New Delhi: The Congress has refused to soften its stand over Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's alleged role in the 2002 riots with Union Law Minister Kapil Sibal saying that the blog was a ploy to garner voters sympathy in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
"Eleven years is too late. This pain and agony reflected in the blog is for an audience whose sympathy will be vital in May, 2014," said Sibal questioning the timing of Modi's blog.
The Congress leader asked why the Gujarat CM was tendering an "apology" 11 years after the riots claimed the lives of 1,000 people, most of them Muslims. "I wonder which sisters and brothers Modi was addressing to when he talked about his personal pain. The sisters and brothers of those who lost their lives needed the healing touch and that too, immediately after the riots," he said.
Sibal said that Modi's blog seemed to be a calculated attempt to woo the electorate as he has been quiet over the issue until now. "Pain is always heart-felt and spontaneous. Pain is an emotion that is expressed without calculation. Pain can never be a belated reaction after 11 years of silence. And a person who suffers in silence cannot remain silent for 11 years," Sibal said.
Always under attack from his political rivals and social activists for the riots, Modi has been trying to portray a moderate image in recent times, especially after he was made the BJP prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. In his recent blog, which he wrote after a Gujarat court upheld SIT clean chit to him in the riots case, said how the riots in 2002 came as an unexpected blow for him.
He said, "After Gujarat earthquake, mindless violence of 2002 had dealt us another unexpected blow. Innocents were killed. Families rendered helpless. Property built through years of toil were destroyed. Still struggling to get back on its feet from the natural devastation, this was a crippling blow to an already shattered and hurting Gujarat. I was shaken to the core. 'Grief', 'Sadness', 'Misery', 'Pain', 'Anguish', 'Agony' - mere words could not capture the absolute emptiness one felt on witnessing such inhumanity."
He said, "This is the first time I am sharing the harrowing ordeal I had gone through in those days at a personal level. As if all the suffering was not enough, I was also accused of the death and misery of my own loved ones, my Gujarati brothers and sisters. Can you imagine the inner turmoil and shock of being blamed for the very events that have shattered you!"
Congress leader Manish Tewari, too, had hit out at Modi saying no apology can change his cruel act. He said, "There is no change in the mind set. No apology can change his cruel act."
Gujarat Congress leader Himanshu Vyas said, "Modi expresses his anguish in different words but has never seek sorry to the people of Gujarat."
Kamal Farooqi, member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, said, "This is not a show of regret. This is a political move by Modi. We were not expecting much from the lower court. Modi has destroyed the integrity of the judiciary in Gujarat. He continues to play politics along communal lines."
The BJP backed its prime ministerial candidate and accused the Congress of launching a campaign against Modi. "Modi suffered silently for 12 years. The Congress launched a campaign against him. Modi's blog expresses his anguish, how he suffered for 12 long years," BJP spokesperson Prakash Javedkar said.
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