20 years after Gujarat Riots: Modi pushes India to brink of Muslim genocide

ISLAMABAD, February 27: Two decades after the Gujarat riots which killed 790 Muslims in 2002, India continues on the deadly path of Muslim genocide under the patronage of NarendraModi, the flag bearer of Hindu supremacy.
The riots were triggered with the burning of a Sabarmati Express train in Godhra on February 27, 2002, which carried the Hindu pilgrims while returning to Ahmedabad from Ayodhya, a holy site disputed between Muslims and Hindus.
20 years after Gujarat Riots: Modi pushes India to brink of Muslim genocide
It is estimated that 230 mosques and 274 shrines were destroyed during the Gujarat riots. For the first time in the history of communal riots, the Hindu women also took part, looting Muslim shops.
The post-independence India has a long history of communal massacres including Nellie in 1983, Delhi in 1984, Bhagalpur in 1989, and Bombay in 1992-93 but the Gujarat carnage stands out. In a series of incidents, not only the Muslims were killed but the women and children were also made subject to rapes and vicious forms of violence.
Since the 2002 riots, the BharatiyaJanata Party had constantly been patronising the Hindu fanatics. Particularly after Modi’s becoming the prime minister, the ideology of the Hindu supremacy is being pursued through drastic systemic discrimination and pieces of legislation to marginalize the non-Hindu communities.
As a common practice, the Muslims were blamed for the Gujarat tragedy, but later it was revealed to have been planned and executed by Bajrang Dal.
Rioters wave sticks as they stand next to a bonfire on the streets of Ahemdabad, Gujarat in this February 28, 2002 photo| Reuters
Since 1998, the BJP is in power there and out of these 22 years, NarendraModi remained Gujarat’s chief minister for 13 years from 2001 to 2014, till his election as the prime minister. The Gujarat riots took place just four months after Modi assumed power as chief minister in October 2001.
Having a mindset of Hindutva ideology, Modi used the train incident as an excuse to punish Muslims and initiate cold-blooded genocide of Muslims.
After 2002, the Hindu extremists started campaigns against Muslims under Modi’s patronage which strengthened Hindu extremism politically, socially and culturally.
Qutubuddin Ansari, whose picture made him the face of horrific Gujarat riots of 2002. – PR