Adhunik Group MD Manoj Agarwal terms Muslim employee 'terrorist' for sporting beard, sacks him

In an extremely disturbing incident, the managing director (MD) of the Adhunik Group of Industries, Manoj Agarwal, termed a Muslim employee 'terrorist' because he grew beard.

Manoj Agarwal, MD

The victim, Mohammad Ali Ismail, 38, was at the post of GM but he was humiliated, harassed, his salary was cut.

Later he was sacked for keeping the beard after his return from the Haj.

Ismail said that the company MD was not willing to even listen to him.

After the incident, Ismail has complained to the police. But no one has been arrested as yet. The company officers are not speaking about the incident.

Unlike the case of Zeeshan Ali, a youth, who was not given job for being a Muslim in Mumbai, this case hasn't grabbed media attention.

Zeeshan was later offered a job in Adani group. In that case, Zeeshan lodged an FIR and the case was registered against the company directors.

Similarly, Adhunik Group should also be charged with similar crime. This is a serious incident as it shows the communalism in Indian corporates.

The Adhunik group is a multi-crore company that has its headquarters in Kolkata. 

Stern action is needed against Manoj Agarwal for his bigoted, discriminatory and communal acts. Ismail should also fight for his rights, by approaching all the forums and must seek justice.

Jains officially a religious minority in India: Will Pravin Togadia, a Jain, target minorities now?

Pravin Togadia, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader, who has targeted minorities and made extremely inflammatory speeches in the country, is himself a minority now.

Togadia, who is a Jain, has repeatedly made incendiary comments against religious minorities across India.

Once he said that if he became the Prime Minister, he would take away electoral rights from Muslims. Togadia has made public speeches that minorities should be economically boycotted.

VHP is known for being a right-wing organisation but Togadia's fanaticism is unmatched. An interesting aspect is that Togadia doesn't speak about the fact that he is a follower of Jainism. His supporters are active on cyber space too.

Any mention that he is a Jain is quickly removed from his Wikipedia page, citing that 'it is not important in context to the article'. He apparently considers Jains as part of Hinduism, though leading Jain saints and seers, strongly vouch for Jainism as an independent and older religion.

While Digambar Jains generally use 'Jain' as surname, the Shwetambaras who are more in Gujarat, use their caste or original surnames, rather than using the religion. On the movement for giving Jains, a religious minority status, he has remained silent.

Togadia is notorious for his hate speeches but the lawmakers have been soft on him. He has targeted Christians for their missionary activity and for 'conversion' of Hindus. The truth is that Christians convert few people in India, compared to the conversion by Jains in rural and tribal parts of India.

In one Gujarat district, Panchmahal, lakhs of Dalits and Tribals were converted. The sudden rise of Jain population in India in the last two decades shows it. Since the central government has bestowed minority status on Jains, we haven't heard much from Togadia.

Seems he doesn't want to touch the topic. But it is interesting to see if he attacks minorities again, and will someone ask him about his being a 'minority' in India.

Jain family gets separate water connection to avoid line shared with Muslim, Christian families

A Mumbai-based Jain family got a separate water connection because they didn't want to share the same line with Christian and Muslim families.

This shocking case has once again shown how communalism permeates our society. The 'educated' and 'affluent' remain no less afflicted by this communal bug. Interestingly, the Jains are also considered a religious minority in India.

Though there instances when a few Jain, Bania and Gujarati families denied houses to Muslims or non-vegetarians across India, this incident has brought to fore the communal divide and deep seated religious prejudices in the country.

The report was first published in Times of India's Mumbai Mirror. It was later carried in other papers. Communals exist in all sections of the society. But this tendency reflected in Chogmal's Jain's application to BMC when he requested for separate water connection citing his religious reasons, is sickening.

It a sad story. To some, it may seem a small incident that could be ignored but in reality it shows how we lack values and all talks about our 'grand traditions, culture, history and civilisation' are just farce because there is nothing of that sort visible on the ground.

More so, when Jains who follow the path of Ahimsa or Non-Violence and Peace, turn to communalism, it looks distressing. For 70 years, these families were living together. The Aman Villa had a Amar-Akbar-Anthony till the revelation but not any more. Read the Mirror report here.

Migration of Kashmiri Pandits (KPs): Don't make it Kashmiri Pandit Vs Kashmiri Muslim Issue

The Kashmiri Pandits (KPs) had to leave their home state Kashmir. Their displacement was a monumental tragedy.

Every sensitive persons understands their pain and speaks in support of the community. Even 'separatist' leaders today urge the KPs to return.

While every such issue must be looked with a humanitarian aspect, the Kashmir issue gets communalised in a strange way: Militants targeted Kashmiri Pandits but they also targeted Kashmiri Muslims, thousands of whom died in the last three decades.

On one hand the issue of exile of the KPs is raised, the issue of security forces' excesses is a Holy Cow. Nobody wants to discuss the 'mass graves' found in the Valley. TV channels don't want to talk about the 'missing thousands' of children and teenagers in J&K.

They ignore atrocities like rapes and custodial tortures. Life is not easy for a Kashmiri even today. The channels don't show it. Journalists visit refugee camps but avoid talking about fake encounters or human rights abuse. Over 200 Kashmiri Pandits died in the militant attacks in Kashmir. It is a shame. 

But also around 47,000 Kashmiri Muslims have been killed in this conflict. This is also a big shame. If the former is a holocaust or genocide as described repeatedly, what is the latter? Both are not different and should not be seen differently.

Ironically, in the last few years, focus is less on getting the KPs back, but more on exploiting the migration of the Pandit community, to serve narrow political interests and further a particular ideology that divides people on religious lines.

The right-wing political parties and groups who have tried their best to milk the issue of displacement has never supported the Kashmiri Pandits wholeheartedly. For them, it is just a routine exercise to target the so-called secularists or further their own agenda.

Often people say that KPs shouldn't have migrated, rather they should have stayed, endured and fought. Just like Muslims who suffered tremendously in Gujarat but continued to live despite a hostile administration, police and angry neighbours.

I don't buy this argument and to discuss it more than two decades later, it's a bad joke. All situations are different. There are different versions of what happened in the era when Jagmohan was governor and KP exodus began. Today the J&K government is repeatedly calling KPs to return.

Government may not be doing as much as one expects but the society is also welcoming them. Separatist leaders say that they open arms for KPs. Hundreds of jobs have been given to KPs recently and they have returned also. Muslims go out of way to ensure success of Amarnath Yatra (Vaishnav Devi) every year.

There are many real life stories of Muslims keeping the temples safe all these years. In this situation, pitting KPs against KMs is totally wrong and deplorable. On social networking websites, enormous amount of hate is directed against Muslims, who are blamed for KP exodus.

This serves the Sangh Parivar, BJP and RSS. But it doesn't help the Kashmiris, either Hindus or Muslims. It doesn't help non-Kashmiris in India. This only helps in furthering the divisive agenda of a segment. But many fall in this trap.


Unfortunately, people who talk of one tragedy, don't want to talk about another tragedy. Naturally, the issue gets communalised and puts victims as opponents. Why both tragedies shouldn't be spoken about in the same breath? When you talk of militants killing people, why it doesn't include all.

Why the encounters, illegal detentions and firing on 'stone pelters' (teenagers and boys) is not considered as a tragedy. It either deliberately (by design) or unknowingly becomes a Kashmiri Pandit Vs Kashmiri Muslim issue. We shouldn't let this happen. Don't divide. Don't differentiate sufferings.

It is not KP Vs KM. It should be Kashmiri Pandit+Kashmiri Muslim. Or simply Kashmir.

False propaganda over Bangladeshi immigrants responsible for Bodo-Muslim clashes!

RSS' propaganda over immigration has affected media also

For years, there has been a sustained campaign that Muslim population has been growing by leaps and bounds in Assam.

The truth is exactly the opposite. However, the fact is that if a lie is repeated hundreds of times, people tend to believe it. With Sangh Parivar and its allied groups mouthing the same at every forum on ground and on internet, it had already prejudiced the minds.

The outbreak of the Bodo-Muslim clashes that have displaced lakhs of people in Assam, must send us into introspective mode. After 65 years of independence, we are yet to gain maturity. The Kokrajhar violence just shows it.

Though the state government's inept handling is another aspect, national media also fell prey to the bogey of immigrants' capturing Assam. Census reports clearly show that there is no en masse entry of Bangladeshi Muslims in Assam.

Even native Assamese Muslims are labelled as Bangla and outsiders. This is a sad situation. Nilim Dutta, who  is head of Strategic Research and Analysis Organisation, Guwahati has delved into the issue of violence in Assam at length.

Poisoning the minds of people is easy in this age. But its also important that one should de-communalize it. To understand the complexities behind the violence, the tensions, the land related issues and the cause of trouble in Kokrajhar, first have an unbiased mind and then read this article here.

Attack on MLA Rumi Nath in Assam signifies a new low for Indian society: Corruption okay, Choice of husband not!

Corruption fine, not woman's choice of husband!

We tolerate corruption worth billions, raise no voice against injustice to poor and never take to streets to protest the misdeeds of bureaucrats but hundreds gathered to attack the woman over her marriage.

Even if she married again, without proper divorce (this is just an unsubstantiated allegation) from her first husband, its her personal life and action can be taken as per law.

But who are the citizens who 'teach her lesson'. How many of them who attacked her were saints who had committed no crime during their life on this earth.

A hapless pregnant woman was targeted and beaten up by hundreds because they suspected she married Jaki Zakir, a Muslim, after conversion to Islam and without divorce. It was our society's collective hypocrisy at its best, when people entered her hotel room and targeted the couple.

She was seriously injured in the brutal attack. Rumi Nath's husband also received multiple injuries. The incident in Karimganj angered her supporters in Hailakundi, who held protests. Tension was in several parts of the state, due to this dastardly assault.

The entire attack was shown on TV screens and NCW took a note of it. There was outrage in some sections but overall the 'Holier than thou' attitude and the role of playing moral police has showed our society in poor light.


The right-wing Hindutva forces are doing incalculable damage to our secular fabric and the multi-cultural ethos. Time to identify and arrest the guilty and punish them severely so that no one in future dares to take such an action. 

Gujarat Genocide: Ten years after riots wounds remain, justice eludes victims, Narendra Modi still at the helm

Ten years ago Indian state, Gujarat, witnessed a modern era holocaust. The birthplace of Gandhi turned into the land Godse*.

Independent India's worst riot(s) that was termed as state-sponsored pogrom and even genocide had made the world sit up and notice how the land where the apostle of non-violence was born, turned into the land of killers.

The horrific killings had disgusted even BJP leaders. It was India's plunge into dark ages. Gujaratis, the business community, were not known for intolerance. One recall the period with words like mass murders, rapes and killing of infants or images of hate-spilling eyes that now characterize the era. 

Godhra train burning was an incident that was used to target entire Muslim population in Gujarat. Hate had swept Gujarat. Much water has flown down the Sabarmati since then and it is common now to say that Gujarat has moved on. But is it true?

The BJP was at the helm in Gujarat then. Narendra Modi was the chief Minister. Ten years later there is not a slight difference in status quo. There is no regret or remorse. The successful PR exercise has to an extent positioned the Gujarat CM as 'vikas purush'.

Riot victims remain on the fringe of the society. Justice eludes them. Muslims live as second class citizens. Whenever one talks of Gujarat's post-Godhra massacre, the BJP and RSS sympathisers try to draw parallel with 1984 riots.

The difference is that Congress apologised for the riots. Narendra Modi hasn't said a word about it. He doesn't accept a mere skullcap from a Muslim Sufi who met him recently. There is no gesture to show that the state government cares for victims.

In 2002, children were burnt alive, women raped and entire residential townships wiped off. Incidents like the one when a pregnant woman's stomach was torn up and the foetus was thrown in fire, brought shame for the country.

So much that the word Gujarat itself became synonymous with Injustice. No amount of progress can change the perception unless the justice is done. SIT inquiry is on. Its report on Narendra Modi's role is being awaited.

Whether it holds him responsible or not, there is need to make amends in Gujarat and there is no doubt in this regard. Gujaratis should also introspect. A financially strong state can not be vibrant and progressive unless there is humanitarian concern and inclusiveness.

*Godse. Nathuram Godse was a Hindu fanatic who had shot Mahatma Gandhi dead in 1948.

Injustice Vs Investment: Can Gujarat riots be forgotten, role of Narendra Modi forgiven?

Almost a decade has past since the post-Godhra carnage took place in Gujarat. Much water has flown down Sabarmati since the riots and though the horrors haven't been forgotten, there are now voices that Indians must look ahead of Gujarat riots.

Even editorials in mainstream newspapers have recently lauded Deoband rector Maulana Vastanvi for his statement that under Narendra Modi's rule, the state was going on a path of progress and the minorities are also tasting fruits of development and prosperity.

It is becoming fashionable to praise Gujarat's booming economy. But to suggest that investment can wipe off the stains of bloodshed is ironical. Chief Minister Narendra Modi does deserve to get credit for his success in bringing investment in Gujarat but has he taken interest in ensuring justice for riot victims?

Leave aside rehabilitation, justice or compensation, the Gujarat government hasn't even shown any remorse for the 2002 pogrom, which was nothing short of a genocide. If it was an aberration then there should have been efforts to get financial help to victims of violence.

*Rioters remain free, victims remain in relief camps

*State didn't take responsibility of rehabilitation and relief to riot-affected

*Administration remains helpful to rioters

*Upright officers are targeted or given punishment postings

*Muslims framed under draconian POTA during post-Godhra riots remain in jails

*Writers, poets, artists don't have freedom to speak and are persecuted

*Criticism of state can lead a person to jail or registration of false cases

*Muslim-dominated areas in Ahmedabad, Surat and other cities remain under-developed

*Government remains inattentive towards need for hospitals, educational institutions in Muslim localities

*Fake encounters have stopped but witnesses are pressurised, harassed

*Even journalists who dared to speak or expose are hounded

Though industrialists ranging from Rahul Bajaj to Ratan Tata are falling for the success story of Gujarat, one can't overlook the fact that today Gujarat that fashions itself as a sort of state-within-state is not adhering a bit to principles of justice for its citizens.

The horrors of Gujarat and the blot of communal riots may have been washed off, had the state government taken some steps to resurrect itself. For Chief Minister Narendra Modi, it is not possible to acquire a pan-Indian acceptability unless his administration proves that it is just and not biased against Muslims, Christians and other underprivileged groups.

The report of Supreme Court appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) has once again confirmed that the anti-Muslim pogrom had the support of state ministers. The Gujarati entrepreneurship is well-known and this is the reason for shining Gujarat. Time and again the Supreme Court has to step in to stop the injustices.

And investment can't overshadow injustice. Just that Congress can't escape its responsibility for the 1984 mass killings of Sikhs in Delhi even after 27 years, BJP and its Chief Minister can't wipe this stain.

As Chief Minister, he could have stopped the riots. Or in later years, his administration could have provided a healing touch. But there has been no signs of sympathy. Rhetoric apart, in a climate of hate and fear with no signs of remorse, it is impossible to forget the riots and forgive the perpetrators.

Assam violence, Maharashtra riots: Centre ignores carnages in Congress ruled states

When more than a hundred thousand people get displaced as in the case in Assam that is hit by sectarian violence, it should be a major cause of concern for the nation, its leaders, citizens and media.

But it's clear that 21st century India is equally immune to communal, casteist violence and genocides though they may be directed against any community. Why else violent activities on mass scale keep happening regularly in India?

In far-flung Assam, nearly 1.5 lakh (150,000)people have left their homes. Sixty bodies have been recovered and this is more than twice the total number of deaths in the recent violence in Orissa that was directed against Christians.

Now, it is the Bodo-Muslim conflict that triggered this riot. We keep hearing charges and counter-charges but the truth is that innumerable poor people and ordinary citizens have been affected, but we don't know why such riots take place in India.

Thousands of houses have been torched and places of worship set afire. But Assam is not 'that' important. It is not Karnataka that has Bangalore, a high-tech-cyber city as its capital or even Orissa. Assam is not part of the heartland either.

The National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) that has been demanding separate Bodoland state, is involved in the clashes with immigrant Muslims and also locals. Meanwhile, in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, the riot in Dhule continues.

The violence has spread and incidents of arson, killings continue. Surprisingly, the Centre is not keen to stop the riot that has claimed well-over half-a-dozen lives as the same Congress rules Maharashtra.

Media also ignored the news despite the fact that hundreds had to leave their houses and had to take shelter in forests. The Hindu-Muslim clashes are nothing new but the promptness of the Manmohan Singh government in admonishing Karnataka and Orissa governments, is not visible here.

If Orissa deserved a censure under Article 355, then the same is due for Assam as well. And if Karnataka figured in cabinet for the violence, then Dhule riot needs to be condemned in the same breath and paramilitary forces ought to be sent.

But we know that nobody is interested in stopping riots in India.

Three killed in communal riot over torn posters in Maharashtra

Five persons died and neary 80 injured when two groups clashed in Dhule on Sunday. Curfew was clamped in the town and the situation was tense, police said.

The trouble began over a petty issue. A poster was allegedly torn up which led to tension, subsequent stone pelting and the clash which resulted in the deaths. Initial reports suggest that three persons died.

One of the dead was identified as Imran Sheikh. Two died in stone pelting and one was killed in the police firing. Later reports suggested that the toll had gone up to five.

An organisation Hindu Rakshak Sabha had put up inflammatory posters in Dhule (Dhulia). There were also on behalf of a local corporator Sabir Seth in the same area near Rajkamal Talkies. The exact circumstances were not clear but the news that some posters of Hindu Rakshak Sabha were found torn, led to tension.

Arson and stone pelting followed. Such was the intensity of the sudden riot that the police could hardly control it. Despite using tear gas and later firing in the air and at the mob, the riot had left several dead.

Nearly 100 persons were injured in the riot. Indefinite curfew has been imposed in the town, which is close to the communally hyper-sensitive Malegaon town. The riot over a minor issue puts a serious question mark on the ability of police in handling a law-and-order situation.

Attacks on Churches: Saffron siege in Karnataka

Just when the country is facing repeated terror strikes, this is the last thing we would like to witness: an inter-religious conflict.

Alas, this is happening in Mangalore and the coastal belt of Karnakata. After large-scale killings and destruction in Orissa, the Saffron bands are now busy in burning churches, ransacking prayer halls, demolishing statues and all sorts of vandalism, for which they are notoriou, in Karnataka.

And just when terrorism has spread its tentacles in the country, the 'patriotic' Saffron bands of RSS, which mainly comprise the Bajrang Dal, seem to have taken upon themselves the task to stop conversions.

We may not like religious conversions. The founding fathers of India and its constitution, Mahatma Gandhi and BR Ambedkar, detested conversion due to allurement or coercion. But, we must also look at the ground realities.

India is a secular nation where everybody is free to practice and preach their religion. Let it be very clear about that. Secondly, we may believe that tribals are natives and Hindus but the truth is that Evangelists don't consider them as Hindus and this is not absolutely wrong.

And even if religion has reduced to such a level that people are being bought to a faith, it must be considered that both the VHP and the missionaries are involved in this game equally. None can claim greater moral ground. It is also a truth that the percentage of Christians in India hasn't increased, rather it has gone down in the last decade and they are a tiny minority.

However, the violent incidents are unjustifiable. In Mangalore, Udipi, Chikmagalur & Dakshin Kannada nearly two dozen churches have been attacked. Incidents of stabbings were also reported. Later the police were targeted by Christians in retaliation.

If it is anti-Christian violence in Karnataka, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh, then Maharashtra has a different movement where linguistic terrorism is unleashed by Thackerays.

What kind of a banana republic is this, that can't stop or act against any law-breaker?

Now Orissa battleground between Sangh and Evangelists: Five killed, Churches attacked

Five persons have been killed and mob comprising RSS and Bajrang Dal cadre has attacked Christian prayer halls and Churches in Kandhamal district of Orissa. Three persons were killed in Raikia on Monday night, as they were found dead in their homes that were set afire.

The violence in which a Christian woman was earlier burnt alive along with another person, came in response to the attack by suspected ultra-leftists (Naxals) who fired at five Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leaders including Swami Laxmanand Sarwaswati who were killed in the attack.

Saraswati has been involved in bringing back converted Christians to Hinduism. Though Naxalites (Maoist extremists) are not known to be Christian sympathisers, the attack on right-wing Hindu leaders, came as a surprise. However, the attack led to a call for 'bandh' and radical Hindu organisations perpetrated a reign of terror in Orissa.

Not just churches but orphanages and hostels of Christians were attacked and burnt down. The attack is reminiscent of last year's clashes between Christian and Hindu mobs across the state. Situation remains tense in most of the towns of Kandhamal district.

Politics over Pilgrimage: Amarnath Yatra

If there is anybody who has gained from the controversy over the Amarnath shrine board issue, then it is the separatists and the communal forces.

For a long time they didn't have an issue and suddenly all our political parties happily gave the anti-Indian forces, something that they needed so desperately.

People of the country and state are paying for the former Governor (Lt Gen retired) SK Sinha's unwise move in the form of violence, fall of the government and the rise in communal feelings. Mixing religion with politics is always dangerous.

When it is done in a troubled state like Kashmir, it becomes even more dangerous. In a matter of days, the entire peace was broken and voices like Hurriyat that had been marginalised are gaining strength.

Veteran journalist Prem Shankar Jha writes that until recently North and South Block were congratulating themselves on solving the Kashmir issue as infiltration was down, tourism was back and violence was contained.

But an immature decision led to valley erupting into protests and now the old bitterness is back among both the sides: the Muslims of Valley and the Hindus of Jammu, who are feeling equally hurt and victimised.

The creation of Shree Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) with the Governor as its head was the first move along with extension of Amarnath Yatra to 45 days towards creating a controversy. The recent decision over transfer of land added fuel to fire.

"The NDA government's decision to make the governor the head of the SASB, provided he was a Hindu, turned a pilgrimage into a political action. It was also a surreptitious violation of India's constitution...", writes Jha, in Outlook.

Now with Ghulam Nabi Azad-led government having fallen over the controversy, nobody has benefited. Congress, PDP, National Congress and the BJP are all to be blamed for this crisis. BJP should have taken a far reasonable position than raising the communal

Six photos on December 6: Black Mannequins in Hyderabad, Shiv Sena in Delhi and India 15 years after 1992

1. On the left is the photo of mannequins wearing black dress in Hyderabad to protest the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya.

Though the Black Day by Muslims and Shaurya Diwas by Hindus are annual fixtures, the shop-owner has came out with an interesting idea and a good opportunity for photographers than the usual sloganeering and protests. A banner 'Remembering December 6' also hangs at this shop.

And his commitment. Seems he doesn't care a bit about losing out on Hindu customers!

2. The second photo on the right is from Faizabad. Two Muslim raising a black flag above a mosque in Faizabad. The third photo is from Delhi where Shiv Sena clashed with Muslims sitting on a dharna.

3. With tridents in hand they reached the place and there was a street fight. Some persons were injured. The police, as usual, came much, letter. The newspapers and channels got some exiciting to report on December 6.

4. The fourth is the photo of Ayodhya 4. The photo of Ayodhya where Rapid Action Force guards the entrance to temple.

Sad, that Lord Rama needs such security!

There are two more photos. One of the market near Char Minar in Hyderabad, which is totally shut. Is there any other City where people remember December 6 so much?

I think these shops are closed also because the people fear violence in Hyderabad on this day. The last photo shows a gunman standing at the Eidgah-Krishna Janmabhoomi at Mathura, which is also considered disputed and is among the two main disputed places after Ayodhya. The third is in Varanasi (Kashi) where Vishwanth Temple-Gyanwapi Mosque is located.

NOW 15 years later, I feel Indians don't want a repeat of another December 6. We have understood that it was pure politics of hate. Hindus and Muslims both suffered. In UP there were not many Vijay Diwas celebrations this year. Muslims are also not as angry and hurt, as they appeared.

Everybody wants to forget December 6, 1992. But it must always remind us how just a few politicians had tried to play with the sentiments of people and get to power on dead bodies of Indians and trying to break this great nation. India bathed in blood for many weeks after December 6. And they were happy. But we must not let this happen again.

What Mother India would think of Babu Bajrangi?

What would Bharat Mata think of Babu Bajrangi, who says that 'We are not khichdi, curry people' and can kill at will, just like 'ripping off a pregnant woman's stomach' and announcing it with a 'pride'.

The suffix in his name, 'Bajrangi', the party of which he is a leader 'Shiv' Sena and the organisation he worked in the past, Vishwa 'Hindu' Parishad (VHP) makes me shudder with the thought about the Hindustan where we live in. They hijacked the terms 'Hindu', 'Bajrang' and 'Shiv', and have demonised everything that was beautiful about Sanatan Dharma and this Nation.

Don't give me the crap about whether the sting will help Congress or BJP or any other political party. People of Gujarat may vote for Modi but that doesn't mean that Modi is right. Just that Gujarat is a developed state doesn't mean, that worst crimes against humanity can be forgotten. Even Hitler was immensely popular in Germany when he was slaughtering Jews. It's a shame to talk about elections. They don't have any interest in the idea of justice and human values.

Where are the citizens especially the women, who would stand up and say this is not the sort of Hindustan we dream of living in. Put these people behind bars immediately. I wish women would have petitioned the Woman President Pratibha Patil to take instant action against Bajrangi and the men who on camera confessed the ghastly crimes for which they had no remorse.

Novelist and an author of six books MG Vassanji, twice winner of Giller prize, said that 'There are satanic forces at work in Gujarat', sometime ago. He said in an interview that the level of barbarity there had no parallel, not even Congo or Bosnia. "It has been like fascism, probably worse. I mean it is one thing to lock people up in a gas chamber and turn the other way and quite another to rape women, film the horror and then distribute CDs, make songs about it".

'I travel by bus and other public transport, I meet people freely, talk to them, I feel at home. But Gujarat is different. In Gujarat I feel a sense of fear. And the only hope is that Gujarat is part of India and it will be contained by the larger things that India is about.'

What has happened in Gujarat is unimaginable especially the systematic violence against women. Why would ordinary men and women do such violence. If you tell somebody there, they say why are you bothered. In fact, Gandhi means nothing at all as an ethic in Gujarat.

He was surely not exaggerating. I feel that incalculable harm has been done by Bajrangi and those of their ilk to this country, with the supported of society's silence.

I have a kid daughter and I am very uneasy about whatever weird ideas these so-called 'Hindutva-wadis' have about 'dharma' and Bharat. May be Narendra Modi who doesn't have any kid, doesn't understand the human feelings of love and affection, when he gave the free run to rioters but how can so many BJP MLAs, VHP, Bajrang Dal activists and many ordinary people Gujarat, be so inhuman.

Unless we take action, history will record our era as an age when we lost all sense of human values and future generations will look at us with contempt. BJP leaders are angry over Operation Kalank because they their real demonic faces have been revealed. Congress did the same in anti-Sikh riots.

The way lawyers, prosecutors, police, rioters and state colluded, it is a dangerous signal for all of us. They did it with a community. They can do it with anybody. If there was ever a need for the use of Article 356 then it is in Gujarat. The entire system needs to be cleansed.

Tehelka expose has given us a chance. A chance for Indian society, our polity and our judiciary to redeem ourselves. We must not let this opportunity go.