Whatever might have been the weaknesses of the government headed by Manmohan Singh, it did not accommodate murder, rape and arson. It was not in league with any organisation spreading the poison of hatred in the name of religion. Observers are greatly concerned that the new dispensation is throwing to winds the caution and circumspection which is required for the onerous responsibility of governing a great country like India.
The world cannot overlook the mist surrounding Mr. Narendra Modi’s role in not curbing the 2002 massacre and the allegation that he gave orders to the police not to interfere and gave a free hand to killers, rapists and arsonists. There is still worldwide resentment regarding his failure to express regret over 2002 communal killings and his remarks during that period that “every action has a reaction” and that the relief camps of the riot victims were “child producing centres”. Public memory is not even so short as proverbially portrayed to forget all this.
Concerned citizens are alarmed that a person of Amit Shah’s dubious reputation has been raised to the post of the president of the ruling party of the country. The common man has stopped asking if there were no better person than Mr. Modi for Prime Ministership. Now he asks, after election of Mr. Amit Shah, “Was there no unstinted person available to head the BJP?”
Amit Shah is accused No.16 in CBI chargesheet for the murder of Sohrabuddin and his wife Kausar Bi in a fake police encounter. And he is accused No.1 in the CBI chargesheet as a conspirator in the killing of Tulsiram Prajapati in another fake encounter. The charges also include conspiracy for murder, destruction of evidence, kidnapping, etc. He was arrested and lodged in Sabarmati Jail, Ahmedabad for three months in 2010. Afterwards he was granted bail by the Supreme Court and was ordered to remain out of Gujarat. It is still fresh in the memory of the people that Mrs. Maya Kodnani had played an active role in communal riots in Ahmedabad. She was accorded the position of the minister in Narendra Modi’s government in Gujarat. Later on, she had to resign when sentenced to life imprisonment in riot cases. Now, perhaps only one thing remains to complete the vicious circle of infamy: appointment of advocates of doubtful integrity and communal bent of mind to seats of Justice. With such people at the helm of affairs, worst is feared regarding the future of the country.
The ruling party itself should honestly introspect and avoid setting wrong precedents. Otherwise, BJP’s rule would be remembered as a dark phase which caused irreparable loss to the polity and morality and to many good things India stands for.