Ahmedabad, July 07: Narendra Modi, the poster boy of Hindutva, is never short of ideas. His government has now set up a Commission of Inquiry to probe into the changing demographic profile of the state since Independence.
The commission headed by Justice (retd) B J Sethna, a controversial retired judge of the Gujarat High Court, is to submit his report by January 2011.
Among many other things, the commission has been assigned to study the reasons for “polarization of population’’, specially shifting of Muslims from one area to another area, in the last 60 years.
The inquiry seems to be very dangerous for minorities, including Christians, as the Commission will also conduct a study of the total land occupied and covered by people belonging to various religious groups as on August 15, 1947, and how it has changed after that.
Besides identifying the reasons for “polarization of population’’, the commission will also inquire into the polarization and migration taking place every 10 years after August 15, 1947, by people belonging to various faiths.
The commission will find out the population of different religious groups and identify the areas and their size where they are currently living.
The commission has also been asked to make recommendations and prepare policies as a future guidance for checking polarization of population in the state.
The provocation for the appointment of commission, according to a government notification issued on June 6, 2009, is the allegations made by various NGOs in courts as also media against the Modi government that its policies had led to polarization of population in the state.
The notification says that such allegations and unscientific conclusions create heart-burning and distance among citizens.
“The Government of Gujarat is of the opinion that the allegations so made are not based on scientific study’’, the notification says further, adding that “an inquiry should be held into this matter of definite public importance’’.
When confronted by media, Gujarat government spokesman and State Health Minister Jay Narayan Vyas justified the setting up of the commission saying that it will bring to surface the unfounded publicity being given without appropriate fact by certain NGOs and a section of the media.
Minister of State for Home Amit Shah, a close confidante of Modi, also justified the appointment of commission saying inquiry will make it clear when and how and under what circumstances did minority population shift from one area to another.
But NGOs and human rights activists feel that it is another tool employed by Modi to further harass the minorities, particularly Muslims.
“You don’t need a scientific survey to show how polarized Gujarat cities are, in the 15 years of BJP rule’’, says human rights activist J S Bandukwala.
“Can a Muslim buy or rent a house in Alkapuri or Karelibaug in Vadodara or Vastrapur or Khadia in Ahmedabad?’’, he asks.
“The very nature and tone of this so-called inquiry commission is bound to target the minorities of the State and add to the already existing fear among these groups’’, feels Catholic human rights activist and director of NGO Prashant Fr. Cedric Prakash.
Fr. Prakash says that the move is bound to polarize the society even more and make the minorities sitting ducks (because of minority mapping) for the hate propaganda and violence by right wing Hindu groups who have the patronage of the State Government as is evident when the Christians were attacked in 1998-99 and the Muslims in 2002.
Fr. Prakash says that the Gujarat government had initiated a survey of Muslims and Christians in 1999 as well. But it had to withdraw the survey when the Gujarat High Court declared it “unconstitutional.’’
“It is well known that most minorities in Gujarat live in a highly polarized situations’’, says Fr. Prakash.
“So, what the government should ensure is that every citizen be treated with respect and dignity and with freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution’’, he advises.
Advocate and human rights activist Girish Patel says that the move to study the reasons behind “polarization of population’’ is nothing but to continue the communal agenda through perverted use of law.
He believes that the minorities will be harassed further after the report of the commission. According to Patel, the main cause for the polarization of population is the fear generated among people due to frequent communal riots and the state government doing nothing to improve the situation.
Another advocate and activist Mukul Sinha terms the government’s move as “political hypocrisy.’’
He believes that the study, instead of bridging the gap between the communities, will further widen it up.
Sinha is also against the appointment of Justice (retd) B J Sethna as chairman of the commission because it was Sethna who had upheld the Vaddoara fast track court judgement acquitting the accused in the Best Bakery mass murder case of 2002 communal riots. However, the Supreme Court rejected his judgement and ordered a fresh trial by a special court in Mumbai which punished the accused who are in jail now.
–Agencies–