Gujarat riots: It's time Modi and BJP cleared the air

The Supreme Court’s ruling directing the trial court to examine the report of the Special Investing Team (SIT) and decide whether Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi should be probed in connection with the Gulbarg Society massacre case is open to interpretations. No wonder, both the detractors and the supporters are claiming victory. While his supporters might be elated imagining that the ruling has taken Modi off the hook, it might not be the case. The SIT report, which apparently has some negative remarks on the Chief Minister’s role during the riots, will be studied by an Ahmedabad court in detail. There are chances that the court might be convinced that there’s a valid charge against Modi and it might order an investigation against him. His detractors don’t have a strong case either since the apex court has not made any adverse remarks against him. They have to argue and convince the lower court about the merits of their demand for a probe, which may prove to be a difficult task. It’s possible that the original SIT report and amicus curae Raju Ramachandran’s subsequent status report don’t find the evidence against Modi strong enough to logically end in an FIR. [caption id=“attachment_81662” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Why can’t Modi say he is ready for a probe? It would add sheen to his image and the effect would be rewarding politically. Amit Dave/Reuters”] [/caption] Did the apex court carefully avoid taking a definitive call on the politically sensitive issue? There’s no apparent reason why it would do so but the assumption does not look far-fetched. What it finally means is we are no closer to unraveling this crucial aspect of the Gujarat riots conundrum than we were earlier. No big fish has been nailed in close to a decade after the riots which claimed over 1,000 lives. We may have to wait for one more decade till all procedural niceties and the subsequent probes are over. It would be a painful wait for Chief Minister Modi and his party, the BJP, too if they have nothing to hide. The riots have been the proverbial albatross around the necks of both since 2002. They have made Modi, the party’s showcase Chief Minister and its potential Prime Ministerial candidate, unacceptable to a large section of the population and parties. The BJP, which has nearly evened up with the Congress in corruption by this time, stands to lose further if the debate over the riots keeps stretching unendingly. It will be branded a communal party till it comes clean. It’s big political disadvantage. The developments around the riots remain a mystery. There are hints that there are multiple layers of operations to cover up the truth. Three senior officials have come out in the open with ’evidence’ which they claim is good enough to nail the chief minister and senior officials. They have been victimised for their action too. Ten years on, grave allegations of grave omission and commission keep floating around. It’s time Modi and the BJP cleared the air. It is good for the long-term prospects of both. Why can’t Modi say he is ready for a probe? It would add sheen to his image and the effect would be rewarding politically. He is known to be a clear-headed, no-nonsense administrator. Such an offer would make him real political heavyweight by garnering for him pan-Indian appreciation. The same applies to the party too. It has lost much of its moral gloss in recent times and has stopped being the party with a difference it claimed to be. It needs to come up with something dramatic to come up in popular esteem and leap far beyond the hopelessly floundering Congress. The party has been vocal about bringing the prime minister under the purview of the institution of Lokpal and making him open to investigations. It can set an example by making Modi face a probe. The judiciary, of course, is doing no justice to its image by pushing the case into the maze of procedures, which keeps delaying the truth from coming out. The riots cases have gone on for too long. They have to be settled one way or the other.