Narendra Modi a Role Model for India?
The President of the Bharatiya Janata Party has said that the controversial Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi is a role model for India. Talking to the media the new president of the BJP Nitin Gadkari said that “the riot case summons to Modi makes no difference; he still remains a role model for the country”. Modi has been summoned by a committee (Special Investigation Team) appointed by the Supreme Court of India which is investigating the Gujarat riots of 2002. Over 1180 people were killed in the Gujarat riots.
Although the vast majority of the victims were Muslims reports indicate that the riots started after a train carrying Hindu pilgrims was ambushed by a Muslim mob. This ambush resulted in the death of over 60 pilgrims. There are varying accounts of what happened next and most of the details are disputed.
There are reports that indicate that Modi will not appear before the Special Investigation Team (SIT). There is no question that the legal “tide” is beginning to flow against Modi. Why is the current Chief Minister of Gujarat having difficulty facing the panel appointed by the highest court in the land?
As a “role model” he should know that justice delayed is justice denied. If he is innocent as he claims then he should do everything possible to speed up the process and make sure that the perpetrators are brought to justice in one of the worst cases of mass murder in modern Indian history.
The then Additional Director General of Police (Intelligence) for Gujarat, R.B. Sreekumar has made some damning allegations against Modi and other close associates. Some of the allegations were made in 2005 to the Indian Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT). This tribunal investigates complaints by Indian civil servants.
The allegations include the following: 1) He was asked to tap the phone of former Chief Minister Shankarsinh Waghela 2) Desist from collecting Intelligence of the Sangh Parivar’s (rioters) activities 3) Not to give the Central Election Commission a correct assessment on the communal situation in Gujarat and 4) The Director General of Police (DGP) told the assistant DGP that the BJP and the Sangh leaders were directly instructing the field officers to go slow and give a free hand to the rioters
It is time for the BJP to decide whether to continue supporting Narendra Modi or to distance themselves from the Chief Minister. This is a very difficult decision. Modi is an extremely popular Chief Minister. Gujarat has made tremendous strides with Modi as its leader. Modi is also popular among the more right wing section of the BJP (similar to the conservatives in the American Republican Party).
But the BJP itself is struggling to find an identity and is in serious trouble of getting marginalized. It is important for the party’s survival to attract voters who are not all that concerned about Hindutva or Hindu-Muslim politics. It may be time for the BJP to stop calling individuals like Narendra Modi as role models or potential Prime Ministers and instead focus on more moderate candidates. It may be time to cut the cord.
Related posts:
- Mayawati is a Living Goddess
- Mallika Sarabhai Right About Gujarat
- Indian Culture and Values Eroding
- Wedge Politics in India
- Rahul Gandhi Rising?
Category: News & Government
dont know if modi is a model or not, but can someone tell me which politician is?
if the police officers who are now speaking out against modi, wht where they doing when they did wht they did?
wht abt congress and the way it used CBI for getting votes in parliament during, i think it was nuclear bill, with mayawati.
This is politics. unfortunately, might is turning out to be right. Look at Karnataka govt. wht did BS Yeddi, do when reddys’ rebeled?
And then he did all tht crying drama.
Im sorry no current politician can be a role model. name one. even our PM for tht matter, he too cant claim to be the model, coz he just cannot be string enough at times when it is needed, for political reasons. Being a sikh, what happened to sikh riot case; bhopal case?? i dont see even a single comment from our PM on the Bhopal case.
Take our presidents, after the rajendra prasad types and with the exception of Kalam, i dont think any president is worth even 1 paisa to be called president…all are enjoying their retirement… stooges..
Ajay … I absolutely agree that there are no real leaders in India today. All the issues that you mentioned including the Sikh riots and Bhopal are serious issues. But this does not justify what Modi is accused of doing. It is a serious issue.
totally agree.. im not defending modi… just wanted to get the point across, that ideal politicians dont exist, or rather unfortunately, CAN’T exist! :) with this stupid multi-party democracy, where a party with just a bunch of seats dictates the way a govt is run!
Jharkand probably is the epitome of this behavior! :(
I understand. We have to look at term limits and other strict rules as to who can run for politics and so on.