Friday, October 7, 2011

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Modi is not fit to be a national leader) that was published in Newsband



Modi is not fit to be a national leader
By arresting police officer Sanjiv Bhatt, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi has weakened his claim to a larger role in national politics. Bhatt had implicated the chief minister for his alleged role in the 2002 riots. He was suspended and chargesheeted and then arrested on the charge that he had given a false court affidavit linking senior functionaries in the Modi government to BJP leader Haren Pandya's murder. Now let's wait for the verdict of the court of law.
The question is whether this is a case of political vendetta. Bhatt is not the first victim of Modi. Another police official had questioned Modi's role in the riots and he was charged with violating the Official Secrets Act. Still another police official had to face the music for pointing fingers at the government in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case. These are cases which indicate that administrative intolerance is prevailing in Gujarat. Even celebrated danseuse and social activist Mallika Sarabhai had become the victim of such type of intolerance.
Modi cannot hope to gain by conducting vendetta politics. He indeed has an impressive development record going for him. But if he wishes to become a national leader he should not display such vindictiveness. Indians have not yet forgotten the 2002 riots, whose victims still await justice. Modi will have to be more tolerant if he wants to rise to the stature of a national leader. To overcome this drawback he needs to stop such vendettas against his enemies, and gain wider acceptance.
But one should appreciate the guts of Sanjiv Bhatt. He has made it clear that he will not compromise with the Modi government in any way. Bhatt told the court, "...there can be no compromise with the Modi govt. This is a battle of principles. I am ready to remain in jail for however long it takes."
Congress has taken full advantage of this situation and they have used this opportunity to strongly accuse Modi of political vendetta. Bhatt should rely on Congress to prevent himself from getting embroiled in more false cases that might have no basis but which might be simply meant to harass and intimidate him. Even Anna Hazare has condemned Modi for taking Bhatt to task. Anna has rightly said that this act on part of Modi is just not good for democracy in the country.

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