But the question is how long will it take for the wounds inflicted by mindless mobs to heal? Contrary to the general impression that Chief Minister Narendra Modi will have to pay the price for not bringing the riots under control in a short time, he has survived. The Prime Minister and the BJP stood by him and aided by the other partners of the Sangh Parivar, Modi stood firm in not giving up his post owning moral responsibility. That the toll nearly touched over 900 did not worry Modi who let the police stand as mere observers in the early stages of the riots in the first week of March. What made matters worse and stunned the minority community was that the Prime Minister at the Goa meeting of the party, virtually justified the violence following the Godhra train attack on Kar sevaks returning from Ayodhya. And letting Modi off the hook, he accused the opposition of exploiting the tense situation and not adequately responding to the Godhra attack. Thus much to the chagrin of the opposition parties and the media, Modi went back secure in the knowledge that he won’t be disturbed.

The return of the victims from the relief camps has no doubt, started. But the rehabilitation of the minorities, many of whom have lost their relatives and property will not be an easy task. The distrust of the Hindu neighbours remains. The authorities have not been too helpful in the process of restoring the confidence of the Muslims. Though many FIRs have been filed for the record, the fact is the cops are not ready to cooperate with the victims who are ready to identify the killers and arsonists. Though there have been many cases of rapes of girls and even married women, some of them pregnant, it has taken a lot of courage for a few women to insist on filing complaints naming the men involved in the crimes. The Centre, especially the Prime Minister had to face flak in Parliament, defending Modi and justifying his continuance in office. The sudden shift from a moderate to the true Hindutva lobbyist was evident. One major problem identified as a follow-up of the violence in Gujarat was the behaviour of the police who did not hide their bias towards the Muslims. And a few consentious cops were transferred by the State adminstration, demoralising them further. In that respect, it can be stated that the sending of Punjab’s Supercop K.P.S. Gill to the State did a lot to bring about sense of sanity in Gujarat. With his reputation at stake, Gill set about bringing some professionalism to the police force which was acting under the orders of the politicians. He also went about arranging meetings between community leaders to cool down passions.The confidence-building measures have certainly paid dividends. Rioting and arson cases stopped within a week of Gill going around the trouble spots. It was with Gill at his side that Modi had his first meeting with Muslim leaders. Gill's very presence in the State appears to have sent all the rioters indoors. He has removed the top officers whose willing or unwilling biases during the riots had been noticed. This included the Ahmedabad Police Commissioner and two superintendents of police.