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Shekhar Gupta is Editor-in-Chief of ThePrint and one of India’s most distinguished journalists. A recipient of the Padma Bhushan and multiple journalism awards, he has reported on key events in India and from around the world since the 1980s. At ThePrint, he does a daily online show, Cut the Clutter, in which he dissects, analyses, and contextualises complex daily news developments and current affairs. He also writes his weekly column National Interest.
Looks like the likes of Shekhar Gupta is no more getting free black labels to consume hence this tirade..
Modi is exactly what he was the last 20 odd years. He was always an ordinary Muslim-baiter. There was nothing ever special about his hatred or how he cynically exploited bigotry of others. There’s a million others just like him in India and in the world. The media elevated him (hopefully, desperately) to some economic Messiah which he barely was. And since he became Prime Minister, the Indian media has allowed the most talkative, speech-happy man refuse to take on even one press conference. Nobody asks him questions, noone questions his silence, noone has shown basic courage to remind him that he’s just elected for 5 years and is answerable day in, day out. India’s incredibly reverential media has allowed him to get away with everything, and now obviously things have come to a head. He was an anti-Muslim bigot then and he will always remain one. Sold the country a dummy of development. Now live with it. He will prey on Gujarat’s fear and suspicion and rest of India’s communal biases too.
Chamcha sickular jihadis sympathisizers point of view
Well , you go there in the heart of Gujarat and call their Chief Minister ” Maut ki Saudagar ” and unleash plethora of ” secular ” journalists to stoke the fires time and again and Kindle and Rekindle Gujarat riots of 2002 as if it is the only place in India where it happened , secular NGOs against him and prevent every project , including a life line project of Narmada Dam and never allow their Chief Minister to address his people on State run AIR for 12 long years , this is what happens ?
Congress screwed up when they let the Muslim culprits escape and instead blamed Modi for Godhra when Modi stood with the Gujarati families that lost loved ones who had no chance of escape from locked train compartments. Congress was already distrusted in Gujarat as they were doing nothing to help Gujarat. Muslims in Gujarat were known as troublemakers at the time. I personally worked in Ahmedabad when we would be informed that a riot was starting in 30 minutes and we cleared our offices in Lal Darwaja, Ahmedabad too escape the riots. Always started by Muslims, who Gujaratis believed had no place in Gujarat and should move to their lands in Pakistan. A valid argument since Muslims lead by a Gujarati did ask for their own country and got it.
On a lighter note – can take this liberty since my wife is from Patan / Deesa – maybe the Gujaratis are hawkish on Pakistan because they don’t join the army, as the Punjabis, 72% of whom favour better relations, do.
It is a known fact that the enrollees into the army are from poorer families or those who have no other options. Besides the reason for Punjab and Gorkhas being a large force in the Indian Army was because their enrollment in the Army was a reward for their loyalty that gave British 90 more years of slavery to India.
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As for Gujaratis in the Army. The first head of the Army was a Gujarati. Go figure that out. The Gujaratis I know that have joined the Army are all officers, present and retired. I myself would have been in the Navy if the Navy officers did not insist on me signing full service versus Short Service. I had too many options and was not going to take advise from a few idiots wearing stars on their uniform. I thank them as my life shows that I am not good at taking orders and do break rank to deliver results and do things right.
It appears congress has also realized the reality and that is why this fall from an “accidental Hindu” to a “Janeudhari Shiva Bhhakta Hindu.” A well thought of course correction !