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The events that shook the state of Gujarat at the beginning of 2002
forced observers who had seen the rise of Hindu nationalists in Indian
political life as having occurred relatively harmoniously to reconsider. On the
morning of 27 February, a train, the Sabarmati Express, leaving the town of
Godhra – Muslims made up 40% of its population – was the target of an attack by
a group of Muslims. A carriage containing a large number of activists and
supporters of the Vishva Hindu Parishad returning home after taking part
in Ayodhya in a demonstration described as ‘politico-cultural’ caught fire in
circumstances that were unclear at the time. During the following days, several
hundred Muslims died across much of the state of Gujarat under the if not approving then at the very
least indifferent eyes of the Hindu nationalist state government, led by the
Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
As for the Hindu nationalist led central government presided over by
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayeee, it abstained from any intervention,
refusing to make recourse to Article 356 of the Indian Constitution. Better known
as ‘President’s Rule’, which permits the central authorities, in the event of
troubles threatening public order, to dismiss an elected state government and
to temporarily take charge of affairs. The centre, thus, turned a deaf ear to
the calls made by various sections of Indian civil society in the face of media
reports of numerous atrocities that brought to mind half-forgotten episodes
that had marked the Sub-continent’s bloody division into two and then three
states.
After the arrival in
power of Manmohan Singh in 2004, a Commission of Inquiry was set up that shed
some light on these dramatic events, although India does not seem to have
seriously envisaged financial or other compensation for victims or their
families. There remain, to this day, questions as to the responsibility of
those in power at the time and the space accorded to India’s largest religious
minority (the Muslim community makes up 13.4% of the total population). Gujarat’s
Chief Minister continues to enjoy undeniably large support in the state. He has
been scarcely discomforted by judiciary and his followers see in him a future
Prime Minister. The state’s economy is thriving; the Chief Minister, in this
field, has always chosen policies on pragmatic rather than ideological grounds.
Looking to the future, however, the episode as a whole leads one to question
certain realities of Indian democracy (which has experienced, it is true,
certain other inglorious chapters). Although poverty remains
disproportionately widespread among segments of the Hindu population, most of
its Muslim community continues to struggle to improve its generally very modest
position on the socio-economic ladder.
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