The Modi Paradox: Development Leader or Communal Firebrand?
By Mukesh Devrari The BBC’s film on PM Narendra Modi repeated the allegations that have been making rounds for the last two decades. The Gujarat riots took place in 2002. The riots started after the Godhra train was burned by Muslims, killing 59 Hindus. The Hindu mobs attacked Muslims with a sense of impunity, and Narendra Modi, as the Chief Minister, watched the carnage for three days. The first allegation against him was that he did nothing to stop people from killing each other. Rather, right-wing media and low-ranking office bearers of his party justified the riots as a reaction to the attack on the Godhra train carrying Hindu pilgrims returning from Ayodhya. The BBC’s documentary also mentioned that the Home Minister of Gujarat, Hiren Pandya, was killed in dubious circumstances by a bullet wound at some place and later his body was placed inside his car. It indirectly suggested that Modi was behind the killing. The documentary also alleged that two police officers who spoke agai...