Gujarat riot of 2002 haunts Modi in NIC meeting

New Delhi – Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat, came under heavy criticism directed mainly by the Left parties for his failure in maintaining law and order within his state.

The first ever meeting of the reconstituted National Integration Council (NIC) in new Delhi on August 31, 2005, was the battleground as the Hindu right–wing party leader, Modi and Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary, Prakash Karat, traded verbal blows even as a bemused Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Ms. Sonia Gandhi, looked on.

While Chief Minister Narendra Modi reiterating his party’s pet themes – Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and POTA–like laws, Left party leaders launched scathing attacks on the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stalwart, accusing him of failing to deliver justice to post–Godhra riot victims.

Most of the speeches at the NIC meeting, last held in 1992, focussed on the efforts to uphold secularism and communal harmony. But Modi, unwilling to tow the line, spoke tough, underlining his party’s commitment to a Uniform Civil Code (UCC), tough laws like POTA and the party’s pet slogan, ‘‘justice for all, appeasement of none’’.

According to news reports, CPI(M) leader, Prakash Karat, recently inducted into the NIC, used the occasion to attack Modi and said it was the Centre’s responsibility to ensure justice for Godhra riot victims ‘‘since it has become amply clear that normal police and judicial procedures have been found wanting in the state.’’ CPI leader D Raja also attacked the Modi government’s record on that score.

Unfazed by the criticisms, Modi asserted that Gujarat was among the most peaceful states in the country with one of the lowest incidence of crime in the world. He also indicated it was not communalism but ‘‘terrorism’’ which was the biggest problem in Gujarat, and criticised the Centre for delaying approval of the Gujarat Control of Organised Crime Act (GUJCOC), which was passed by the State Assembly in July 2004. It had become ‘‘extremely difficult’’ to deal with terrorism after the repeal of POTA and that was why tough laws such as GUJCOC were needed, he said.

Modi also urged the Centre to take steps to evolve a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and echoed the recent RSS–BJP criticism of religion–based reservations: ‘‘Giving reservation on religious or linguistic consideration would definitely militate against national integration and go against the spirit of the Constitution.’’

Modi’s ideological speech was more than matched by Prakash Karat who made it clear that perceived Left–UPA differences should not obscure the centrality of the Left’s strong anti–communal plank.

Criticising the Gujarat government’s justice delivery system, Karat said just as the Best Bakery case was transferred out of Gujarat, ‘‘so also there are a number of serious cases that need to be dealt with in a similar fashion.’’