am in the same carriage as a Dalit, we had to stoop down to the Kanshi Ram level. We are doing it now. Would you agree, you can't be intellectually arrogant and be the centre of an alliance? (Laughs) That is for you to see. But I agree we have to reach out, and we are. Do you see yourself as the Comrade Surjeet of your generation? I'll do what the party asks me to do. COMMENTS PRINT MORE SHARING SERVICESSHARE ON FACEBOOKSHARE ON PINTEREST_SHARESHARE ON TWITTERSHARE ON EMAIL TEXT SIZE    FILED IN:  AUTHORS:  SABA NAQVI | PANINI ANAND  PEOPLE:  SITARAM YECHURY | NARENDRA MODI | RAHUL GANDHI | MAMATA BANERJEE  TAGS:  LEFT FRONT | CPI-M | INDIAN POLITY | POLITICS | INDIA INC | UPA | NDA | RICH |CORRUPTION | DEMOCRACY | LEFT | DALITS  SECTION:  NATIONAL  SUBSECTION:  INTERVIEWS | COVER STORIES Follow us on Twitter for all updates, like us on Facebook for important and fun stuff TRANSLATE INTO: Select LanguageAfrikaansAlbanianArabicArmenianAzerbaijaniBasqueBelarusianBengaliBulgarianCatalanChinese (Simplified)Chinese (Traditional)CroatianCzechDanishDutchEsperantoEstonianFilipinoFinnishFrenchGalicianGeorgianGermanGreekGujaratiHaitian CreoleHebrewHindiHungarianIcelandicIndonesianIrishItalianJapaneseKannadaKoreanLaoLatinLatvianLithuanianMacedonianMalayMalteseNorwegianPersianPolishPortugueseRomanianRussianSerbianSlovakSlovenianSpanishSwahiliSwedishTamilTeluguThaiTurkishUkrainianUrduVietnameseWelshYiddish Powered by Translate ALSO IN THIS STORY    BUSINESS & POLITICS The Chamber State The FICCI-CII rallies have replaced grassroots ones. Is politics becoming a corporate playfield? SUNIT ARORA, ARINDAM MUKHERJEE INTERVIEW 'Corporate Money Has No Nationality. They Just Run India' The author and activist sent some "cryptic" answers to an e-mail questionnaire OUTLOOK BUSINESS & POLITICS Corporate Kiss Of Death? Politicians need their money, but friendships with corporates is not always healthy SABA NAQVI OPINION Our Mary, Queen Of Blots Any clean approach is sullied by a foul politics-business clinch SRIVATSA KRISHNA INTERVIEW "Middle Class Wants Nation-State To Be Run Like A Company" The eminent political scientist and India-watcher took some questions from Outlook OUTLOOK JUMP CUT He Has Been Chosen Since 1991, India too is seeing what western democracies are facing: a standoff between the state and the market. HARISH KHARE OPINION The Inside-Outer Why won't Rahul commit to the PM post? Is the back seat the best seat? SIDHARTH BHATIA http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?284913