Threat to Modi's Fort in Gujarat

Democracy is such a field in which even a tallest person has his limits. People are wise enough to decide. Rulers are changed as per the people's aspirations. By spending huge amounts, leaders enhance their heights. One such person is Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi who tries to become an icon by using the media, though his greatest achievement is the carnage of Muslims in 2002, killing 2,000 people. Even today, Gujarat's land is not permissible for Muslims but Modi erected his palace on their corpses.
Right from day one, Modi had decided to annihilate Muslims, divide them from Hindus, and by creating aversions, rule the state. He got the success through their game plan and in every election he plays this trick. Since aversions is not in the DNA of the Indian people, this formula will, therefore, not work for long.
Communalism Trick Failed
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Sangh Parivar had used the pretext of the Babri Mosque to come to power for once but subsequently people got sensible to understand their play and thus showed them the door. Since Modi knows that this trick of communalism is not longer lasting, he is now shifting toward development. To achieve this aim, Modi has been organizing conclaves by inviting nonresident Indians (Gujaratis) to invest in Gujarat. Whereas the truth is truth and it prevails.
People have now recognized Modi's real face and have hatred toward him. The proof is Modi's defeat in the recent Gandhinagar municipality elections, in which the BJP got 15 seats against 18 of the Congress party. This is a sensitive and worrisome matter for Modi as this area is of BJP leader L.K. Advani, from where he has been winning for the past 18 years. To capture the Gandhinagar municipality, Modi left no stone unturned.
Fight for Secularism
On 13 April, Modi and Advani organized a big congregation at the Town Hall. After capturing this, the Congress party has occupied two out of eight municipalities of the state. On this defeat, Modi and his henchmen are experiencing the fits of anxiety and are amazed to what happened and how? This puzzle was solved by a former officer, Prem Shankar Bhatt, member of Nagrik Parishad. He says that most of the voters in Gandhinagar are government servants, who implement government schemes. As Modi lied to a great extent about false schemes and these voters being in government knew the truth, hence they voted against him.
Modi could not have continued for long had the Congress party been firm on its ideology. He played a communal card and the Congress party became the 'B' team of the BJP. Modi is a transgressor. If the Congress party resolved to fight for secularism, equality, fraternity, and human values, then this flame will one day become a storm and will demolish the fort of Modi and Advani.

WikiLeaks Revelations and BJP

The same Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which targeted the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and demanded the prime minister's resignation, on revelations made by WikiLeaks relating to the cash-for-vote issue finds itself in a great quandary over the latest WikiLeaks revelations. While this provided great solace to the Congress, the BJP was forced to look the other way and to cut a sorry figure.

India-US Civil Nuclear Deal
In its latest expose, WikiLeaks has brought the BJP to stand trial. It can be safely assessed from the latest expose how greatly pro-United States the BJP is, which castigated the Congress and the UPA government toeing the US line. The fresh expose by WikiLeaks reveals that the BJP opposition to the India-US civil nuclear deal during 2008 was a mere ploy aimed at gaining political mileage out of the situation. According to WikiLeaks, BJP leaders had assured US officials that the BJP's opposition to the deal in public was only a political move, and the BJP was doing so to gain an upper hand over the UPA. The BJP leadership further assured the United States that should it come to power, it would do no harm to the India-US nuclear deal.

According to the expose, a member of the BJP executive committee and a prominent RSS leader Sheshadari, had told a US official in 2005 that the United States should not attempt to read between the lines to draw conclusion from the party's political resolution on foreign affairs. It is pertinent to note that the BJP in its above-cited resolution had accused the former UPA government of succumbing to US pressure, and following US dictates. While clarifying the BJP stand, Sheshadri told the US official that whatever was said in that resolution was merely to gain political mileage.

Deriving Political Mileage
One wonders that if the BJP was opposing the nuclear deal just for the sake of opposition, and to derive political mileage, was the BJP not misleading the country? True that after the Left withdrew support from the UPA on the issue of the nuclear deal with the United States, speculations on midterm election were rife, and the BJP was desirous of utilizing the opportunity to return to power at the central level. This attempt was clearly aimed at creating instability in the country, and forcing the nation to bear the huge expenditure of midterm election unnecessarily. At the same time, the BJP and the Sangh Parivar (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and its allies) continued to assure the United States clandestinely of their loyalty to the United States and support to the nuclear deal.

WikiLeaks has further revealed in the same vein that during 2009, the in charge of the US Embassy Peter Burleigh, after his meeting with L.K. Advani, informed Washington that the BJP leadership did not intend to pay greater attention to opposition to the nuclear deal yet again. The situation, emerging later, stands witness that though the BJP did not change its stance (of opposing the deal) in public, yet it never opposed it either.

This makes it clear that the same BJP, which goes all out against the UPA by accusing the government of being pro-United States, does not leg behind in US worship. The situation is a great solace for both the Congress and the UPA that it got an opportunity to beat the BJP with the same stick with which the BJP was beating it. It is, perhaps, because of it that the party (Congress) said, while reacting to the fresh expose, that it was the BJP's turn to be targeted. Congress spokesman Manish Tiwari sarcastically said that the BJP had taken the WikiLeaks expose as holy political scriptures, but the Congress attached no more importance to it than being mere speculation.

Matter of Grave Concern
It is, however, of no importance who won or who lost on this particular issue. The basic issue, however, is the WikiLeaks revelations, despite having several loopholes and contradictions. Some of the expose, despite having the possibility of being incorrect, is not entirely untrue.

If even an iota of the expose is based on fact or truth, it goes to prove that the BJP that cheated people on the nuclear deal, or the Congress may oppose each other, but both of them stand on the same plank in the matter of worshipping the United States. This kind of a situation is a matter of grave concern for the entire country indeed.

Verdict on Godhra Carnage

It is natural that people are raising multiple questions about various aspects of the Godhra incident after nine years. There are mixed feelings of agony and ecstasy both about the verdict. Out of 94 accused persons, 63 have been exculpated, and 31 have been convicted. Those who have been exonerated have suffered the torture of imprisonment for nine years.

The court declared the Godhra incident a conspiracy and not an accident, but which conspiracy worked behind the arrest of these 63 released accused was not pointed out. On 25 February, punishment will be pronounced to the guilty, but will there be an action against those who caused torture to these 63 innocent persons? Will the Narendra Modi government apologize and give compensation?

Nanawati Commission Report
It appears the court has made the Nanawati Commission report as the base of the judgment, in which it is clearly mentioned that first of all the conspiracy was hatched, and then to spread terror this incident took place. On the contrary, the Bannerjee Commission in its report said that coach number 6 of Sabarmati Express was not set afire, and there was no conspiracy either. The Bannerjee Commission called it an accident.

Now, the question arises that enquiry reports on one incident are different, and the court exclusively based its judgment on one report, thereby acquitting 63 accused on the basis of the report. It appears that the Gujarat police were waiting for the incident to occur for rounding up a large number of Muslims, whosoever was found. Not only this, they were persecuted heavily. Maulvi Umar, who was suspected to be the main conspirator, has been exonerated by court. When the main conspirator was found innocent, then where is the angle of conspiracy?
Discrimination and Hatred for Muslims
This way, between the lines, the Bannerjee Commission report gets strength, which has dismissed the angle of conspiracy. The phenomenon of Gujarat police rounding up Muslims indiscriminately and cause mental and physical torture to them proves its discrimination and hatred for Muslims.

The reflection of whatever Modi and the Sangh Parivar (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and its allies) had been saying can be seen in the judgment. Now, will the assassins of thousands of Muslims be punished? If yes, when? Rioters of the 1992 riots are roaming freely, whereas the accused of the 1993 blast cases are being punished. There should not be two different scales of justice in a democratic setup.

Wise, Brave Initiative of Congress

Communalism, corruption, terrorism and Naxalite (Maoist) violence are issues, which have not only hampered development and prosperity but have also vitiated national integration and unity. A country can be prosperous after passing through the process of development and burning issues like unemployment, poverty and backwardness can be solved when there is peace and fraternity and national unity. We can, in simple terms, call it our utter misfortune that despite the best efforts of the government some corrupt, vested interests and communal elements, are taking advantage of the weaknesses of laws and privileges of democratic rights, and spreading the venom of communalism in the country, which led to anarchy, civil war and disintegration.

Growing Problems
The country, at present, is passing though difficult times. New scandals, corruption, spreading violence and terrorism in the name of religion are coming to light almost every day. All this has not only brought Parliamentary system to an impasse, but has left the people are greatly frustrated and anxious. It is the bounden duty of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government to salvage the country from this perilous situation and bring back on the right track, which has brought India a place of pride in the comity of the nations.

Since the present leadership, including the party president, Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, is extremely worried over the current situation, it had accepted the resignations of some ministers and chief ministers. It had even issued orders to get the 2G-spectrum allotment case investigated by the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament under the supervision of the apex court. Yet, the opposition continued to insist on nothing short of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to investigate the issue and continued to create uproar so that Parliament could not transact any business for days.

All this demanded of the ruling party to take major measures. Going by the need of the hour, the ruling party did exactly the same thing. The party at its 83rd plenary session held at Delhi, not only sounded the bugle of war against corruption but accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Sangh Parivar, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its allies of striving to disintegrate the country, appealed to party activists and senior officials to be extra cautious about these forces and take them head on with al the might at their command. Calling for imposing a war on RSS activities, AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh, likened it with Nazis, alleging that it is indulging in massacre of Muslims. A political resolution was also approved at the plenary, which calls upon the government to deal with religious fundamentalism with a strong hand. It also demanded that the likes and relations between the RSS and its affiliated organizations with terrorists, be investigated thoroughly. Digvijay Singh alleged that the Rath yatra (chariot journey) undertaken by a senior BJP leader, L.K. Advani, was the bases of terrorism and accused both the BJP and the RSS that they "hate Muslims as much as Nazis, hates Jews."

Referring to the argument put up by the BJP that all the Muslims are not terrorists, but all the terrorist are Muslims, the AICC general secretary said that this logic can be advanced that all Hindus are not terrorists but all those persons arrested in the case of bomb explosions at various places are activists of the RSS. On Gujarat, the party has called on the government to get exemplary punishments announced in all perpetrators of irreparable genocide during Gujarat riots in 2002. The resolution maintains that the ruling of the high court does not condone those who brought down the Babari mosque in any way. They must be punished by all means.

2G Spectrum Scandals
Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi alluding to the Commonwealth Games, Adarsh Housing Society and the 2G Spectrum scandals, said that Congress President Sonia Gandhi, has motivated us to fight against corruption. He added that any progress becomes meaningless sin, which the person standing at the last end of the queue does not get an opportunity to progress.

Describing the activists of the party as an important bridge between the Congress and the common man, Sonia Gandhi said that whether we are in power at the centre or in the states we must not forget that the government comes into existence through the party. Hence it devolves in the government and the officials in the government to pay greater attention to addressing the complaints of the workers. She maintained that corruption in such a menace, which is eating into the vitals of every section of our society it, is the common man who pays a heavy price for it.

Sonia Gandhi stressed that fast track courts must be set up to get the cases of corruption against politicians and bureaucrats. To bring transparency in contracts, she wanted that effective legislations and a clear line of action should be put in place. Complete security be provided to whistle-blowers in all such cases of corruption. She called on chief ministers and union ministers of the Congress to voluntarily surrender their right to allot land and. The government should fund elections.

Need of Common Man
Rahul Gandhi, general secretary of the party appealed that the party officials should give top priority to the need of the common man and added that the country's progress cannot be completed until we learn to respect the common man.

Though the top leadership of the Congress has strived to defuse the demand and the mood in the country on the demand of a JPC investigation it he case of recent corruption it remains a matter of conjecture as to how the union ministers, state ministers and others who are at the helm of affairs, succeed in implementing these directions and what stand does the opposition adopt in Parliament on the 2G Spectrum and other scandals.