In 2000 it was before Narendra Modi had been enlisted by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as its mascot in the western Indian state of Gujarat that the last attack on Amarnath Yatris had taken place. Praveen Togadia, a younger man there was fired with his peculiar brand of vitreol. That attack was more even more brutal than the one that took place on July 10. In the year 2000 attack, that took place, 99 lives were lost of pilgrims and jawaans who tried to save them. Togadia, played out his revenge politics in Gujarat. Holding a press conference in Ahmedabad on August 1, 2000 he said, loud and clear, "Wahan ka jawaab yahan denge." In nine to twelve centres from Surat in the south of Gujarat to Khed Bharma in the north, attacks on minority properties were engineered, with VHP and Bajrang Dal men at the forefront. In October 2001 Modi was in Gujarat and two years after the first attack on Amarnath yatris we saw Gujarat burn, for months, under his watch, in 2002.
The past week even before the dastardly terror attack has been rife on social media, especially after the communal violence in Bashirat in Bengal, bhakts, have evoked threats and fantasies about the genocidal carnage of 2002. What is it about Gujarat 2002 that it inspires Fantsies (Sic) among Modi Bhakts?
“Hope you all remember what happened in 2002”. It was a touching news report about a Muslim doctor and his Hindu compounder spreading message of peace in violence-hit Basirhat has angered a BJP youth leader to go on a communal rant and threaten violence. There is nothing offensive in the news posted by Hindustan Times on its Facebook page that, for some reason, got Srinivas Raghavan's goat. Raghavan is no ordinary Indian, he is General Secretary of a BJP Yuva Morcha.
Reacting to HT report on a doctor’s appeal for communal harmony, Raghavan said, “I remember what Mahatma Gandhi did. Enough is enough. We will not tolerate this anymore. Hope you all remember what happened in 2002.” When confronted by other users, he continued his rant, talking of “warning you guys”, “go back to your mother country”, “we are waiting to take revenge” (of 17th century rulers), “the day is not too far”, and so on.
On his Facebook profile section, Raghavan describes himself as a “charismatic go-getter” and a “believer in making India great again”. His page is full of pictures with senior BJP leaders.
On the one hand, we have Modi and his defence league tell the authorities (even the courts) that he did his job, and that 2002 was all about good governance. What then is it about 2002 that inspires excitement (sic) and threat-laden fantasies (sic) among the Modi Bhakts?
Tathagata Roy, the present Governor of Tripura and the former president of the West Bengal state unit of BJP from 2002 till 2006 had stated on Twitter about ‘appreciating what the Hindus did in 2002’.
Another hate spewing Hindutva handle, HDL India, called to turn UP into Gujarat to save it from turning into Kashmir. The @HDLIndiaOrg account is now suspended
In 2015, Amitesh Singh, who was followed by Prime Minister Modi on Twitter went a step further and actually gave call for a massacre. Singh was arrested over his tweet and has since disabled his account. In his twitter profile, Singh claimed to be vice-president of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Yuva Morcha but the party denied any association with him. According to news reports, Singh was the grandson of a BJP MP from Madhya Pradesh.
Is that all in social media, making appreciative noises about 2002? Here are some others who gloat and celebrate the breakdown of Constitutional machinery, weak at best, wilful at best, about the loss of 1926 Muslim lives in 2002 post Godhra train burning in which 59 lives were lost. Read on:
