Good Morning India:Good Luck, Omar Abdullah

Media Pulse

Undeterred by public criticism Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is making plans for holding elections to the State Assembly. The communal riots have taken a big toll of lives but Modi has emerged the "hero" of the saffron brigade. The fear of the minorities to stir out freely and pursue their vocations, is hailed by the VHP zealots as a great achievement. Normalcy has been claimed in the State but the minority victims are not convinced whether they would be safe once the security forces or the police go back to their barracks.

The State Governor agrees with the Chief Minister that the State was incident-free and can afford to go for elections. The Sangh parivar’s hurry to exploit the communal divide is understandable. The victims of the minority community, are more busy trying to rebuild their lives and continue the search for the relatives lost in the carnage. They could hardly be expected to walk up to the polling booths, despite police security and vote against the BJP. The fear of retaliation by the majority community will keep many Muslims at home.

Despite official assurances that the riot-hit people living in relief camps would not be forced to go back till the process of rehabilitation is complete, the Gujarat Government is resorting to many subtle ways to see that they close down as early as possible. Many relief camps are getting either inadequate ration supplies or none at all. According to camp organisers, the Behrampura camp housing 250 families and Gangshohda Kabristan housing 1,500 people had been closed down as the ration supplies were stopped . At the Shah Alam camp, the biggest in the State, the organisers refused to accept the ration for just 3,000 people saying the number of inmates there still stood at around 4,500 - mostly from Naroda Patiya who are too scared to return home.

Another 52 families staying in the camp mobbed the Shah Alam camp organisers as they were told about the stoppage of their rations. The Citizen Relief Service had to assure them that their ration needs would be borne by the organisers for some more days. While the government’s offer of free ration for six months to Below Poverty Line families has worked as carrot for many to leave the camps, the alleged threats of fabricated cases against camp organisers has worked as the stick. The funds of rehabilitation too have been too meagre to help the families move out. The ruling BJP, it is said, wants to see the camps closed to show that normalcy has indeed returned to the State and to convince the Election Commission and the critics that the situation in the State is conducive for a snap poll. Besides, the deteriorating hygiene conditions in the camps may lead to an epidemic when the monsoon hits the State. Along with the closure of relief camps, the planned series of ‘rath yatras’ in the coming weeks - ostensibly to spread the message of "peace and amity" but, in reality, a highly provocative effort at communal mobilisation - seem to be a part of the BJP’s plan to try and make electoral gains from the sharp communal rift following the killings and arson cases. The Congress is also preparing to launch parallel rallies, to counter the BJP.

The party strategy is to make the polls one of communalism versus secularism. Party chief Sonia Gandhi recently visited Gujarat to launch a sharp attack on the Modi government’s attitude towards the minorities. The BJP had at its Goa meet made it clear that Modi, far from being reprimanded , has the approval of the party leadership for his handling of the riots.