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Gujarat is being targeted, alleges Narendra Modi

Gujarat is being targeted, alleges Narendra Modi

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Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday criticised the Central Bureau of Investigation for “castigating'' the State's law and order situation, making observations such as “highly communalised atmosphere” and “despising'' democratically elected members and the State government.

Mr. Modi was speaking at the Chief Ministers' conference on internal security here.

He said the reduction in incidences of crime as well as better law and order and communal situation in the State suggested overall peaceful and congenial atmosphere. Such facts could be ascertained from the National Crime Record Bureau reports. Gujarat was being “targeted'' and “singled out'' and this does not augur well for the federal structure of governance.

On police reforms, he said the Supreme Court order in Prakash Singh Vs Union of India would lead to “creation of new power centres'' in the forms of Security Commission and Police Complaints Authority, which might become difficult to be handled even by the judiciary.

Police administration and law and order were State subjects under the Constitution and that State legislatures were competent to make appropriate laws in this regard, he noted.

Mr. Modi regretted the Centre's “poor response'' to suggestions made during previous Chief Ministers conferences. “I am constrained to mention that even after lot of deliberation held in this august body every year, policy issues discussed in earlier conferences are not being addressed meaningfully and effectively,'' he said.

Parsi community honours Narendra Modi

Parsi community honours Narendra Modi

Gandhinagar, March 10 (IANS) Udvada, a Gujarat town and place of pilgrimage for the Parsi community, should be developed into a global capital of religious harmony, Chief Minister Narendra Modi told community members who presented him a roll of honour here Thursday.

'Retain the cultural dignity of Udvada and congregate at least once in a year in celebration here,' he added.

The delegation which included their global head Dasturji Shri Khurshedji Dastur and Udvada's head Dasturji Paston Mirza met the chief minister and presented him a roll of honour on behalf of the community.

The delegation invited the chief minister to the 1290th birthday celebration of Iranshah, being held in Udvada April 24, which he accepted.


Narendra Modi and Adolf Hitler

Narendra Modi and Adolf Hitler

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Narendra Modi and his BJP party have many similarities with Adolf Hitler and the rise of Nazis in Germany. Modi's victory in the Gujarat elections bodes ill for this nation.

In a state where Mahatma Gandhi was born, we have a leader who confesses his targeting of Muslims, and yet, people vote him back into power. Hitler used to openly confess his contempt for Jews and yet people backed him. India is going through similar circumstances that Germany went through in the late 1800s and early 1900s- revival of nationalism based on historic achievements closely tied to certain cultural roots that are unique to certain people of certain identity (in this case Hinduism, back then it was the Germanic race); targeting of the enemies within the state (in this case it is Muslims, back then it was Jews), who are not patriotic, and who incessantly ‘stab the nation in the back’.

A long campaign of such hatred and instilling of superiority preceded the rise of Hitler and his Nazis. Theories abounded which glorified the Germanic race and its achievements while continuing to distance itself from the enemies (mostly Jews, but also Slavs, and other inferior races). Efforts were made to find achievements of the Germanic race in distant past, including their links with other great culture elsewhere (Hindus and Tibetans).

Hitler came on board only to channel those sentiments to do something only he could do - Mass murder of millions of inferior people.

Modi comes onto the stage in a similar setting. Demonizing of Muslims in India began long ago. It has now reached unprecedented levels, even backed with scientific and elitist arguments. Theories abound why Muslims are different and how they cannot be integrated into a nation-state, how they are unpatriotic, how they keep ‘stabbing us in the back’. As in pre-WWII Germany, pogroms that target and kill these enemies of the state keep occurring.

Modi, like Hitler, targets certain sections blaming them for all ills of the society. Hitler unleashed his goons to target and kill people of one community while the state apparatus stood by to support, abet and sometimes participate in those killings. Modi did similar stuff in 2002.

Germany saw economic prosperity like never before under Hitler. Industrial output was at its highest. Production of coal, steel, etc, was unprecedented. Today’s Gujarat boasts of very high economic growth under Modi.

There are a few other trivial similarities. They are both bachelors and were hailed for non-corruptive practices. Modi is vegetarian, like Hitler, and has contempt for meat-eaters. Like Hitler, Modi practices and spends lot of time on mastering his oratory.

Modi is in-your-face candid about his crimes (like Hitler) which people see as a sign of honesty in comparison to other weak and corrupt leaders who seem to push the same agenda but are not honest about it. Many in Germany were vexed with the coalition government led by incompetent leaders who were seen as weak, dishonest and corrupt. They choose someone who was strong, charismatic and honest to lead them. Hitler was considered to be above the party and its ideologies. His personality was overwhelming. Not very different from how pundits write about Modi now.

According to many people in India, the opposition parties, the Congress and the Left have no better track record when it comes to protecting the interests of minority religions in this country. The difference is that Narendra Modi just accepts what he does. A known, strong and honest criminal is better than a hypocrite, weak and dishonest criminal - that seems to be the attitude of Indian people.

It's unfortunate that we have come to this. It's unfortunate that our leaders could not set right examples. The examples of Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru, Ambedkar, Shastri, Patel, Radhakrishnan, etc, are long gone. We are bereft of good examples. When everyone is a criminal, an honest and strong one is a definitely preferred. Hence, Narendra Modi!

Adolf Hitler came to power riding similar sympathies like Modi enjoys right now. Whenever Hitler was accused of a wrongdoing, he used that campaign to expose the weakness of his opposition and he grew stronger. He did not lie. He did not falter. That brought him more public support. When the Tehelka expose was circulated, Modi’s supporters used it to further their support for Modi. When Hitler spoke, he did not hide his contempt for Jews, and neither did he hide his agenda on how he is going to take care of Jewish Problem. When Modi speaks, he spews forth venom and contempt and openly confesses he subverted law of the land to kill the enemy. The people of Germany who were surrounded by weak-hearted and corrupt leaders that colluded to make marriages of convenience just to be in power, voted this man to power because they thought he would at least tell them what he does and what he intends to do, honestly. Many people in India admire Modi for his blatant honesty.

While some observers of the early twentieth century spelt doom on the rise of Nazis in Germany, many other politicians (in Germany and outside), weak at heart, diffident, and completely involved in their petty politics underestimated the rise of Hitler. They thought he was a tiny figure who would be swept away very soon. That never happened. They kept giving into his demands. He fed on that support and mass hysteria, and became a megalomaniac who plunged the whole world into its greatest war which ended up killing more than 50 million people in less than ten years.

Modi is on the rise in India. It is not a good sign for India. It bolsters and gives support to other elements that harbor similar thoughts in India. Hindutva forces already talk about emulating and replicating Gujarat in other states of India. People explain his win as a mandate of people. That's a sorry state of affairs. What if a majority of Indians vote to kill all the minorities in one stroke, will we accept that mandate? Is the law of the land and our Constitution subservient to people's mandate? We have a skewed and distorted view of what it means to be a democracy.

Indians have not learned to draw the line between what is acceptable and what is not. Here, in Gujarat, we have blurred those lines. We have legitimized crime that targets certain people based on their identity. The future is bleak. All this economic prosperity is not going to save us. Instead, this prosperity will only fuel such hatred to take it to the next level, where state participates in marginalizing, demonizing and then targeting of certain identities.

[Here is a Indian version of what is was published in Time Magazine on August 28, 1989]

First they came for the Sikhs, and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Sikh.
Them they came for the Muslims, and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Muslim.
Then they came for the Christians, and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Christian.
Then they came for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Communist.
Then they came for the Liberal Hindus, and I didn’t speak up,
because I was a conservative Hindu.
Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left
to speak up for me.

Here’s what one of the perpetrators of the Gujarat killings has to say. [Bhatt] [emphasis mine]

… pick up AK-56s because if you have to develop Hinduism, it is clear who the enemies are… There are two who are against Hinduism… Muslims, who are open… but the Christians… they are like a bacterial virus … and there’s a third, the Communists, who are developing now… red waale… If you have to fight them, you need power and that power will not come from the lathi… only the bullet will do…0674024826 we go to RSS shakhas … pick up the lathi and use it… All that is fine but now they should be replaced with AKs and a Hindu brigade should be formed…

Gujarat minister headed extortion gang, CBI tells apex court

Gujarat minister headed extortion gang, CBI tells apex court


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New Delhi, March 9: Even as the CBI told the Supreme Court today that former Gujarat minister Amit Shah was heading an extortion racket having politician-police-criminal nexus, his counsel Ram Jethmalani said this was an attempt to target Chief Minister Narendra Modi's government. "Amit Shah was the head of the extortion racket involving politicians, police and criminals," the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) told the apex court bench of Justice P. Sathasivam and Justice B.S. Chauhan. Taking umbrage to Shah being described as the head of an extortion gang, senior counsel Jethmalani said: "It hurts my client (Amit Shah). He is democratically elected." Jethmalani said that the targeting of Shah was part of a conspiracy between the CBI and politicians. "The conspiracy came into existence between the CBI and certain politicians and the target is the democratically elected government of Gujarat which is the thorn in the flesh of the centre. The idea was first to get the home minister Amit Shah and then reach for Chief Minister Modi." (IANS)

Gujarat: Pilgrim city Dwarka awaits Modi's blessings

Gujarat: Pilgrim city Dwarka awaits Modi's blessings

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Dwarka (Gujarat), March 10: Though it lies in a state that is witnessing rapid infrastructural development, this ancient Gujarat city where Lord Krishna is believed to have lived seems untouched by Chief Minister Narendra Modi's initiatives. The ride from the industrial clusters of Jamnagar to Dwarka is not only bumpy and rough, but the deep potholes make the travel risky, say pilgrims from Uttar Pradesh's Braj area that is associated with the Krishna legend. "Some areas along the coast and in the Bet Dwarka (island) area across the sea were affected by the devastating earthquake that shook Gujarat years ago, but not much has been done after that. The 35,000 population of Dwarka depends entirely on tourists and pilgrims. Modi's government should extend his generosity this side too," Tulsi Das, a tonga driver and guide, told the media. Dwarka is estimated to draw about a million pilgrims and tourists every year. But the romance and magic of the Krishna-Radha lore is clearly missing, as is the legendary royal splendour of the Yadav empire of yore. Padmini, a pilgrim from Agra, rued: "When we came here we had lots of expectations of grandeur and hoped to see the area's rich culture, but there was none of the milk, dahi, lassi or sweets we Brajwasis are fond of. "Nor was there the exuberance and glitter of royalty associated with the Yadav dynasty that once ruled here. Except for the main temple (Dwarkadhish Temple), there is only barren wasteland and salt lakes all around. They should have more greenery." It is only the iconic Dwarkadhish Temple that stands majestically tall along the sea coast and delivers the glossy promise made on tourism promotional literature. "They (the pilgrims) come in droves, especially during Janmashtami, Diwali and Holi. Drinking water is a major problem in the town," Das added. Many also complain there's no direct train to connect Mathura with Dwarka even though both attract Lord Krishna devotees. "The two pilgrim centres associated with Lord Krishna must be connected with an overnight train so that there are convenient opportunities for promoting travel," said hotelier Rakesh Bhai. Tourism department officials, however, say the state government has provided funds and launched several schemes for the area's comprehensive development. A proposed Rs.100-crore package, with central assistance, will promote integrated development of the area which is dotted with temples and historical places, feel locals in Dwarka. An official in Dwarka says a bridge to connect Bet Dwarka with Okha will accelerate development of the area. The development schemes are being monitored by the Gujarat Yatra Dham Vikas Board. The state government is planning to build temples of various deities and the queens of Lord Krishna. Rukmani's Gopi ka Taalab - believed to be the bathing ghat for hundreds of queens of Lord Krishna - stands in need of urgent renovation. "The state government has plans to develop Okhamadhi as a weekend getaway for tourists," said a tourism official. Priests at Dwarka Dham say the main chowk and the sunset point near the Shiva temple will also be taken up for development soon. (IANS)