On this Winter Solstice, I am a Gujarati
January 1, 2008
To be posted when published by Rediff. This is part I
On this Winter Solstice, I am a Gujarati
Rajeev Srinivasan on how the Gujarat elections mark a high point in the year’s news
The Gujarat election results were announced on a very appropriate day: the day after Winter Solstice, the beginning of the movement of the Sun towards the north. Uttarayanam is auspicious, a time of new beginnings; this is the time for which the aged Bhishma waited, in excruciating pain on the sara-sayya, bed of arrows. If we are lucky, we will be seeing a new beginning in the Indian political scenario as well.
John Kennedy said famously in cold-war-era, besieged Berlin after the Wall was built: Ich bin ein Berliner. He meant to say, “I am, metaphorically, one of you Berliners, and I stand by you”. Today, the Gujarati feels besieged by an unrelenting barrage of negative propaganda that portrays them all, collectively and individually, as monsters. All decent people must stand by Gujaratis, because unprincipled rogues are demonizing them willy-nilly.
This demonization is a major reason why Gujaratis turned out in droves to elect Modi; the second reason is the UPA’s obvious antipathy towards Hindus, which is coming back to haunt them.
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Shadow Warrior 
January 1, 2008 at 12:58 pm
[…] On ths Winter Solstice, I am a Gujarati […]
January 11, 2008 at 6:12 am
Hello Rajeev
I really appreciate and thank you for writing this article on gujaratis.. You are absolutely correct in pointing out that the gujaratis have been more of the victims rather then victimizers..
I salute you for this article and would encourage you to write more about this UPA governments debacles.. I wholly agree that because of this fascist Communists the UPA government will sacrifice the Nuclear deal and would surrender India’s security and compromise anything to be in power… Even selling the nation (mother land) cannot be ruled out for the UPA>>>>
January 11, 2008 at 7:15 am
Rajeev,
Thanks for your whole hearted support. Only a truly courageous one like you can write this.
Root cause of post-godhra riots are many.
Here is a small sample: –
1) Godhra Massacre of 59 pilgrims mostly woman, children and seniors.
2) Past massacres of hindus in godhra. The prime example is high-school massacre where teachers are killed in front of students.
3) Hindus being burned, stabbed and kicked-out of their anchestral homes during MadhavSingh-Abdul Latif era which lasted for 2 years (1985-1986). Mark Tully has covered part of it in his book “Death of Congressman” in which then Police Chief Julio Reibero acknowledge’s Mafia Don Abdul Latif’s nexus with polticians.
4) Lack of justice, reconcilation and pseudo-secular media adding insult to injury by suppressing and falsifying truth.
This creates a volcanic situation which erupts when an event like godhra massacre happens.
Peace and reconciliation cannot be built by suppressing hindus and having double standard.
January 11, 2008 at 9:25 am
I have lived in Ahmedabad for the last 36 years, since the age of three, and was brought up in an area that predominately became Muslim in the 90s. I have closely followed the events and mood that reflect why the common man lost their faith in the so-called secularists. There used to be communal flare ups throughout the 80s, which had no Hindutva imprints until then, since the BJP was a non-entity at that time. Most of the riots used to have a Congress-Muslim mafia nexus. Muslims would come bragging about how they were paid handsomely by the Muslim goons for killing any Hindu. They would openly dance in hundreds on main roads and rejoice whenever Pakistan beat India in Sharjah – which happened quite frequently, of course! They would show the way how to be brutal, as a family of seven Hindus was burnt alive in A’bad in one incident, to which the Hindus later retaliated by burning down six Muslims elsewhere.
Gujaratis were and are still a very humble community indeed. But, there has been – as rightly pointed out in your article – a sustained assault on their ASMITA – which tilted the balance in favor of Hindutva. It’s naked show was visible after the 2002 events. Many neutral observers like me were angry with Modi for allowing the kind of violence that took place after the Godhra incident, however, as the barrage of secularist hatred started to pour in, Modi at first became a workable option and then into a “must have” one, as his administrative skills became well known.
I have noted down my own views on the recently concluded Gujarat polls at the given link:
http://proaudience.com/2007/12/saffron-wins-back-gujarat/
January 13, 2008 at 5:22 am
It was a wonderful article. I do hope that your analysis of UPA losing out is true. BJP really needs another chance – they goofed up the first one.
regards,
ramaempire
January 13, 2008 at 10:25 am
Folks, thank you for the kind comments. I think the Communists and Christians in the media over-reached themselves, and they are furious at Modi for showing them to be rogues. The media thinks they *make* the news instead of just reporting it.
I do hope Rediff posts the 2nd part of my column soon. Sometimes they get a little perturbed at things I say, not because they are not true, but because I say them in ways they think might hurt them.
January 14, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Rajeev,
Good comprehensive analysis. Accurate description of Gujarati legacy.
You may even triangulate this with Swami Vivekananda’s concept of re-defining Hinduism – recovering back to something which was damaged big time by foreign invaders.
I have many muslim friends in Gujarat – I grew up with some of them – they feel post godhra media molests them further than they actually have been.
Reality is that ever since Independence congress never understood the ground reality of Gujarat and as a matter of fact any state. Its only a matter of time that every state will recognize this.
Part of the problem was Pandit Nehru, who I think was a scholar and not a politician. Had Sardar Patel been the PM, this transition would have happened much quicker and would have been a lot smooth.
I am fed up of Congress, Leftists and Rightists who act on theories developed in some other part of the world – instead of identifying what we already have as our legacy – and just implement it – because THAT MAKES MOST SENSE – why cant these people get it.
January 15, 2008 at 8:15 am
I really like ur articles sir i guess u r one of the few right-wing journalist in the media today. i Came to know abt ur articles after someone posted a link on a orkut community.
If you r intrested can u join me and other nationlists in this online RSS community http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=2623078
and share ur veiws with us.I am sure people at the RSS community would loove to have a nationalist journalist like you
January 16, 2008 at 1:01 am
Dhaval, I am not a fan of Nehru, and I think he was neither scholar nor politician. He was in over his head in a world full of sharks, and he was thoroughly bamboozled by especially the Communists, for which the Indian nation is still paying through the nose.
The issue is self-respect: Hindus have been taught through textbooks etc that they must not have any self-respect and that it is their job to serve the Mohammedans and the Christists. This inferiority complex, of course, will diminish as Hindus become more prosperous. We have an extraordinary legacy and civilization, but unless we care for it, it is going to be overwhelmed by the barbarians.
Bali, Thank you for the kind words, and I have become increasingly sympathetic to the RSS as they have been demonized to an extraordinary extent. In effect, according to the Indian media, if an RSS or VHP person is murdered, that’s not even news. But I am not the joining kind, as I am not a member of anything other than the Green Party (and I think that membership has actually lapsed).
January 17, 2008 at 9:02 pm
Rajeev
Check out this play on a benevolent Aurangzeb on Diwali Nite 2007 in Kansas
http://ishare.rediff.com/filevideo.php?id=100267
What do you think about a play like this every Diwali
February 4, 2008 at 10:30 pm
Rajeev,
I like your posts for the hilarious content, and the straight forward way of expressing things, even if it is sometimes (indeed most of the times) hurting.. you call the spade, a spade, and that’s what i liked very much..
I am one of the worst victim of that “Gandhian Disease” 🙂 where i used to forsake myself for others.. and slowly i came out of that, first on seeing francois gautier’s articles and then yours..
One aspect i liked the most is that yours is a perfect antidote for the negative brandishing by the pseudo secularist.. ie, to ridicule them in the same way as they do, and to speak in their same language, instead of going defensive..
Keep up the good work, if possible, visit my blog..
February 4, 2008 at 10:33 pm
Particularly, few years back, i read an article on Navratri function in indiatimes, where it mentioned that girls go and lure with boys in the guise of dandiya.. that was the very starting stage for me to realise something about going wrong.. i wondered, in new year, and valentine’s day, people dance like cannibals inside AC hall, and book rooms in hotel, for the same thing, but the same media write fascinating article on that..
Is there something wrong, where we find caberae dance, as hifi, and dandia as cheap & backward ..