EDITORIAL

  Operation Whitewash?

JUSTICE G T Nanavati, chairman of the Commission set-up by the Narendra Modi government into the Gujarat riots has displayed his "more loyal than the king" mindset. Even before the Commission reached half way of its enquiry, it's chairman has given a `clean chit' to the state administration and the police by stating that there is no lapse on their part!  He has gone further to exonerate  both the VHP and the Bajrang Dal!! He made these comments, widely reported in the national media, to a private TV channel in an interview.

The Commission of Enquiry has a second member, Justice K G Shah, who, it is reported, agrees with the statement of the chairman but maintains "I feel it is too early to come to any conclusion .…  We are yet to record evidence in Baroda and Ahmedabad".  Even in Ahmedabad, the Commission is yet to examine some of the worst-hit areas such as the Gulbarg society, Naroda Patia and Machipeeth. Gulbarg society is the housing colony where the former Congress MP Ehsaan Jafri and others were brutally burnt alive as the police watched.

Readers will recall that when this Commission of Enquiry was set-up by the Narendra Modi government, a large amount of apprehension was aired about the impartiality of the enquiry. Many had even gone to the extent of suggesting that this Commission was a mere eye-wash. The statements made by the Commission's chairman now, only vindicate such apprehensions.

A large number of  private enquiries have been conducted by many  social workers and NGOs.  Volumes of recorded testimonies are available for everyone to see the gruesome nature of the State-sponsored genocide unleashed against the minorities.  The Justice V R Krishna Iyer-headed People's Enquiry Commission conducted by individuals of impeccable integrity and courage has made public its volumes based on meticulous investigation.  The indictment of the state administration and police is both severe and complete. Even the Constitutional bodies like the National Human Rights Commission and the Election Commission have put out reports which establish the partisan role of the Modi administration. 

In the light of all these, if the Nanavati Commission were to come out with a report whitewashing  the role of the Narendra Modi administration, the fascistic manipulation that the BJP is capable of under people like Narendra Modi will only get further exposed.  Apart from having any credibility, such a report by the Commission will also confirm, as evidenced in a spate of other cases, that the rot of the system has set-in amongst the judiciary as well.  The judiciary, for various reasons, had enjoyed the degree of respectability and credibility in the midst of the overall degeneration in various other arms of  governance.  With this also eroding rapidly, the credibility of the  entire system  will come under question.  For the victims of the Gujarat genocide, such a report which exonerates the Narendra Modi government and administration in Gujarat will only mean adding insult to injury.