When will the Government of India protect the victims in Gujarat?
Mirza A. Beg
Wednesday, May 3, 2006
Dear Mr. Prime Minister of India:
The fascistic Modi government in Gujarat is using the levers of power to kill the Muslims again. As you know, the act of the government conniving to kill minorities is called “pogrom”.
I joined the overwhelming majority of Indians in condemning the violence in Kashmir by the extremist militants, perhaps to pre-empt your peaceful dialogue with the Kashmiri separatists to bring a modicum of peace to the beleaguered Kashmiri people. The government is pursuing the culprits, as it has pursued other culprits before to bring them to justice, as it should. Unfortunately terrorism has become more prevalent in modern times with easy accessibility of weapons. The governments must combat this scourge to the civil society.
But terrorism by outlaws and extremists pales in comparison to the state terrorism. It is immoral in all religious as well as the secular codes, and injurious to the Indian constitution and people as a whole. Who would pursue the police when the Chief Minister of a state is the chief terrorist? Whom should the victims call for help? We know that you know the answer.
Mr. Modi’s government in Gujarat indulged in fascistic pogrom against Muslims in February –March 2002, killing and burning about 2,000 Muslims by organized riots under the police protection. At that time the Central government was also dominated by the fascistic BJP. Yes they were popularly elected, but India is a secular constitutional Republic. The acts of the Gujarat government were not only heinous but unconstitutional, and the silence of the central BJP government was defending.
Dozens of inquiries commissions have squarely laid the blame for the pogroms on the Gujarat government. The culprits are not only at large, but have gotten promotions and brazenly continue to implement their sectarian agenda of killing and deprivation of the minorities. The Killings in Vadodra are only the latest incident to be continued if the central government remains moribund.
The Congress dominated government was elected at the center in part because of the revulsion against a monstrous BJP dominated government. For a state government, not to protect the lives and limbs of its citizens is bad enough, but engaging in killing is unconscionable and it automatically becomes unconstitutional. Mr. Prime Minister, when would the Central government act?
We do realize the separation of powers between the central and the provincial governments puts restraints on the center from interfering in the affairs of provincial governments. But center has a duty in protect its citizens when the provincial government is the culprit.
Killing of two Muslims by the police and burning of one by the mob in Vadodra and raping of Nuns with impunity is a clear message to the world that murderers can control the state government in India with impunity and the victims cease to have the protection of citizenship, while the country watches impotently wringing its collective hands and uttering platitudes.
Mr. Prime Minister, it is time for the center to act, not only to protect the victims of the pogrom but to dismantle the power of the monstrous thugs in Gujarat, maligning the name of India and impeding the greatness that India is poised for.
Mirza A. Beg can be contacted at mab64@yahoo.com
Please call/fax/write to:
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh: Phone: 91-11-2301-2312, 91-11-2301-8939
Fax: 91-11-2301-9545, 91-11-2301-6857 Email: pmosb@pmo.nic.in, pmo@nic.in
Smt Sonia Gandhi: Phone: 91-11-2301-9080, 91-11-2301-4481
Fax: 91-11-2301-8651
Email: soniagandhi@sansad.nic.in
Home Minister Shivraj Patil: Phone: 91-11-2309- 2462, 91-11-2379-4842 Fax: 91-11-2379-4833, 91-11-2309-3750, 91-11-2309-4221 Email: svpatil@sansad.nic.in
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment