Documentary - "Inside: Red terror: India's biggest threat to democracy?" - Times Now

Aditya Raj Kaul, In Darbha Village, Bastar (Chattisgarh)

 

 (Part 1)

Heavily-armed Maoists ambushed a convoy of Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district on May 25, killing 27 people including Congress leader Mahendra Karma, ex-MLA Uday Mudliyar, state unit chief Nand Kumar Patel and his son. 32 others, including senior party leader V C Shukla, were injured. The audacious assault carried out by Maoists on Congress workers in Chhattisgarh appears to be the first major organised attack on the leadership of a political party by ultras. Chhattisgarh is considered as hot-bed of left-wing extremists. The Maoist attack on the democracy of India is a grim reminder of how red terror has made a comeback. There is outrage across the nation even as the self-appointed peacemakers continue their crusade. The biggest challenge for the security forces is to ensure a peaceful atmosphere in the Naxal infected Chhattisgarh state.

Rattled by the incident in poll-bound Chhattisgarh, top leaders including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi and party Vice President Rahul Gandhi visited the state. Banned outfit CPI (Maoist) claimed responsibility for the massacre of Congress leaders in Bastar region and demanded immediate suspension of all operations against it across the country. CPI (Maoist) in a statement accused slained leaders Karma, architect of Salwa Judum (people's movement against naxalism) and Nand Kumar Patel, Pradesh Congress Chief of corruption and implementing anti-people policies in Chhattisgarh. The outfit accused senior Congress leader V C Shukla, who sustained serious injuries in the attack and at present undergoing treatment in a hospital in Gurgaon, of playing an "active role" in framing pro-industrialist measures in the state. While condemning the attack by Naxals on a convoy of Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh, the People's Union for Civil Liberties has said the government must understand the grim human rights situation prevailing in the area before launching a counter-offensive. Left parties condemned the brutal Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh saying they disapproved violent retribution against political opponents, but opposed the killings of and atrocities against innocent tribals there.

(Part 2)

Did India give China upper hand? - Times Now Exclusive

It has been 96 hours since Chinese troops dismantled their tents in Ladakh region. But what provoked China to set camp in the DBO sector in the first place? After several failed meetings, what led to their sudden return? The government had rejected the reports of any negotiations with China but TIMES NOW reveals the complete inside story behind the standoff and how the government's version may be far from the truth.

India-China standoff - Aditya Raj Kaul Reporting for Times Now from LAC

  

 

Sarabjit Singh dies in Lahore hospital - Times Now

Reporting on May 2nd, 2013

Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh died of cardiac arrest in a Lahore hospital in the wee hours today after being comatose for nearly a week following a brutal assault by other inmates of a high-security jail, officials said.

 

Partial relief for 480 Pakistani Hindu refugees in New Delhi - Times Now

Aditya Raj Kaul, Times Now

Watch it here - http://www.timesnow.tv/videoshow/4425125.cms (Click link, wait for advt. to play)

What comes as some relief to the Pakistani Hindus staying in India, the Ministry of external Affairs has granted a one-month visa extension to all those who failed to return after expiry of their visas on April 8. But, the rufugees do not want to go back to Pakistan, say they would rather die in India than go back.

Halfway House

Life has become nocturnal. It seemingly has condensed for now. As days and nights pass by, the dawn has escaped into a permanent dusk. It isn’t darkness forever, even though bringing in gasps of hopelessness from the eerie cigarette puffs. It’s a state of conscious slumber perhaps. Yes, it is. This time, it is. For time cannot stand in stillness. And the heart cannot just remain floating forever on a coffee mug.

But, today, there is stillness in the heart and everywhere else. The sinking hasn’t ended for days. It might not very soon. In a solitary sea like a lost island, sorrow has girdled the heart.

As Orhan Pamuk writes in The Museum of Innocence, “In poetically well-built museums, formed from the heart's compulsions, we are consoled not by finding in them old objects that we love, but by losing all sense of Time.”

The sense of time has been lost in these empty, uncounted days, in anticipation of spring. The spring that once was. And that will be.

As a friend scribbled recently, “So that we’re never alone after sunset” on a book, it set a sense of euphoria within. There was hope beyond the heart’s aching corridors. Today, the heart may be a halfway house amidst hollow forts of hope. Tomorrow, the lost will be back.

The shadow of hope quivers in these days and nights. In this city, abuzz with celebration every day, the moon glances through the window each night as if sparkling with innocence.

And then, came the commercially celebrated, day of love. Roses swung at each other. Hearts crossed with an arrow. As I stood amidst the chants of promises and lively discourses on relationships, there was everything, even happiness but love visible to the naked eye. Love had become a ‘hookah bar’ today.

It’s been pouring heavy all through the weekend. The sound of raindrops brings peace. It mustn’t stop. There is calmness in the air, as these raindrops fall on the trees across the window in the darkness of the night. Even the leaves, creating a sound of chuckle, are forlorn. ‘I want to live in this melody forever’, the mind wonders. It’s however, a time when loneliness torments you much more than ever. And you pass out, dreading the silence.

As Pablo Neruda writes in his poem ‘White Bee’

“Ah you who are silent!

Here is the solitude from which you are absent.

It is raining. The sea wind is hunting stray gulls.

The water walks barefoot in the wet streets.

From that tree the leaves complain as though they were sick.

White bee, even when you are gone you buzz in my soul.

You live again in time, slender and silent.

Ah you who are silent!”

Fanatics and hypocrites

 From The Sunday Indian Magazine

Afzal Guru's hanging showcases phony drama, crocodile tears and genuine grief. 

Aditya Raj Kaul paints an evocative picture.

“We all are Afzal”, read a poster held tightly by a JNU Kashmiri Muslim student at a hurriedly-organised protest march by pro-separatist and ultra-leftist groups in New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, hours after Mohammad Afzal Guru, key conspirator of the attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001, was secretly executed at Tihar Jail on February 9.

The air was full of anger, betrayal and fury. ``We won’t forget our martyr”, proclaimed a poster held high by a Kashmiri girl in a veil. By the time the protest was dispersed by the Delhi Police personnel, Guru’s last rites had been carried out inside Delhi's high-security Tihar central prison and the Kashmir valley was clamped down under a curfew not seen since the tense summer months of 2010.

Naturally, it was a busy day for all who have a stake in the omnipresent Kashmir story, especially in the Indian republic's capital – and there are many. While TV anchors tried to grab brownie points by determining the timing of when Guru had been informed about the hanging, a speed post was silently booked by the government at the New Delhi GPO in the name of Tabassum, wife of Afzal Guru, telling her what the world already knew. Shockingly but not surprisingly, in this age of online mobility, the speed post reached Baramulla in Kashmir precisely three days after Guru’s death.

There is little doubt that the action on Afzal Guru has been carefully crafted in the run up to the 2014 General Elections. To stave off immediate repercussions in the valley, the government ensured that the three key vocal separatist voices in Kashmir were sent on guided vacations.

JKLF chief Yasin Malik, a self-confessed terrorist claiming Gandhian lineage, was allowed to visit Pakistan to pay his in-laws a courtesy visit; eventually he sat on a hunger strike at the Islamabad Press Club against the hanging, in tandem with who else, but India's most-wanted terrorist Hafiz Sayeed, himself on a courtesy call to Malik.

Hurriyat hawk Syed Ali Shah Geelani, never happy with Kashmir's harsh winters, decided to stay put at his daughter’s Malviya Nagar home in New Delhi, as did chairman of the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, at his apartment in south Delhi's Kalkaji area. Both of them were under house arrest by the Delhi Police and all efforts to reach them by TSI have so far remained fruitless.

While India’s liberal elite mourned the death of a man who they called victim of a “flawed judicial process”, the right-wing swung into action as only they can - by a liberal distribution of sweets and an even more liberal thumping of chests. The BJP, woken up from its slumber and rounds of internecine warfare, stood with the government, but added a caveat saying the hanging was `12 years too late'.

The National Conference (NC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) – both in direct line of fire -  decided to act outraged, accusing New Delhi of acting in haste without realising the negativity it would generate amongst the Kashmiris. The PDP national spokesperson was seen empathising with the family of Afzal Guru and warning New Delhi of further `alienation' of Kashmiris from the Indian mainstream.

As for the oratory skills of Kashmiri analysts and politicians of all shades, their opinions were most difficult to comprehend. Any TV debate, ended inevitably in a fish-market brawl, lacking logic and facts, high on decibel quotient and wholly suited to the demands of light and sound entertainment.

According to insiders, when much crocodile tears had been shed in the day time, a few among the moist-eyed separatists decided to hit a posh south Delhi restaurant known for its Kashmiri delicacies - listening to the famous Kashmiri singer Rashid Hafiz, who belted out one popular number after the other.

Exactly 29 years after Maqbool Bhat was hanged at the same place and about the same time of the year, it seems the central government has learnt no lessons. Bureaucrats at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) seem to have simply copy-pasted the Maqbool Bhat hanging formula, denying the basic right for the family to even meet Afzal Guru.

While there may be wide-ranging similarities between Bhat and Guru, who amongst other commonalities, were recruits of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) and were trained in arms across the border in Pakistan, the UPA government has left no stone unturned to make Guru a martyr for the separatist plank of azadi. The babus of MHA, generally known to engage separatists cleverly, have provided fodder to the virtually dead spectacle of the separatists. Separatists cheerleaders are now crying hoarse from their comfortable bungalows in New Delhi. Afzal Guru, they believe, will be the new Che Guevara - if not in spirit then on on t-shirts.

Among other things in question is the legal representation given to Afzal Guru by the state, even though the two-man Supreme Court bench of P. Venkatarama Reddi and P.P. Naolekar found “no substance in this contention”. The same apex court had earlier acquitted Delhi University professor S.A.R. Gilani of all charges in the same case citing technical grounds.

“Those who are intervening in the campaign to save Afzal but have no commitment to Indian nationalism are not doing any service to his cause”, wrote Supreme Court advocate and human rights activist Nandita Haksar in her book ‘Framing Geelani, Hanging Afzal’. Her conclusions: “We must never underestimate the appeal of nationalism”. Even though she poignantly remembered and wrote about the sufferings of a prisoner accused of ‘waging war against the state’, the reflections were convoluted with anger, raw emotions and a discourse which few could identify with.

A pusillanimous campaign now underway, instead of demanding reform in criminal laws, continues to question the Indian state’s position on Kashmir. Those postulating over the Kashmir issue may do some good by asking local Muslims to internalise on who they strive to be with – a crumbling nation crippled by internal strife or a country which stands for secularism and diversity.

A debate within the stakeholders on Kashmir is need of the hour. Not necessarily the Aman Ki Asha model, neither the misnomer of Kashmiriyat, nor even meetings like those organised annually by Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai in the Capitol Hill, United States, where he invented reasons to abuse India till he was arrested by FBI on charges of being a Pakistani spy. Interestingly, his list of invitees included reputed names from the Indian media, think-tanks, analysts and of course the separatists.

In the wake of a threatening attack on the first-ever girls rock-band from Kashmir, Pragaash, and an acid attack on a Kashmiri girl which went almost unnoticed and unreported, the debate becomes vital. “I do realize and regret that due to us (Kashmiri Muslim terrorists), Muslims in the rest of India get a bad name”, said Afzal Guru in a confession aired on TV channels soon after he was apprehended in 2001.

The tragedy of intolerance developing in the Kashmiri society, fashioned no doubt by some excesses of the Indian state, is best understood by a Kashmiri axiom ‘anyem soi, wavem soi, lagem soi panesei’, or ‘as you sow, so shall you reap’.

Thanks to the government's mishandling of Guru's hanging, it may become an issue of debate and in his death, he may well emerge as the new poster boy of jehad. As Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah put it, the new generation of Kashmiris "who may not have identified with Maqbool Bhat will identify with Afzal Guru”.

Aiding and abetting this sense of alienation are celebrity fiction writers like Arundhati Roy, who remarked famously at an event to discuss Freedom in October 2010 at New Delhi, ``bhooka nanga Hindustan, jaan se pyaara Pakistan’ (hunger-stricken and naked India, Pakistan more beloved than life). To prepare such a dangerous cocktail for her Kashmiri brethren in the garb of liberal discourse only does disservice to the idea of human rights and justice. The hollowness of the leftist diatribe, if not put under introspection, may end up aping right-wing fanatical rhetoric and that is not good news.

The Indian government may now not just have to open its arms but ears as well by listening to the genuine voices of estrangement coming from various sections of Jammu and Kashmir. The farce of a round-table dialogue which will decide the date of next meeting, does not demonstrate serious engagement.

In the days ahead it would be a challenge for the Indian government to contain terror groups from expanding and operating through sleeper cells, as happened months and years after the hanging of Maqbool Bhat in 1984. The judge who delivered the verdict, Justice Neelkanth Ganjoo, was mercilessly killed by suspected JKLF terrorists soon after.

Bhat, who was one of the first from the JKLF to cross the Radcliffe Line for training, could well inspire others to do the same; attempt a violent uprising in the name of religion and ensure a recipe for disaster. After all, terrorism, which spread like gangrene, did not mrerely dent Kashmir, it expanded its base  to all corners of India, most notably the attack on Parliament in 2001.

Afzal Guru, a bright, educated and fresh-faced Kashmiri, with a family to look after, was emboldened to carry out an attack in which the chances of success were indeed very little. As one observer put it, ``the hanging has, perhaps, put a question mark over the failure and unwillingness of the political system to bring long-lasting peace in Kashmir.''

The apex court in its decision on Afzal Guru was very clear. ``The present case, which has no parallel in the history of Indian Republic, presents us in crystal clear terms, a spectacle of rarest of rare cases”, it said, adding, ``the very idea of attacking and overpowering a sovereign democratic institution by using powerful arms and explosives and imperiling the safety of a multitude of peoples' representatives, constitutional functionaries and officials of Government of India and engaging into a combat with security forces is a terrorist act of gravest severity.'' Point is how do you explain it to the bleeding hearts industry?

The Unpredictability of Love

Among other things life fosters unpredictability.  At times for good, mostly for the worse. There is a furor against it. An upheaval of emotions searching for the missing link. In desperation, heartaches and anguish it’s difficult to fall in line with life as usual. A permanent haze sets in as dusk to a ravishing dawn.

She was a born lover. It was like a twinkle in her kohl black eyes. From the beginning she opened her arms wide in joy, overwhelmed with life. Life was a celebration of its colors. The freedom to dance in the quilt of clouds. In longing to explore the hidden invisible corners. It was the simplicity of her zeal. The madness of her enthusiasm. And the mere independence of her style that made her love. In short, life overtook love. 

He too was a born lover. It was deep inside his nervous heart. From the beginning he stood for his commitment in all fairness, devotion. Love was beyond everything. Love was a lifelong worship. It was madness of a different kind. It was a full blown emotionally fulfilling. In trance he remained. Forever. Oblivious to the mistakes. 

She was perched high. With her loud voice, out in open. There was determination to conquer. 

He was slanted low. With his roaring nervous heart, in longing. There was hope against hope.

She now sleeps in solitude to live a dream. 

He wanders alone to be a part of the dream. 

Both separated by silence. In waiting he remains to be her sunshine; she his moonlight.

Solitary Flames of Tibet

The self-immolations by suppressed Tibetans continue to tarnish Beijing's image while some have now even begun to  question the Dalai Lama's continued silence over the gory cycle of fiery deaths, writes Aditya Raj Kaul

The Sunday Indian Magazine

Located in the northeast corner of the Tibetan plateau, the traditional province of Amdo is plush with beautiful grasslands and rugged mountain ranges. But the picturesque beauty of the brilliantly white stupas and pretty monasteries is marred by the presence of massive security forces over the last few months. The police crackdown is a result of the increase in self-immolations by monks at the restive Kirti Monastery, a 600-year-old temple in the Aba prefecture of Sichuan province, which borders Qinghai and Gansu. Of the 90-plus people that have self-immolated inside Tibet since February 27, 2009; as many as 20 were monks or former monks at the Kirti Monastery – the latest being two teenaged Tibetans who set themselves afire near the eastern gate of the temple on August 27.

The influence of Kirti Monastery is now visible across the region in many small and big temples. Most towns and cities in Tibet are heavily guarded by police and anti-riot SWAT forces, while a reserve of the military is forever stationed on the outskirts of major townships. While CCTV cameras peek surreptitiously from vantage points at most public places, informers in plainclothes have penetrated just as deep into the personal spaces of monks, nuns, students, housewives, artists, farmers and nomads across the region. Armed Public Security Bureau (PSB) units regularly patrol streets carrying machine guns, fire extinguishers, iron rods and riot shields. Authorities have also formed SOS fire brigades at sensitive locations.

Suppressed rage against China’s continued occupation of Tibet and despair among people in the region has reached such a nadir that in November alone there has been one self-immolation a day on an average – mostly by monks facing difficulties in religious freedom, teens running out of patience with the Dalai Lama’s middle path and the aged seeing no other way to support the ‘Free Tibet’ movement. Beijing’s repression of Tibetans is no longer hidden from the world.

November was also the month when the Chinese Communist Party unveiled its new leadership slate, headed by Xi Jinping. But far across in the Himalayan plateau, the wave of self-immolations in the Tibetan region has only increased since the leadership change. “Tibetans have responded to China's extreme repression by setting themselves on fire to call for freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama. These heartbreaking acts of nonviolent protest deserve an immediate and stronger effort from the global community to hold the Chinese government accountable for its atrocities in Tibet," says Tenzin Dorjee, executive director of Students for a Free Tibet.

"Tibetans and Tibet supporters on five continents are laying down a challenge to the Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping: stand on the right side of history and answer the Tibetan peoples' demand for freedom,” adds Dorjee.

The 14th Dalai Lama, meanwhile, is unnaturally silent over the ball of fire that continues to scorch Tibet – attributing the wave of self-immolations to the brutal crackdown by the Chinese authorities on Tibetan culture and religion or what he refers to as “cultural genocide”. The revered leader, who relinquished his political role in March 2011, according to Lobsang Sangay, the Prime Minister of Tibetan government-in-exile, “spends more time on his spiritual pursuits.”

Several Tibetan writers, scholars and activists have called upon the Dalai Lama to issue a formal appeal to stop the self-immolations, but the spiritual leader’s silence, many believe, is encouraging the gory phase of violent deaths as the final means to achieve freedom for Tibetans.

Earlier this year on being asked whether Tibetans should stop setting themselves on fire, he replied with a firm, “No answer”, raising quite a few eyebrows. “Past history clearly shows that violence cannot solve problems,” tweeted the Dalai Lama on November 12 from Japan. The same day Nyingchak Boom and Nyingkar Tashi, both in their youth, died of self-immolation in Rebkong County of Tibet.

China, which is desperately trying to douse the fires raging across Tibet, accuses the Dalai Lama of inciting these self-immolations. According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei, the Dalai Lama’s accusation that the Chinese government has failed to investigate the root cause of despair and hopelessness among Tibetans, was designed to only “gain his political end of splitting China.”

"Not only did the Dalai not condemn them, but he actually glorified these acts, which are against the national law and religious principles," Hong said.

The Chinese authorities have not faced such massive unplanned resistance in their own backyard in recent times and Beijing’s paranoia continues to grow. The authorities have now announced a reward of $ 7,700 for those who inform police about the planned self-immolations.

A notice pasted around the region states, "Anyone who reports and informs the legal authorities on the people who plan, incite to carry out, control and lure people to commit self-immolation will be awarded 50,000 yuan ($ 7,700)." The notice, which refers to organised groups of Tibetans who plan self-immolations as "black hands", assures a reward of 200,000 yuan to those giving advance information about planned suicides.

"The Tibetans who are self-immolating  have clearly not been dissuaded by the security buildup or other means of official intimidation," International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) head Mary Beth Markey has said. “Unless and until there is some initiative that can break through the cycle of repression and protest, I think we all acknowledge that more Tibetans will be prepared to take the agonising action of self-immolation,” she added. Worried about the status quo in the region, Lobsang Sangay even issued an urgent appeal to the international community recently to support the 'Solidarity with Tibet' campaign in 2013, to be organised by the Tibetan government-in-exile to lobby support for their cause amidst silence over the increase in self-immolations across Tibet.

Undoubtedly, the strained relationship between China and Tibet has grown much more than the geographic distance of 2000 kms between Beijing and Sichuan. It would only become clear in the next few months if new Chinese leader Jinping will overcome internal resistance and change  his nation's stated position and bring peace to the troubled region. Either that or the Dalai Lama must exercise his religious sway and urge Tibetans to stop this fiery cycle of death. Until then, the flames of agony are likely to keep burning bright.

Exclusive: The Narendra Modi Interview - The Sunday Indian Magazine

A man for all seasons 

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in conversation with Aditya Raj Kaul

 

Narendra Modi avoids the media like plague. What has to be said is told in the public domain, interviews of any kind are a strict no no. Yet the Gujarat strongman agreed to talk to Aditya Raj Kaul in an exclusive and rare interview, propounding his world view like never before. TSI had first approached him for an exclusive chat in August. Four months later, the reticent Chief Minister agreed when convinced this was not another hatchet job.

 

Narendra Modi is the man of the moment in Indian politics. Forever in the headlines with his earthy humour and home spun quips, the forthcoming Gujarat Assembly elections have taken Modimania to a new hysterical level.

A sneeze here, a veiled attack there, a breezy reference to the Gandhi family, all are cannon fodder for a media driven by the Gujarat chief minister, making him easily the most watched politician in the country today.

Narendra ‘bhai’ as he is known to Gujaratis, is no West-educated yuppie in the mold of several Congress wannabes. With a somewhat modest education, he joined the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) in his teens and has continued with the parent organisation since.

As chief minister of Gujarat for more than a decade, this enfant terrible of Indian politics has spent a decade or nearly three terms in office. It may seem like a long period but by no stretch of imagination can it be described as a cake walk.

Modi's legion of powerful critics are a force to reckon with. He has been accused of being a 'mass murderer' by those who see in him a combination of Hitler, Mussolini and Franco. He has been charged with sitting through, or worse, being involved in the Godhra riots of 2002, the prelude to an orgy of communal rioting in Gujarat which continues to reverberate even today. Since then, an entire human rights industry has spawned around Modi, backed by unrelenting judicial activism.

The riot focus on this former RSS pracharak has dissolved, just a bit, after the Supreme Court-appointed SIT recently gave Modi a clean chit in the post-Godhra Gulberg massacre case and sought its closure as it found no evidence against him. Congress MP Ehsan Jafri was among the 69 killed in Gulberg in the 2002 massacre.

The Congress too has shifted its criticism to his politics of development, struggling to find attractive ways to strike at his formidable base. At 62, with over a million followers on Twitter, Modi is slowly overcoming his pariah status. The United Kingdom recently sent its High Commissioner to meet him in Ahmedabad and no less than the Americans – avid watchers of the Indian scene as they are – privately believe that he could be India's next prime minister in 2014.

Ahmedabad itself is a riot of colours. There is virtually no road, lane or market which does not have his smiling, bearded visage, looking out from giant hoardings, as if trying to connect with the people. The story is much the same in rest of the state. Despite some naysayers – and there are a few – the Gujarat state Assembly elections are virtually Modi vs the rest.

The day of the interview turned out to be auspicious for the Hindu strongman. The BJP manifesto on Gujarat was released and politically he was breathing easier with unexpected party support from the likes of veteran Lal Krishna Advani and Sushma Swaraj. The constant power struggle in the BJP has ensured that Modi keep his cards close to his chest. He is, as yet, to bet big on Delhi because Gujarat is in the way.

adityaraj@thesundayindian.com

"Secularism is in India's DNA"

What does 'secularism' mean to Narendra Modi?

Secularism is a term interpreted in many different ways. For me, it has always meant something very simple – putting India first; designing policy, taking decisions and ensuring action in the best interests of the nation. When we look after India’s interests, the interest of every Indian is automatically ensured. My government  functions on the principle of ‘justice to all and appeasement to none’. Gujarat’s successful inclusive and sustainable growth model is driven by the idea of 'sabka saath, sabka vikas' (all together, development for all). We have always achieved universal objectives – ‘water for all', 'education for all', 'health for all', 'power for all' and so on. Every member of our six crore Gujarati family has benefited from a decade plus of all round, sustainable and inclusive development. That to me is true secularism. It is also important to remember that secularism is in the DNA of Indians. We have, for centuries believed in vasudhaiva kutumbakam (the whole world is our family). Why then the need of dividing countrymen along sectarian lines? The so-called ‘secular politics’ is nothing but vote bank politics. Such vote bank politics is the bane of our nation and only when it ends will we be able to understand and live up to the true meaning of secularism.

Do you believe the post-Godhra riots issue is a thing of the past in the 2012 Gujarat Assembly elections and development has taken centre stage?

Gujarat has enjoyed unprecedented peace in the last ten years with no communal riots, curfew etc. Development has clearly taken centre stage and will be the sole agenda in these elections. My message to everyone continues to be very simple – if you want to defeat me then do more for the people and deliver more development. I have always championed ‘developmental politics’ and am glad to see the Congress being forced to do the same. The idea of evaluating governments on development has already become the core focus across the country and it is time the Congress awakens and catches up.

You have alleged that the central government has been handing out step-motherly treatment to Gujarat.

It is a matter of great concern today that the federal structure of India has come under increasing strain, contrary to the spirit enshrined in the Constitution, merely to suit the whims and fancies of the rulers in Delhi. What we are witnessing today is a gradual and systematic dismantling of the federal structure. There has been brazen Central interference in powers assigned  to the states in the name of ‘development’, ‘public welfare’ and ‘people's rights’ in recent years, even on issues that are marked out on the state list. These are imposed on the states without taking into account their capacity and financial burden. The Right to Education and National Food Security Acts are examples of such imposition of financial burden on the state by the Centre. The Gujarat Control of Organised Crime Bill (GUJCOC) passed in the state Legislative Assembly has been waiting for four years for a Central government nod. This despite Gujarat being a very sensitive border state. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the Union Home Ministry is another such attempt at interference. Real federalism should be partnership, not prescription. Instead, steps such as the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) order are Delhi's backdoor attack on the constitutional powers of the states. In this case, the central government has not even bothered to discuss the issue with state governments before passing such an order, a direct violation of the federal spirit of the Constitution. The Sarkaria Commission appointed by Indira Gandhi and the Punchchi committee recommended that whenever the Union government proposes a legislation on the Concurrent List, there should be prior consultation with the state government. Instead, more and more centralisation is taking place. The drafting of the Communal Violence Bill without adequate consultations with state governments is another case in point. Instead of helping the states, central institutions are used to corner opposition-ruled states and chief ministers. Unleashing the income tax department on investors of 2011 Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit and CBI on chief ministers of opposition-ruled states prove this point beyond doubt. There are numerous other instances which show the centre's anti-Gujarat bias. For example, Gujarat contributes Rs 50,000 crore to the central treasury in Delhi every year and gets only Rs 6,000 crore in return. Yet the Central government takes out full page ads in Gujarat’s newspapers publicising this Rs 6,000 crore as being the reason for all of Gujarat’s successes. Similar is the case of cotton production. Although Gujarat leads the country in production and export of cotton, yet the state's farmers face massive losses because of central government policies which bans cotton export. I have these concerns not only as chief minister but also as a common citizen. It is time the Centre realises that giving the states what rightfully belongs to them will not weaken the government in Delhi. States must coordinate with the Union government and not remain subservient to it. There should be cooperation federalism not coercion federalism. Central funds are not an obligation but the right of every state to further development. But the recommendations of the 13th Finance Commission reinforce the trend of centralisation. Despite the collective demand of all the states for a 50 per cent share of tax proceeds, there has been a mere increase of 1.5 percentage points from 30.5 per cent to 32. Isn’t this a gross injustice to India’s development dreams? It is imperative to understand that Indian citizens have identities beyond the common factor of being Indians. Respecting the diversity of this land, at the same time ensuring unity, the founding fathers of our Constitution envisioned a federal structure of government in which the states are equal stakeholders. Sitting in New Delhi, one cannot do justice to the potential and needs of the various states across India. Decentralisation makes the system both accountable and responsive.

Do you think Rahul Gandhi is a serious contender for the chair of the Prime Minister in 2014?

Dynastic politics is being practiced in the guise of giving way to the younger generation. India needs a fresh breeze of ideas and fresh breed of leadership. The people of this country have in fact already answered your question in repeated state elections. The common man is very intelligent and knows what is best for him – janta saab kuch jaanti hai’(the public knows everything). I have no doubt that the citizens will choose a strong, experienced and visionary leader to be their PM.

How would you rate Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in these two terms even as his government and several ministers have been under the scanner facing corruption charges.

The UPA government has been saddled with political instability, indecisive governance, policy paralysis and rampant corruption. As its leader, the prime minister is answerable to the nation. Unfortunately, however, he does not seem to be able to do much about anything. Rather than making progress, the country seems to be going backwards. The economic growth rate has fallen to a nine-year low of 5.3 per cent, inflation continues to remain very high and reforms have come to a virtual standstill. Further compounding troubles, the UPA government has become a government of scams – 2G, CWG, Coal-gate – the list goes on and on. Such abuse and pelf has vitiated the very integrity and foundations of our government systems, institutionalising corruption, cronyism and political patronage. People are losing faith in the government and more importantly, the India Story itself. The PM has not been able to provide the leadership and vision required and his government has miserably failed to deliver.

How difficult has it been to be constantly demonised in public?

The love and support that I have received from the people of Gujarat and India at large has been overwhelming. They are my driving force and I remain focused on working for them without being distracted for even a second. Such things are being engineered by a small group of vested interests. Democracy cannot exist without criticism. I therefore appreciate and even welcome criticism, as long as it not from people with vested interests. In fact, when such people throw stones at me, I make stairs out of those stones to take Gujarat even higher up the ladder of success.

On social networking sites your supporters are running a campaign – `Modi for PM'. How close is Narendra Modi to reaching 7 Race Course Road?

I have always lived by the principle of  aspiring to ‘do’ something rather than ‘become’ something. My life is therefore dedicated to working for the welfare and well-being of my  country. While it is gratifying to see our work being appreciated, I firmly believe that a strong India needs not just one strong prime minister, or even 28 strong chief ministers – it  equally needs hundreds of strong mayors, thousands of strong sarpanchs and so on. In fact, we in Gujarat have always seen our work and success as ultimately being India’s success.

Do you expect mid-term polls?

The UPA government has been a huge disappointment – it has lacked neeti, neta and niyat – and is fundamentally threatening the India Story. The manner in which this country is being run from Delhi is there for everyone to see. Ironically, for a government having come to power on the name of the ‘aam admi’, it is the ‘aam admi’ who has ended up being the biggest sufferer. The common man has lost complete confidence in such a government amidst various scams, scandals, lethargy and indecision. Plummeting growth, sky-rocketing prices, anti-people decisions and political bullying are pushing India to the brink. While the nation suffers, the government is busy clinging on to power through manipulation and coercion. Having clearly lost its moral authority to govern, it is only a matter of time before it implodes.

You are considered the most tech savvy chief minister in India. Has it helped in your mass popularity and appeal?

Technology is the cornerstone of modern day society – thus any person willing to learn and grow should embrace it. I have always pushed for leveraging on cutting edge technology for progress and development. I have embraced technology to directly connect with citizens and well-wishers of Gujarat, engaging with them for the rapid development of the state. Through technology, I can reach out to people on a daily basis, talking to far away villagers and farmers from my office itself. Moreover, I am sure that social media is the tool of the future in facilitating an open, transparent and consultative relationship between the government and its citizens. eGovernance to me is easy, effective and efficient governance. It delivers tremendous benefits: transparency, openness, curbing of corruption, increased efficiency, macro-linkages and so on. My government has therefore taken unprecedented steps in ushering eGovernance in all aspects of government functioning. Consider the following: we have the largest Wide Area Network in the Asia Pacific; we are the first to provide broadband connectivity in all schools and villages; we make maximum use of video-conferencing including trial of prisoners; a number of our other eInitiatives have received numerous national and international awards. Prominent examples include: Swagat, eDhara, eProcurement, eGram, Jan Seva Kendra, Talim Rojgar, Vatis etc. Our ICT-based Grievance Redressal System (Swagat) has been honoured with the United Nation's Public Service Award for ‘improving transparency, accountability and responsiveness’. People's voice is the key driver in a democracy and listening to that voice is the key test of good governance. Swagat operates on this very principle and every month my team and I consider grievance cases through multi-video conferencing with all 26 districts and 225 taluka offices. This is the first time that the common citizen can access the highest level of office with officers present in real-time through video-conferencing. The advanced technology system allows attention and monitoring of grievances across the state to ensure resolution.

How does your government see the recent move by the central government on FDI in retail?

FDI in multi-brand retail as it is has been implemented recently, will harm small shopkeepers, adversely affect domestic manufacturing and create joblessness. It will also result in cheap goods produced outside being dumped into India. We must therefore first strengthen our manufacturing base before opening up to FDI in retail – ensuring maximum material sourcing domestically. While the President of a liberalised economy such as the US himself urges people to buy from small business instead of large malls as a bulwark against unemployment, our government seems hell bent on destruction. With such an anti-people move, the PM and Central government seem to have redefined democracy as `of the foreigners, by the foreigners and for the foreigners.' Any government should be for the common people and their benefit and we will be standing against any decision which hampers the interest of the common man.

How big a loss is the passing away of Bal Thackeray for you? How would you remember him?

Losing a great patriot like Balasaheb Thackeray is indeed a loss to the nation. Such leaders leave behind an imprint that is not easily forgotten. Full of life, Balasaheb Thackeray was an epitome of courage and valour. He kept himself away from the corridors of politics and built an entire political party. Moreover, he never compromised on patriotism.

What would be your concern and challenge if you come to power yet again in January 2013?

Gujarat’s developmental story is talked about across the world today. We have done a lot, but are still not satisfied. We are not ready to rest on our past laurels and are focused on building an even brighter future! We have already set high benchmarks for ourselves across various developmental domains and people’s expectations having correspondingly risen as well. Our real challenge will thus be to not only meet but exceed our own expectations and benchmarks, to achieve my vision of placing Gujarat among the league of developed regions of the world, build a glorious Gujarat which offers greater opportunities than the most promising  places in the world.

adityaraj@thesundayindian.com