Anumeha Yadav
The Truth Behind The MUSLIMS IN MODILAND - The dark story of how Gujarat’s Muslims are faring in the fields of education, finance, housing and welfare
The Truth Behind The Stage Show Personal sketches. Disturbing statistics.
On 14 SEPTEMBER, a few days after the Supreme Court order on Zakia Jafri’s plea, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi announced a sadbhavana fast “to strengthen Gujarat’s environment of peace, unity and harmony”. At the brightly-lit Gujarat University convocation hall in Ahmedabad, Modi praised his government’s efforts at upholding satya, shanti and sadbhavana since 2001, how it has managed to get investment even as vested interests attacked it constantly, and tried to evoke Gujarat’s progress and prosperity with the metaphor of a train — that mothers of youngsters coming to Gujarat sleep peacefully once they hear that the train their child is travelling on has entered the state.
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At the fast, dozens of Bohra Muslims — the men in white-and-golden caps and their women in ridas — filled the central row. They spoke of how they had come from Jamnagar, Surendranagar and Rajkot, taking turns to attend the three-day fast. Muslims from Juhapura and Porbandar, led by former BJP MP Baburam Bokhiria, who has been in and out of jail on charges of illegal mining of limestone, were also present. On the stage, Bohra priests, sadhus, heads of the four Swaminarayan sects, priests of churches and gurdwaras presented a picture of communal harmony.
The fast is only the latest in Modi’s public posturing and coating what goes in Gujarat with the patina of good governance. A few days earlier, speaking at a function organised by the Ajmeri Education Trust in Ahmedabad on 4 September, Modi had exhorted Muslims to join the ‘mainstream’ and peppered his speech with ‘education’ and ‘inclusive development’.
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