Rebuking Narendra Modi

Ever growing need for commonalty is threatened by ever increasing communalism in the country. Commonalty is the concern for humankind on the basis of their wants and situation in life as well as their problems and aspirations. Communalism is dividing the humankind on the basis of religion and pitting one group against the other in considering with a bias wants, situation in life as well as problems and aspirations of the people.

There will be two different perspectives when the matter of dealing with justice the question of the Muslims in the country, especially their development and their massacre and subsequent plight in Gujarat since 2002. The National Development Council that met in Delhi on Wednesday December 19, 2007 to approve the 11th five year plan document witnessed the clash between commonalty and communalism.

It is universally acknowledged within the country that Muslims are more backward than any other group of our population. The Sachar Commission report makes a sobering realization of the present day tangent truth. Everyone knows but most do not want to do anything in this regard. A burgeoning economy like ours can afford to march further in the near foreseeable future. But in the long run this would increase and enlarge ghettoization to such an extent that there would be enclaves like Nagorna Karabekh and Kosovo, if they are not already there.

The Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh while addressing the audience which included the chief ministers of states took a commonalty approach when he said "The goal of this plan is to invest in our people to enable them to become active participants in economic growth processes. The plan does not attempt to divide people on the basis of caste, creed or gender or religion..The plan does pay special attention on the needs of these marginalized groups and targets them in a precise manner.
"Inclusiveness does mean better targeting and it is not at the cost of other groups. You will all agree that if we hope to have a prosperous, equitable, just India, we must cover all groups and ensure that no one is left”.
Finance Minister Chidambram had gendered the previous budget because there was need for targeting improvement of women and empowering them. Their needs were felt to be real. What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. What is crucial in today’s context is that leaving out minorities including Muslims far behind does not serve the nation as such. The 11th Plan that stipulates earmarking 15 per cent of targets and outlays under various schemes for minorities is a step in the path of bridging the gaps and avoiding pockets of stagnant pools in the backwater settlement.
But that is what exactly two chief ministers from Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh opposed.
Have the Muslims ceased to be part of the social fabric of India? When? Modi has a different sense of society; perhaps his spin doctors are telling that he represents the the middle class and they feel like him. This self delusory strategy worked in the relief camps when Modi closed down the camps from where the victims had nowhere to go as their commercial establishments, jobs and works were totally destroyed along with their houses, lock stock and barrel. The ration and medicine in the camps were too scanty to go around and then this expulsion! Modi dubbed the camps as the breeding grounds of “we five and our twenty five”. What he could not provide to his own population worst affected by his state sponsored pogroms he is niggardly about for the rest of the country where similar groups exist. As he lectured the audience for which the PM rebuked him. "The New 15 Point Programme that focuses on earmarking certain outlays of various developmental schemes and programmes of the government of India amongst the eligible beneficiaries, based on their minority status, should be reviewed in the interest of maintaining the social fabric of the nation. Such discrimination, amongst the eligible beneficiaries, for flow of funds based on minority status, will not help the cause if taking the people of India together on the path of development,"
This is a clear and most flagrant attempt to carry the laboratory experiment result from Gujarat to the whole country. In other words, the minorities, in particular Muslims, do not deserve any uplift or entitlement. As he managed the pogroms and then the closure of the relief camps and the divisive and unjust relief given to the relatives of the dead, and the boycott they face and their virtual disenfranchisement, and then the fake encounters in the name of patriotism, Modi thinks that he would carry the day with him all the time and everywhere. But there is a catch. Even when he wins the election he would be liable to prosecution.
Since July 2002 the International Criminal Court has not only come into existence but has been quite active. It will prosecute individuals accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. There are 18 judges and a prosecutor elected by the ratifying countries. This is a great step forward in the protection of human rights and international justice. Now individuals have a right in international law that would safeguard their right against torture, right to life and dignity.

Every ratifying member country of course should try anyone of its nationals (within its own jurisdiction) who is accused of genocide, crimes against humanity, like rape, massacre or war crimes. If such a country does not do this, any victim of such a crime is entitled to go to ICC and seek prosecution of the perpetrator of crimes against humanity or war crimes and genocide. This is recognized as the principle of complementarity. Crimes committed before July 1, 2002 do not come under the purview of ICC. This is known as the principle of non-retroactivity. The rule of complementarity is a breath of fresh air in the fetid atmosphere of oppression and suppression that is commonly found in countries like Rawanda and former Yugoslavia. This would deter countries where national courts conduct sham trial or fail to investigate such crimes at all.

Moreover, what about the continued torture of a people as a result of the action which took place before July 1, 20002. Thousands of riot affected people in Ahmedabad and elsewhere in Gujarat were forced out of the relief camps and this has continued even after July 1, are they not entitled to international justice as their right to life and right to dignity and right to equality are denied. All this despite promises of rehabilitation! Out in the monsoon rains with no shelter and sans succour! In one such a case a man who lost his house received just Rs 70 as compensation. A girl took the government cheque from the hands of her father and tore it because her house had cost several lakh and the government had sanctioned a meagre two thousand rupees. Their denial of human rights constitutes crimes against humanity and it is continuing though the carnage happened several months ago. The pogroms affected are from the minority Muslim community which has very few doctors to treat its wounded and burnt and even fewer lawyers to plead their cases in courts. And all this on account of the boycott of the majority community’s guilds of doctors and lawyers. If Modi and Advani, after the latter really becomes the next PM, have their own way, then the only hope for the victims of Gujarat would be ICC. For Modi and Advani it would be to build global landmarks like the Akshardham Temple in Delhi and the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur.