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The Gujarat verdict

Sir, — Your Editorial `Dissecting the Gujarat verdict' (Dec. 17) clearly says that the election result in Gujarat is neither a prestigious victory for the BJP — 10 of its State Ministers were defeated — nor a shameful shock to the Congress, which lost only two seats. The million dollar question is: how did the Congress manage to secure 51 seats and 40 per cent of the votes, even after the Godhra incident, the State-sponsored carnage, the Sangh Parivar's communal campaigns, Narendra Modi's `gaurav rath yathra' in L.K. Advani's style and Mr. Modi's ridiculous propaganda that Pakistan would celebrate, if the Congress won the elections in Gujarat?

Hajee A.H. Hatheeb,

Nagore, T.N.

Sir, — While for the Sangh Parivar the election verdict of Gujarat has come as a `Kamadhenu', for the vast majority of peace-loving and inclusive-minded Indians, it has all the trappings of a Frankenstein's monster. The great historian, Arnold Toynbee, has said that on occasions even the most civilised nations can lapse into monstrous barbarism. We were mute spectators to such pogroms during the traumatic days of Partition, the horrendous massacres of innocent Sikhs after Indira Gandhi's assassination and the recent genocide of hundreds of hapless Muslims in Gujarat under State patronage with the Central Government being a helpless onlooker. The Sangh Parivar made no mystery of its hidden agenda of ushering in the `Hindu rashtra' on an experimental basis in Gujarat.

Swami Vikrant,

Chennai

Sir, — The clean sweep by Mr. Modi in Gujarat is indicative of how much the people of Gujarat are polarised in the name of religion. It is a pity to see the people of one of India's most developed States fall into the deep hole of communal passion.

Sooner or later, they are sure to realise the fact that such extreme religious sentiments will be of no use. Rather, these would be major hurdles in their economic development.

Laila Najeeb,

Thrissur, Kerala

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Stories in this Section

• Ugly terror
• Safety on the rails
• Memories of another Gujarat
• Buddhism, Bhakti and the VHP — II
• The Gujarat verdict
• Togadia's speech
• What is `Hindutva'?
• Lawyers' strike

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