Mixed reactions over Modi becoming PM

New Delhi: The controversial track record and role of India’s Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi with respect to Muslims has been a matter of intense introspection ever since the 2002 Gujarat riots, which saw over 2000 people being killed and thousands getting displaced.

After his party Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) historic victory in the recently concluded general elections, the big question is: has Modi changed now?

Many Muslims are still seeking an answer to the following questions: What actually happened at the meeting between Modi and senior police officials the night before the riots took place? Did Modi ask the police to go slow on the rioters? Why are the records of that meeting destroyed even when a Commission was appointed to look at the truth? Why was Maya Kodnani appointed a minister after spearheading the riots?

“I was in Ahmedabad during the riots. The terror that people experienced was unimaginable. I have no political affiliations, but I see the episode as complete lack of governance from Modi’s end. Where was his secular voice that he so talks in now, when people were getting killed, left, right and centre? Why was he not able to control riots as the head of the state? Why did he allow the massacre to continue? There is just too much smoke out there,” 55-year-old Ahmedabad-based businessman Zakir Ahmed tells the Gulf News.

Likewise, 39-year-old Farzana Sultana from New Delhi wants Modi to apologise for his alleged role in the 2002 riots.

“There are tough questions which need answers. It is inconceivable that Modi was unaware of Maya Kodnani’s role in the riots. Maya Kodnani was in Modi’s cabinet even after seven years of riots. Was he not aware of the background of his ministers? How come he got so many suitable Muslim candidates for municipal elections including Mayor immediately after state elections but not a single suitable candidate for MLA? Modi can try and redeem himself now, but what is done is done. He needs to apologise for the same, if he wants closure,” Sultana says.

Some Christians are also being cautious about Modi, apprehending challenging days ahead. There are serious concerns among Christians of possible persecution under the new BJP-led government.

“Christians already are gripped with fear and concern over the election results. Hindu nationalist groups will take advantage of the situation and use it to attack churches and members of the Christian community. There will be stringent rules and legislation restricting Christians and the exercise of the freedom of faith. We will have to find out how we can tell the new government about our problems and fears, our expectations of a strong secular government, and hold it accountable for its misdeeds whenever it falters in giving Christians security and the freedom of faith,” CA Daniel, President of the National Congress of Indian Christians, told Gulf News.

“Forced conversion laws manipulated to attack Christian pastors and a climate of impunity for perpetrators of violence against Christians has been a hallmark of BJP rule at the state level. This must not be allowed to take hold in India’s national government,” he adds.

However, 50-year-old Mrigank Jain told Gulf News that his perception of Modi changed with time.

“I am a Jain by religion and had my doubts on Modi’s role in 2002 riots. Whatever happened during riots was highly condemnable and unfortunate. However, this selective targeting of Modi is something very shameful and dishonest on the part of Congress and other political parties whose primary basis of politics is divisive politics. It is another left wing attack to defame a secular, democratically-elected government. This is a country where these left wingers have made it a habit to fan the fire of fear in minorities hearts and minds whenever a truly secular government is elected,” Jain adds.

The Sikh community seems to have mixed feelings towards Modi, concerned over the fate of nearly 5,000 Sikh families in the Kutch area of Gujarat who are affected due to the Gujarat government’s decision to take back their land. The Gujarat Government orders stem from the Bombay Land and Tenancy Act, but the farmers say the government was misinterpreting the law.

The Gujarat government had in 2010 frozen bank accounts of the Sikh farmers who had gone to Kutch district in 1965 at the exhortation of then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, citing an old law that purportedly bars non-Gujaratis from buying land in the state. Though, the farmers won the case in the Gujarat High Court, the Gujarat government challenged the High Court orders in the Supreme Court. The farmers say that the state government was not implementing the High Court’s order and their bank accounts were still frozen.

“The High Court had ruled in favour of the farmers yet Modi has gone to the Supreme Court to get the decision reversed. He is trying his level best to evict these farmers. Gross injustice has happened to these Sikh farmers; what else can prove that Modi is against Sikhs. Despite Modi’s assurance, every effort is being made to snatch their farmland. These farmers say if Modi is sincere and true to his words, the Gujarat government should withdraw the case from the Supreme Court,” 55-year-old Daljeet Singh from Gandhi Nagar tells the Gulf News.

The liberal Hindu view of Christianity, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism is that they represent non-Vedic forms of Hinduism. While it may irritate the true believers of those faiths, at least it indicates a lack of hatred towards them. But indeed its high time India learns to separate religion and politics. Connecting religion with politics cancels the secular tag of the country.