Why it’s hard to dismiss Ishrat killing as a one-off incident

Finally it is not about any singular political figure or encounter killings of members of a particular community or riots, the entire post-Modi Gujarat discourse is about ideology. It is an ideology built around identity and is thus inherently exclusivist. It encourages and heartily endorses the muscular, and masculine, approach to inter-community issues and in general problem solving. And yes, threat is an essential weapon in the promotion and sustenance of such ideology. Thus, it is difficult to dismiss the killing of of Ishrat Jahan and others by the Gujarat police as a one off incident with no deeper connotation. To start with, it was never one off. It forms part of a series of encounters that took place between 2002 and 2006. Together with the riots of 2002, the Gaurav Yatra taken out by Narendra Modi soon after the violence - it was a chest-thumping exercise aimed at thanking people for the heroism they displayed during the riots, and the general approach of the administration towards the Muslims, the encounter killings throw up a pattern. [caption id=“attachment_928085” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Ishrat Jahan. IBNLive[/caption] Gujarat had had riots earlier too, instigated both by the Right wingers and the Congress and there is no reason to doubt that there would have been encounter cases before 2002. But never earlier was the pattern, with the state as the visible centrepiece, this distinct. The pattern involves sustained cooperation among different elements of the state and forces from outside to promoting an ideological agenda.That is one of the reasons why the 2002 riots refuse to leave Modi alone. The link between the Hindu nationalist agenda of the Sangh Parivar and the Modi government could be perceptional, but the state government has shown no particular urgency to dispel it. It beggars belief that a chief minister known for micromanaging all the affairs of the state would be unaware of the encounter killings happening under his nose. It is also difficult to accept that the trigger-happy police officers were working on their own without any tacit permission from the political masters. There has to be connection between the two. Again, the fact that so many police officials were involved - both in the execution of the actual operation and then the cover-up during investigations - provide the narrative a sharp ideological perspective. What gives more credence to the ideological angle is the strong defence of the BJP of the Gujarat government in response to the chargesheet filed by the CBI. The party was quick to deflect attention from the question whether the extrajudicial killings of the Muslims was morally and legally justifiable. It shifted to the usual Right wing macho ideological line on the way to deal with terrorists. It insisted on Ishrat and others being terrorists and in a way suggested that they deserved to be eliminated in this fashion. The Right has traditionally been impatient with democratic and judicial processes and a big advocate of the idea of instant, and gratifying justice. The BJP with its response to the CBI’s affidavit has indicated that it is prepared to make the approach a national talking point. It would be aware of the fact that Gujarat is expected to throw up many more cases in the future and the approach to it could not be scattered. The best way to handle these would be to stick to a singular ideological line and build a jingoistic frenzy around the issue of terror. Eventually there would be many takers for the approach. Since the party and the Sangh Parivar have decided on going ahead with Modi as their face in the run up to the elections in 2014 despite his several limitations, they have to stand by him now. They have to spin the encounter and other stories well to fit them into his muscular approach to all issues, local, national and even international. It would not please the minority communities - remember, the fight of the Hindutva forces is not against the Muslims only - or the liberals in the country, but that is the only way to go. The Indian Right is getting ready for its biggest fight ever and staking everything on it. Finally, everything is about ideology.