No doubt he was reaffirming his oath to uphold the country's supreme law, which enjoins on him as a state's chief executive to treat all his citizens equitably, irrespective of their religious affiliation.
Mr Modi has long hankered to become the prime minister of India and were he to do so, he would assume responsibility for the security of roughly 150 million Muslim citizens of India, vastly greater than the five million under his purview today in Gujarat. Twice he has tried to ascend the throne of Delhi, and twice he has failed.
This article argues that the Gujarat riots of 2002 and the ensuing discrimination that is widely perceived to be practised against the Muslims of Gujarat have almost irrevocably stained his name. The only way to realise his grand ambitions is by rehabilitating his Muslim citizenry. In doing so, he will have almost nothing to lose, and everything to gain.
Muslims constitute only about nine per cent of Gujarat's population. The riots of 2002 left a once-thriving community with a ghettoised existence. Suspicion and exclusion have been their lot ever since.
The riots left their scars, but not on them alone. Mr Modi too has suffered. While he won subsequent state elections, his party's, (the Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP) projection of him as a mascot in two national elections cost it dearly. In 2004, dethroned Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee squarely blamed the Gujarat riots for his defeat even while his colleagues felt that their 'Shining India' election slogan was what went awry for them.
In 2009, many BJP stalwarts projected Mr Modi as their prime ministerial candidate, once again to receive a stunning rebuke at the hands of voters. As before, solitary voices in the party questioning Mr Modi's credentials were stilled.
The new president of the BJP, Nitin Gadkari, recently lauded Mr Modi as an ideal chief minister and a true follower of Mahatma Gandhi. Mohan Bhagwat, the head of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the BJP's parent organisation, who elevated Mr Gadkari to his current position, too commended Mr Modi for rapidly bringing the Gujarat riots under control. This daily din of praise comes not just from the party brethren but also from leading Indian industrialists and film personalities, all keen to grab a slice of Mr Modi's vibrant Gujarat.
It would not be lost on him though how he has been confined to his home state, bested by the relatively obscure Mr Gadkari for the top job in the BJP, remaining just a parochial leader whose primary purposes seem to be to enrich the coffers of the moribund national party and be trumpeted around at election time to inspire the party's hard-line Hindutva base — all the while knowing this raison d'être is not serving him well to realise his life's goal.
His predicament is not new. His mentor, L.K. Advani, very effectively played the foil of the strongman to the BJP's moderate face, Mr Vajpayee, only to have his own prime ministerial dreams come to nought because voters remained unconvinced of his liberal testimonials.
Adding insult to injury surely would be how Mr Modi has been blacklisted by the United States for his alleged anti-Muslim proclivities, even as the Americans themselves stand accused by some of launching a global crusade against Islam. A case almost of the pot calling the kettle black. Even Mr Modi's most ardent supporters admit that his image needs to be repaired for him to play the global role demanded of India's premier.
Gujarat has given birth to some of history's greatest personalities, Mahatma Gandhi among them. Even lesser politicians such as India's first and thus far only Gujarati prime minister, Morarji Desai, have been able to burnish their secular credentials over time and make themselves palatable enough to the electorate. With such examples before him, what stops Mr Modi from taking a U-turn?
Applying a balm to the wounds of Gujarat's long-suffering Muslim population would not jeopardise his Hindutva base around the country. Instead he might just win some, though surely not all, Muslims over. He might even escape the taunts of being a merchant of death levelled at him by political adversaries and in turn, not get provoked into making distasteful ethnic barbs of his own at the Gandhis, which only end up making him look acerbic and unfit to hold high office.
Since the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984, India's fair name has been blotted by pogroms against religious minorities, which seem to strike every decade with clockwork regularity. By that calendar, another fit of violence is impending. While nobody has been brought to justice for the anti-Sikh riots of 1984, victims have received some compensation from the state. No such succour has been provided to the mainly Muslim communities affected in Mumbai or Gujarat.
These periodic episodes of murder and mayhem are a millstone around India's neck. The Congress party has evaded guilt for 1984 through astute posturing and succeeded in recapturing the political high ground. High time then that Mr Modi follows suit. He need not have a change of heart. Politics after all is the art of the possible. As the only leader with a mass base in his otherwise comatose party, if he doesn't strive to resuscitate it with his customary efficiency, who else will?
sunil_sharan@yahoo.com
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