Reincarnation of Hitler

Dr. Kausar Talat can be reached at: kausar.talat@gmail.com

Shortly afterwards, at around3pm, Zakia Jafri watched in horror from her balcony as rioters marched her naked husband from their home and chopped off his fingers, hands, arms and head, then tossed the body on an open pyre. All the while the police looked on without intervening, telling victims, "We have no orders to save you." An investigative magazine later caught several ringleaders on camera claiming that the chief minister had approved the attacks: "Modi had given us three days to do whatever we could," one of them boasted. What happened in Gulbarg that day lies at the heart of the accusations against Modi. He denies all knowledge of events there and claims that he was not informed until 8.30pm,five hours after the massacre had finished. This version of events has been accepted by the Supreme Court appointed special investigation team, which examined the matter at length. However, there are clear contradictions in the SIT report that make it hard to accept: for instance, records of a flurry of communications during the afternoon, as the violence unfolded, between police officers present in Gulbarg and their superiors. The SIT report praises Modi for holding a series of meetings with police officers throughout the day. If he was being briefed hour by hour, how then could he not have known about Gulbarg until late that evening? As a result, the report has been much criticized, especially since a former associate of Modi's took out an affidavit claiming that a draft of the report had been sent to the Gujarat state lawyers for vetting and possible redrafting. In the meantime, the case, including a new challenge from Zakia Jafri, continues to work its way through the legal system and there has not yet been a final ruling. But it is not true, as is often stated by Modi's supporters, that the Supreme Court has given him a "clean chit". In reality, the court has yet to rule on the matter; the factsre main in dispute and the case is ongoing. For several years after the riots, Narendra Modi was a political pariah. Thirty-two people were finally convicted of murder, attempted murder and conspiracy over the riots, among them Maya Kodnani, Modi's one time minister for women; she was sentenced to 28 years in jail. Sonia Gandhi denounced Modi as a "merchant of death" and several BJP MPs also broke ranks to criticize him. The US and UK refused him visas. The turning point came in October2008, when Tata Motors moved its car plant for its much-publicized new budget hatchback, the Nano, from the leftist-dominated West Bengal to the pro-business Gujarat. In 2011, Ford invested $1bn (£630m) in setting up another car plant. Before long, Gujarat started to make headlines, not for riots, but for its new image as an economic powerhouse. From 2003,Modi began holding an annual summit, Vibrant Gujarat, which cumulatively generated investment pledges of $920bn. All the most prominent Indian captains of industry, from Ratan Tata to the Ambanis and Mittals, rallied behind Modi and declared him India's most business friendly chief minister. However Modi remains the most polarizing figure in Indian politics. Many intellectuals and urban liberals view him as an almost satanic figure pushing India towards fascism. They point to his record with dissent: journalists from the Times of India who wrote against his government had sedition charges brought against them; Rahul Sharma, a policeman who helped convict many of the 2002rioters, had his promotion blocked("due to misspellings"); Test a Setalvad, the lawyer who brought riot cases against him, had charges of embezzlement slapped on her. Most sinister of all, Haren Pandya, Modi's former home minister, who agreed togive evidence against him to an independent commission of inquiry in to the riots, was first made to resign his position, then deprived of his seat and finally murdered in mysterious circumstances in 2003."Modi, the argument goes, displays all the signs of reincarnated Hitler."William Dalrymple With a haul of almost 280 out of 543 seats gives Modi a free hand to bring about deep-seated change -similar to tectonic shift that may change the face of India or even subcontinent including Bangladesh and Pakistan. For this reason PM Nawaz Sharif must be extremely cautious in dealing with the new government of India. He must pay attention to history and past dealings with India. This is the time Pakistani political and defense leadership work closely emphasizing common strategy. Pakistani PM must listen to ISI and Pakistan Army remembering that Modi met him only because he is the president of Pakistan while his agenda and priority is to dismantle Pakistan. PM Nawaz Sharif must realize that any little success of Modi shall result in dethroning Nawaz and his family from the ruling elite of Pakistan forever. Pakistan should expect the west supporting India under Modi for couple of reasons: one the agenda of both parties is common - to destroy nuclear Pakistan and to make more money as George Bush's grand father,the late US senator Prescott Bush, a director and shareholder of companies that profited from their involvement with the financial backers of Nazi Germany.