Author: TNN
Publication: The Times of India
Date: August 1, 2010
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Delhi-treating-Gujarat-like-enemy-country/articleshow/6242368.cms
It was vintage, rabble-rousing by Gujarat
chief minister Narendra Modi at the convention hall of Gujarat University
on Saturday morning. Clenching his fist and calling out a full-throated Vande
Mataram at least 10 times, he thundered: ''Shout loud enough for the Delhi
sultanate to hear. The Delhi sultanate is treating Gujarat as it was treating
an enemy country.''
With Modi sounding belligerent, many in the
state wondered he might even dissolve the assembly and seek a fresh mandate
in order to ward off the CBI, which seems to be closing in on him.
Modi got the young crowd in thousands, drawn
from city colleges, all worked up as he raised once again the issues of Gujarati
pride, attacking CBI for trying to take the trial of the Kauserbi-Sohrabuddin
killings outside Gujarat.
The occasion was meant to kick-start the Green
Ahmedabad campaign with a record-breaking tree-plantation drive. But Modi
entered the scene in an aggressive mood and talked about the legal and political
environment instead. ''Some vested interests have been taking undue advantage
of the environment for their benefit and thus polluting the atmosphere. Similarly,
anti-Gujarat forces are out to defame the state and polluting the atmosphere.
But Gujarat will emerge as a winner.''
Modi said this was not a crisis for the Gujarat
government or the BJP, but it was the question of the ''image and pride of
5.5 crore Gujaratis, the state and the judiciary.''
He said the transferring of the case outside
the state was an insult to the judiciary and the justice in the state. He
even went to the extent of calling it an insult to the advocates and the judges
from the state. ''I cannot tolerate this injustice. For me, the CM's post
is too small when it comes to protecting the rights and the pride of Gujaratis,''
Modi said. ''And for this I need your support.''
As he does during election meetings, he went
into the question-answer mode and got loud affirmation from the crowd for
the fight against terrorism and Maoism in the country. ''Why am I being stopped
from fighting terrorism?'' he asked, and said even Jammu's Raghunath mandir
attack and Mumbai train blasts remained unsolved till leads were available
following the arrests of persons in connection with the Ahmedabad serial blasts
in July 2008.
''Gujarat's peace, brotherhood, development
and progress are not liked by some people. They are maligning it. There have
been serious efforts to maintain peace in the state. But they do not want
peace in Gujarat. Is this peace disturbing you?'' asked Modi, getting a loud
''no'' in response.
Accusing the Centre of indulging in vote bank
politics, Modi said the Centre first said Ishrat Jahan was a terrorist, and
then backtracked. But when David Headley himself confessed that Jahan was
a terrorist, Congress leaders had no words. Giving other examples of the CBI's
failures in other investigations, he said the agency was acting on the directions
of the Congress.
