Not willing to talk about the Gujarat riots of 2002, an agitated Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi walked out of an interview with senior journalist Karan Thapar after just four minutes when he was asked if he had an "image problem".
Modi walked out of the interview meant for the "Devil's Advocate" programme to be aired on CNN-IBN Saturday evening.
Modi became agitated when Thapar wanted to know if he was facing an "image problem" as the Rajiv Gandhi foundation has declared Gujarat to be the best administered state and India Today magazine on two separate occasions has declared him to be the most efficient chief minister, while people still call him "a mass murderer" who is prejudiced against Muslims for the 2002 sectarian riots.
Thapar told IANS: "I can't really understand what upset him. There is nothing really rude about my voice."
Thapar said that maybe he had touched a raw nerve of the Gujarat chief minister. "I did not even talk about the Godhra incident or the killings of 2,000 people. I just asked him whether he had any image problem. The interview merely lasted four minutes."
In the Godhra incident on Feb 27, 2002, 59 Hindu train passengers were killed when the S-6 coach of the Sabarmati Express was allegedly torched by a Muslim mob. This triggered large-scale communal violence in which more than 1,000 people, mainly Muslims, were killed. The state government under Modi was criticised by various sections of society for the manner in which it handled the sectarian riots.
Elections to the state assembly are due in December. In the last five years Modi has not talked about the 2002 riots at all.
The Gujarat unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has refused to react to the incident of Modi walking out of the interview.
In the course of the interview, Modi said that there were just two or three people who were of the opinion that he was prejudiced against the Muslims. When a reference was made to the Supreme Court's observation that had compared Modi to a modern day Nero who looks the other way when helpless children and innocent women are burned, Modi said that there was nothing to this effect in writing.
When asked once again about his image problem, Modi said: "Actually, I have not spent a single minute on my image and that can also be a reason. I am busy with my work. I am committed to Gujarat. I am dedicated to Gujarat. I never talk about my image. I never spent a single minute for my image and therefore confusions may be there."
On being told that even five years after the Gujarat killings of 2002 its ghost still haunts him and why he had not done anything to allay that ghost, Modi said: "This I gave it to the media persons like Karan Thapar. Let them enjoy."
To Thapar's suggestion why Modi could not say that he regretted the killings and that maybe the government should have done more to protect the victims, Modi claimed he had already said what he wanted to and it could be found from his statements.
He said that now he wanted to talk about 2007.
Thereafter he asked for a glass of water and walked out, saying he would have talked about his change of image had Thapar come to him in 2002 or 2003.
Indo-Asian News Service
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