Gujarat Chief Minister Mr. Narendra Modi gave recently an interview to an Urdu weekly edited by Mr. Shahid Siddiqui who is also the general secretary of the Samajvadi Party headed by Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav. Obviously Mr. Modi is attempting to reach out to the Muslim community to strengthen his prospects at the forthcoming Gujarat assembly elections. Choosing the Urdu weekly associated with a senior Muslim Samajvadi leader provides an obvious clue. However one need not dwell on what the hidden agenda of Mr. Modi and Mr. Mulayam Singh might be. Politicians play their games that do not concern us at the moment. Of greater concern are the remarks made by Mr. Modi in the interview that have created controversy. 

Mr. Modi was asked: “Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh have apologized for the 1984 riots so why don't you apologize as well?"  He replied: “There is no question of apologizing because if I have committed this crime, then I should not be forgiven. I should be hanged. I should be hanged in such a way that people learn the lesson that nothing like this should happen.” Mr. Modi’s argument was that the government itself did not participate in the Gujarat riots. That has been disputed by some but that aspect does not concern us. Let the courts decide that. What does concern us is the flawed assumption that underlies Mr. Modi’s rejoinder. 

He seems to imply that if the government itself was not involved in the rioting it leaves him squeaky clean. This horrendous understanding of how democracy ought to function lies at the heart of our collapsed governance. No politician in India seems to be even faintly acquainted with the well established principle of constructive responsibility that imparts its distinctive feature to democracy. I had pointed out earlier how the top four cabinet ministers including the Prime Minister shared constructive responsibility for the 2G Spectrum scam. Indeed, official documents had revealed that all were aware of what was happening but did not act to stop the rot. I pointed out that beyond constructive responsibility all of them were vulnerable to prosecution for having abetted corruption according to the Prevention of Corruption Act. But in India a Minister is deemed guilty only if he is personally caught with his own hand in the till. He is allowed to remain oblivious of all the corruption that may occur in the departments under his jurisdiction.

By the same logic Mr. Modi’s defence rests upon his assertion that his government did not actively participate in the riots. That is why he claims innocence and says that had his government participated in the riots he “should be hanged”. One would like to gently inform Mr. Modi that he may not have been guilty of rioting. Was he not guilty of incompetence for failing to stop the riots? Did not the decision to parade the dead bodies of the Godhra train fire victims through the streets of Ahmedabad inflame passions and provoked rioting? If this did not display rank incompetence and lack of administrative judgment, what does? In his recent interview Mr. Modi said: "Those who say we brought the bodies (of those killed in the Godhra carnage) to Ahmedabad to provoke people are wrong. The bodies were taken to a hospital in Sola on the outskirts of Ahmedabad to avoid any tensions." We cannot at this juncture affirm where the bodies were actually taken. We can assert that with or without the bodies a parade across the streets of Ahmedabad perceived to be carrying the bodies was held. If the parade did not exist why did not Mr. Modi contradict the media reports of that time reporting that it did? 

Mr. Modi would be well advised to frankly own up his responsibility for failing to control the riots. He may or may not apologize for having participated in riots. The final decision of that rests with the courts. He should certainly apologize for administrative misjudgment and incompetence for failing to curb the rioting. Of course he should not have been hanged. But should he not have accepted responsibility and voluntarily resigned? He can of course point fingers at various Congress leaders including the late Rajiv Gandhi for behaving no differently.  That may console him and his apologists. It is no consolation for the public which is thirsting for genuine change and new politics.