In an interview with Reuters the Chief Minister of Gujarat and a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) says "he does not feel guilty" because he "did nothing wrong". In the carnage of 2002, almost died 2,000 Muslims died, while Modi did nothing to stop the Hindu militants.

New Delhi (AsiaNews/agencies)- No guilt for the massacres of 2002 in Gujarat, only sadness, "like when you run over a puppy". This is how Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of the Indian State, has returned to talking about the interfaith massacres that have claimed the lives of thousands of Muslims and for which he is held responsible. Harsh reactions on the part of the Congress (against the government) and the country's Islamic community, who are asking Modi, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP, the Hindu nationalist party), for an official apology for the comparison.

On February 27, 2002 the carnage of the Sabarmati Express occurred at Godhra, when an Islamic Group attacked and set fire to the train, on board which Hindus were travelling, returning from Ayodhya, the site of an old mosque seized years ago by Hindus. The assault - in which 58 people died - then sparked violent riots of an inter-confessional nature, throughout Gujarat, in which the Islamic community paid the highest price, with almost 2,000 victims. Ever since Modi has been accused of conspiring in the clashes, for not having taken any measures to stop them and not having set up any investigation.

It was this behavior on his part that favored the polarisation of the Gujarati society, where several times in the past Muslims have complained of being "second-class citizens". 

Interviewed by Reuters about the massacres of 2002, Modi said: "I would feel guilty if I had done something wrong." On the contrary, he added, the special investigation team appointed by the Supreme Court "cleared me of any wrongdoing." An investigation, the one referred to by the chief minister, was distorted by procedural defects.

But what unleashed the wrath of Congress and of the Islamic community was another controversial phrase by Modi. "If someone else is driving a car - he said - and we are sitting in the backseat, if a puppy ends up under the wheels would it be a sad thing or not? Of course it would. Regardless of whether I am Chief Minister, I am a human being. If something bad happens somewhere, it is natural to be sad".

A pity, government representatives explained, that in 2002 he was Chief Minister and therefore "at the wheel" of Gujarat. "What does Modi think", added Kamal Farooqi, spokesman for the Samajwadi Party (Socialist and secularist Party), "that Muslims are even worse than animals?". 

 

 

 

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