'Important to jog public memory about Gujarat 2002'

               

'Important to jog public memory about Gujarat 2002’

Herald Review March 30, 2014           

Award winning documentary film maker Rakesh Sharma documented Gujarat post the 2002 riots in his film Final Solution . With the 2014 elections around the corner, he recently uploaded videos among which are old speeches of the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi that had disappeared from online repositories. Sharma who has made Goa his home tells LISA ANN MONTEIRO

Why did you feel the need to upload these videos recently?

I made and released the film in 2004, ten years ago. During this period, we have seen almost an entire generation come of age. The 2014 polls have a few million new voters. I felt it was important to recount this bit of our contemporary history for them and those afflicted with apathy or amnesia.

The 2002 carnage ranks among the very worst episodes of violence in this country, especially as it was state- supported.

Ex- minister Maya Kodnani is convicted, now in jail serving a longterm sentence in the Naroda Patiya massacre case. Several other ministers from the erstwhile Modi government as well as senior VHP and Bajrang Dal functionaries are under the scanner for their specific roles.

Mr Modi has the moral responsibility, if not a legal one too, especially since he has kept the home ministry with him since 2002. He certainly failed in performing his constitutional obligations to protect the life, liberty and property of all the citizens of Gujarat, an oath he took upon assuming office.

Do you feel Narendra Modi's PR machinery has been successful in the makeover of his image?

Mr Modi’s PR makeover began sometime after the 2007 polls, in the form of publicity blitzkriegs around the Vibrant Gujarat summits ( which incidentally have resulted in lower actual investment compared to several other states like Maharashtra). A major component of the makeover was the Tata Nano project, which accorded Mr Modi serious legitimacy. But, it was the state exchequer and the Gujarati citizens who paid for it – the Tatas got nearly Rs 10,000 crores at an interest rate of 0.1 per cent! This in a state where farmers commit suicides unable to pay loans of Rs 70,000.

Over the years, largesse for many from corporate India followed – no wonder the Modi- for- PM chorus started from among them. From being a prosperous, surplus state, Gujarat has now become a debt- ridden state. Each Gujarati now has a debt burden of over Rs 26,000. Among the conditions relaxed for the Nano project was employment of locals as well as some tax concessions etc. The question to ask is: so who benefitted? No wonder the BJP, despite a resounding victory in the Gujarat 2012 polls, lost in this specific constituency – Sanand.

Gujarat is being projected as a model state for development. What are the ground realities?

He is projected as a development messiah of some kind, which itself is far from the truth. Gujarat fares rather poorly on several social indicators like child malnutrition, crimes against women and suchlike. The state of primary education and healthcare is abysmal. Many parts of Saurashtra and Kutch still crave for the promised Narmada waters, which have been diverted instead for the Sabarmati, as a part of the Ahmedabad beautification project.

On the other hand, Gujarat has always been a state with a keen eye on infrastructure, primarily as its economy has always been driven by the Gujarati entrepreneur.

So, the highways and roads connecting major cities and hubs have always been relatively better, even if you go back to the 70s and 80s.

Mr Modi is fortunate that Gujarat has been a single party state for nearly 20 years. The Congress, in steady decline earlier, has been in a terminal stage since the last decade. In the absence of any serious or credible opposition, Mr Modi has found it easy to win the state elections three times.

Do you believe Narendra Modi is a changed person ?

Far from it. Mr Modi since 2002 has never once accepted even an iota of responsibility for the mass murder and mayhem that took place under his watch. Of late, he has spoken about being ‘ pained’, but has he ever reached out to the victims? The state has not provided any significant relief and rehabilitation to the Muslim victims. Even the S- 6 karsevak families were rapidly forgotten after the 2002 polls – many of them feel cynically used and exploited ( as you can see in the excerpts uploaded on my youtube channel).

The Congress, equally culpable in the 1984 Sikh massacres, has officially apologized, through Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s formal statements in Parliament and outside. Mr Modi, however, is yet to do so.

But, apologies notwithstanding, both for 1984 and 2002, the guilty must be brought to book and the cause of justice be fully served. Fortunately, in Gujarat, the Supreme Court intervened, creating judicial history by first shifting trials outside the state, and later by directly monitoring several major cases directly.

But he has been given a ‘ clean chit’ by the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court appointed SIT did not find a legal ground to prosecute Mr Modi, but the SC- appointed amicus curiae Ramachandran recommended his prosecution. An Ahmedabad Magistrate has upheld the SIT report, but the case is now in High Court. It will eventually be heard in the Supreme Court, which has on its record its own amicus’ report too. Former Chief Justice VN Khare has opined that Mr Modi is culpable and liable to be prosecuted.

Some of the witnesses to the 2002 riots were sadly young innocent children who speak of the torture meted out to their family members as shown in your video.

Most of the children I filmed with were those I met accidentally, while shooting something else. These were spontaneous conversations. In any case, I think it is hardly possible for a 4- 5 year old child to be cunning, crafty and deceitful about a trauma he or she has been a direct witness to.

Rakesh Sharma’s videos can be seen at: https:/ www. youtube. com/ user/ rakeshfilms