|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
By Category |
 |
|
|
| |
|
| |
| |
India On Media |
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
| Politics
News |
|
| In Gujarat, a feast of fasts: |
| In Gujarat, a feast of fasts: First Modi, then Vaghela
|
| INDIA
, 15-September-2011
8:51:39 AM |
| On his 61st birthday, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi will begin a fast that's scheduled to last 72 hours. The agenda, he declared in an open letter earlier this week, is to "strengthen Gujarat's environment of peace, unity and harmony." Mr Modi also waxed eloquent about what he describes as "the unhealthy environment created by the unfounded and false allegations made against me and Government of Gujarat, after 2002 riots."
Mr Modi's fast will start on Saturday in an air-conditioned exhibition hall at the Gujarat University in Ahmedabad. The room is usually rented for five lakhs a day - an indicator that its facilities are more than basic. It can accommodate 10,000 people; among them will be senior BJP leaders LK Advani and Arun Jaitley, who have both confirmed their attendance. That's at least three prime ministerial hopefuls in one room, some might say.
It won't be slim pickings for those who oppose Mr Modi. The Congress' Shankarsinh Vaghela has announced his own hunger strike. And in a bizarre case of my-fast-is-bigger-than-yours, he promised today, "We will begin one hour before he does and end the fast two hours after he does."
Mr Vaghela, who left the BJP 15 years ago, says his mission is to challenge the Chief Minister's interpretation of a recent Supreme Court verdict on the 2002 riots. Earlier this week, the court refused to take a stand on whether there's enough evidence to merit Mr Modi's trial for complicity in the riots that killed 1200 people, most of them Muslims. The Supreme Court said all evidence and reports collected on the matter will be sent to a trial court in Gujarat. The BJP and Mr Modi said this proves that the catalogue of grievances against Mr Modi for failing to control the rioters is unfounded. Those who studied the riots and interviewed witnesses on behalf of the Supreme Court have stressed that the latest verdict is not a clean chit.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ADVERTISEMENTS
Free offer!!! Become an administrator for your zip home page, "Post" local news (local to your postcode)& pictures, "Post" advertisement banners from local companies. Make Extra money.
|
 |
 |
|
|
| |
|
