When i first read it, i resisted writing anything. Then i read it again and couldnt resist myself. When i read all this, my reactions ranged from anger to humour then frustration and finally disappointment. There was this article in TOI few days back, 'Why Gujarat is Special'. And i couldn't help laughing at the ideas expressed by the writer. He claims to have gone deep into the psychological analysis of Gujaratis and studied well the history of Gujarat. He feels communalism is deep rooted in Gujarat since centuries. There were the somnath riots in last century. Then Gujarat lost mumbai almost half a century back. And Gujaratis are angry over these losses and their suppressed anger is coming out in the form of votes to Modi. At least he agrees that the people of the state had reasons to be angry and injustice was done to them in the past. But i wonder how many gujaratis had somnath riots and mumbai on their minds while they voted. Infact i didn't even know about that ages old riots. And what about the cosmopoliton public living in the state and also those muslims who voted for modi? What lured them to vote for such a person? The writers views are just strange and too far - fetched. He is astonished at the elections results. So intead of justing sitting and wondering that how could people elect a person like Modi, why doesn't he do some ground work? Just visit the state and ask the voters. Go and see exactly how much maldeveloped the state is. ( he referred to Gujarat as a maldeveloped state. And it has been among the most developed states of the country since years).
Then i read 'Blame the middle class'. Ahhh! That prompted me to write something.The writer says that the urban middle class of the state is responsible for the politics of hate. Well, how many money-minded gujaratis exactly have caste and religion on their minds on a day-to-day basis? Then here's one quote ' Development in the state now justifies amorality, abridgemet of freedom and collpase of social ethics.' Since when is a job well done called amoral? Is not allowing people to resort to corruption called abridgement of freedom? If a person has the power to lead people and motivate them to work for development is following him called collpase of social ethics? All that the middle class wants is development, a peaceful life and stability. If modi provides that, what's wrong in electing him? At least he is better than these so called intellectuals and psychologists who cannot get the rubbish about caste and religion out of their minds. They are the biggest communal people. Don't they realise that they are doing nothing to help the affected people? Infact they are bringing back the old memories. That's the reason people don't trust them. Those who can't take this rubbish out of their heads cannot rule a state. Because they are the ones who will spread politics of hate. They conveniently forget that there have been no riots in the state post 2002. While Modi was talking about development , they provoked him to talk otheriwise. He talked about terrorism and how the central government has failed to curb it. He talked about how such incidents were stopped from occuring in the state. So blame yourself ' psuedo-secularists'. I fail to understand one thing. Why is gujarat so special? Why do people jump to condemn anything that happens here while turning a blind eye to a similar situation elsewhere? It is not Modi who provokes the people of this state, it is these people who don't miss a chance to say something derogatory at every instance. Afterall it was one of these writers who suggested that decades old suppressed anger is coming out now. And he is adding fuel to the fire.
Alas, 2002 will remain a blot in the history of the state. Everything that happens here will be dissected, analysed and viewed under a microscope. Gujarat has to learn to live with it.
Lastly, there was a question, 'Is Gujarat India?' How about giving India a chance to decide?
