Gujarat After Godhra: Real Violence, Selective Outrage

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This collection of essays has been put together for several reasons, the least of which is to rationalize the violence in Gujarat after the burning to death of 60 Hindus returning from' a pilgrimage in the town of Godhra on February 27, 2002. The book counters the mostly one- sided presentation of facts and analyses appearing in mainstream Indian English media, and the coordinated and orchestrated campaign against the BJP-led governments in Gujarat and at the Center by vested interests. This book also critically analyzes the international efforts at demonizing Hindu groups in Gujarat, as epitomized by the hurried report by Human Rights Watch.

The contributors to the book are academics, journalists, doctors and students. Their essays reflect a range of opinions, critiques on media reports, and thoughtful analyses of the religious divide in India.

Ramesh Rao is an Associate Professor of Communication at Truman State University in Missouri. He earned a Ph.D. in communication from Michlqan State University. Ramesh Rao teaches a variety of communication courses.

He is the author of two books: "Secular 'Gods' Blame Hindu 'Demons': The Sangh Parivar Through the Mirror of Distortion" and "Coalition Conundrum: The BJP's Trials, Tribulations, and Triumphs". He writes regularly for the website Sulekha. Com, and his essays and analyses have appeared in the St. Louis Post Dispatch, the Columbia Daily Tribune, Rediff on the Net, India Currents, etc. Ramesh Rao lives in Kirksville, Missouri with his wife Sujaya and son Sudhanva.

Forty three year-old Belgian author of more than 15 books on Indian nationalism, history, politics, religious conflict and such topics, Koenraad Elst was born in Leuven, Belgium. He is a graduate of Indian and Chinese Studies and of Philosophy from the University of Leuven. His books include the massive, two-volume The Saffron Swastika: The Notion of 'Hindu Fascism', Decolonizing 'the Hindu Mind, Ayodhya and After: Issues Before Hindu Society, Update on the Aryan Invasion Debate, and others. His works range from a discussion of multiculturalism and language policy issues to ancient Chinese history and philosophy, comparative religion, and the Aryan invasion debate.

This collection of essays, we felt, needed to be put together for several reasons, the least of which is to rationalize the actions of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad or to justify the continued presence of caretaker Chief Minister Narendra Modi at the helm in Gujarat.

The reasons for bringing out this book are many: first of all, it is to counter the mostly one-sided presentation of facts and analyses appearing in the Indian English media, and the coordinated and orchestrated campaign against the BJP-led government spanning the oceans, and including some very powerful and vested interests in India, in the U.S. and in Europe. It is also in response to the two books already out on the violence in Gujarat. The first one out of the gate was the book by Swami Agnivesh and Rev. Valson Thampu titled, "Harvest of Hate", and the second one to follow was "The Black Book of Gujarat" edited by M.L. Sondhi and Apratim Mukharji. Swami Agnivesh and Valson Thampu first mention the horrific Godhra event only on page 37 of their 140-page book, and they add their voice to the drumbeat of opprobrium already heaped on the RSS, the VHP, and "Hindutva" forces. Neither the Swami nor the Reverend take care to mention that a quarter of all people killed in Gujarat in the three months following the Godhra massacre were Hindus, and that the subsequent 157 riots started in Gujarat after the initial two days of looting, murder, and rape indulged in by the Hindu groups were all started by Muslim groups (Francois Gautier, India Today, June 24, 2002). The Swami and the Reverend join the very many other unholy alliances against Hindu interests by claiming that "It is incredibly sad how the Muslim community seems almost wholly abandoned by the rest of the country".