The Modi Basher Sanjeev Bhatt’s Quest for Glory

The evil here that stalks the land was something one saw dramatically illustrated on the night of June 4, 2011 at the Ramlila grounds when a harmless middle aged woman from the less privileged sections of society had her spine broken and all four limbs paralysed and her agonised passing away some three months later. None of the Beautiful People mourned for her. The silence from the liberal elite is deafening.

This is the link that must be looked at when that other dubious character  comes out to greet Sanjeev Bhatt. She herself has been indicted for breaking the law, fabrication of evidence and suborning of witnesses in her maniacal quest not so much for personal revenge for the death of Muslims or Hindus in the Godhra riots but like Bhatt by a quest for personal glory. Otherwise she would not have dragged India to a world forum. Enormous funds are also coming her way.

Equally, the link to the evil stalking the land can be traced to the person who effectively runs the fortunes of the Congress Party in India. Should this surprise anyone, since the lack of interest in India’s wellbeing can surely be expected ?The country is now once again under colonial rule, being milked for what it is worth. Then it was under the auspices of an occupying power, now it is with the complicity of a supposedly democratically elected government.

The cases against Sanjeev Bhatt are serious and the law will take its course. His current euphoria will not last long. But it does reflect the general indifference of the liberal elite that just as Rajabala’s tragedy has been ignored so also the ghastly events of the burning of Hindu pilgrims in the Sabaramti Express has been forgotten in the intertwining of individual quests for glory and the ruling party’s greed and ambition.

As Nicole Elfi has pointed out in her article ‘ Godhra : The True Story’ (2008) there were some honourable exceptions, such as the journalist and editor of Hindustan Times, Vir Sanghvi, whose moving words on the event have been quoted fully by Elfi. Her account like many others on the nationalist side, highlights the fact that the burning of the Hindu pilgrims in the Sabarmati Express was indeed a calculated and planned event. The main culprits fled to Pakistan, a few have been sent to jail.

On the other hand, the post Godhra riots were a spontaneous retaliatory attack by outraged Hindus. As she and other writers have pointed out there was no sign of any attack planned by anyone, including the government of Gujarat. Her article is well worth a re read at this juncture. The best efforts of some reporters from the liberal media cannot pin anything on Modi.

With the inauguration of Narendra Modi’s Sadbhavana and the all round prosperity and communal peace in Gujarat for the last 9 years it might seem redundant to recall the Sabarmati Express. Neverthless, it must be recalled if only to set the record straight. And especially it should not be forgotten so that the one sided narrative pushed by the anti nationalists can be put in perspective. And so that the pilgrims who died that night can be remembered and commemorated.