You have the magical powers, you can do wonders
One wonders what message has Mr Modi tried to convey by declaring additional compensation of Rs five lakh each to the victim families of anti-Sikh riots of 1984. This was not an occasion of any aid-giving. In 1984 neither the BJP was in power nor did Modiji have any political status then; nor had anyone accused him of the massacre. Has this compensation rained upon the victim families only because there is going to be an election on three seats of Delhi Assembly and he wants to win the vote of every Sikh?
If Modiji was eager to give anyone a compensation of Rs 166 crore then to celebrate his conquest of Mumbai he should have promised the arrests of the killers of more than 2,000 Muslims during the January 1993 riots and the looters of properties worth Rs 200 crores. He should have given the compensation to the survivors of the victims of that riot because it were the supporters and members of Shiv Sena, BJP and local police who had committed murders and were involved in the plunder.
By Hafeez Naumani
At times Prime Minister Mr Modi says things that create controversies. He knows that Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was Deputy Prime Minister or Home Minister of India. Not even for a single day did he become Prime Minister nor did the destiny ever give him full three years to be able to show his potentials. During this brief period in power he did, however, change the status of princely states and made them equal to other cities and towns of the country. But anyhow he kept one thing in practice and allowed a fixed stipend, Privy Purse, for the rulers of these states in accordance to their statuses.
What Modiji likes most about Sardar Patel is the destruction of the largest Muslim state of Hyderabad at his hand. Position of the State of Hyderabad was not like other princely states. The British had not bestowed the state to the Nawab because of his loyalty to the Raj. This came into being as a result of a formal agreement between the Nawab and the British that included in it that when the British would go back from India they would hand over it to him as an independent state.
The Nawab wanted to negotiate with the [Indian] Government in the light of this agreement. But in an army action, much bigger than Operation Blue Star, Patelji used such a force that more than 10,000 Muslims were killed and the state was ruined to rubbles and was occupied the pattern of which was later followed for [the takeover] of Goa.
This year Modiji celebrated the birth anniversary of Sardar Patel in a manner that eclipsed the celebration of Mrs Indira Gandhi while there can be no comparison between the two. If conquering Hyderabad was a big achievement then breaking Pakistan in two and creating Bangladesh from it was even a greater achievement; and there is no comparison between the two in history.
It’s only the Muslims who mention the tragic story of Hyderabad; non-Muslims do not regard it even worth of any mention. But, perhaps, Modiji sees the massacre of Muslims in Hyderabad as a big accomplishment.
One of Mrs Gandhi’s big achievements was that she abolished the Privy Purse given to the Rajas and Nawabs, abrogated the exemptions from road tax, water tax and electricity—all of which was free for them—and thus made them all equal to other citizens. Before this action of hers names of the of states like Bhopal, Rampur, Balrampur, and the number of the state like 1, 2 or 3 used to be displayed on the number plates of cars. Mrs Gandhi ended the distinction between the car of a Raja, Nawab or any Tom, Dick and Harry. But in Mr Modi’s view it is only Patel the Great and that is because all through from the partition of India to [the destruction of the State of] Hyderabad, on any issue the only achievement on his record is his anti-Muslim animosity.
Surely Modiji must have read Maulana Azad’s India Wins Freedom in which he must have also read that [after partition] when Delhi was being evacuated (by Muslims), police searches were being carried out of their houses. [Instead of translating from the writer’s article UMM is using exact quotes from India Wins Freedom in which Maulana writes]:
‘Another incident which occurred about this time revealed clearly how Sardar Patel’s mind was working. He perhaps felt that some explanation was necessary for the attacks on Muslims which were taking place every day. He accordingly put out a theory that deadly weapons had been recovered from the Muslim quarters of the city. His insinuation was that the Muslims of Delhi had collected arms to attack the Hindus and the Sikhs, and if the Hindus and the Sikhs had not taken the first offensive, the Muslims would have destroyed them. The police recovered some arms from Karol Bagh and Sabzi Mandi. Under Sardar Patel’s orders, these were brought to the Government House and kept for our inspection in the ante-chamber of the Cabinet Room. When we assembled for our daily meeting, Sardar Patel said that we should first go to the ante-chamber and inspect the captured arms. On our arrival we found on the table dozens of kitchen knives that were rusted, pocket knives and pen knives with or without handles and iron spikes which had been recovered from the fences of old houses, and some cast iron water pipes. According to Sardar Patel, these were the weapons which the Muslims of Delhi had collected to exterminate the Hindus and the Sikhs. Lord Mountbatten took up one or two knives and said with a smile that those who had collected these materials seemed to have a wonderful idea of military tactics if they thought that the city of Delhi could be captured with them. (Orient Longman, 1988, 32-33, Delhi)’
Modiji also organised a marathon to celebrate the anniversary. After the race when the exhausted boys and girls were asked which party did Patlelji belong to, majority of them responded by saying, ‘BJP’. And this is what Modiji wants.
One wonders what message has Mr Modi tried to convey by declaring additional compensation of Rs five lakh each to the victim families of anti-Sikh riots of 1984. This was not an occasion of any aid-giving. In 1984 neither the BJP was in power nor did Modiji have any political status then; nor had anyone accused him of the massacre. Has this compensation rained upon the victim families only because there is going to be an election on three seats of Delhi Assembly and he wants to win the vote of every Sikh?
We are least bothered about the objections of the Election Commission on this. What we are concerned about is the possibility of our Prime Minister being accused of being petty and base.
Maulvi Ahmad Bukhari has taken an utterly undesirable action by appointing his son as his successor and for that he is going to stage the dastarbandi celebration, the practice that has nothing to do with Islam. And even more obscene action of his is the invitation he has sent to Nawaz Shareef while ignoring our own Prime Minister. Every Muslim has been condemning his action so much so that the Rector of the largest religious institution Darul Uloom Deoband has called it a gimmick. Bukhari has tried to find an excuse by saying that Muslims’ sensitivities with regard to Modi are not clear.
If Modiji was eager to give anyone a compensation of Rs 166 crore then to celebrate his conquest of Mumbai he should have promised the arrests of the killers of more than 2,000 Muslims during the January 1993 riots and the looters of properties worth Rs 200 crores. He should have given the compensation to the survivors of the victims of that riot because it were the supporters and members of Shiv Sena, BJP and local police who had committed murders and were involved in the plunder. But to date no one has given them a penny while the Sikhs have been given so much that neither it has any precedence nor example in the past.
During a debate about this compensation many BJP leaders have said that to stop the riots against the Sikhs they had approached the then President Gayani Zail Singh to request him to stop those riots but he told them that he was helpless. Then they went to Rajiv Gandhi who said when a big tree falls the earth shakes. They then went to Inder Kumar Gujral who said that all Government machinery was busy in Mrs Gandhi’s funeral.
On the face of it the motive was to say that BJP loves the Sikhs very dearly. But these BJP leaders forgot that in 2002 when Gujarat was burning Ehsan Jafri did not leave any minister, officer and even the Chief Minister, whom he did not contact and asked for help. But what happened is known to everyone. BJP leaders would know how much compensation have the survivors of the victims of Gujarat riot have received?
Modiji is the Prime Minister. He is free to do what he wants to do but he should at least refrain from actions that belittle his favourite slogan of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ (everybody on board; everybody’s development). The announcement of the compensation of Rs five lack to each victim at an irrelevant and absurd occasion is an example of such an action.
Translated from daily Avadhnama, Lucknow, 3 November 2014, by Urdu Media Monitor.Com