Narendra Modi’s high-profile fast in Ahmedabad is a show of strength by Gujarat’s strongman. If Modi really meant to shed his hawkish image and recast himself as a liberal and moderate leader, he would have sincerely apologised for the riots. It seems as one who has played the politics of communal division to further his career, he does not have it in him to repent for what he did and did not do during the riots. The PR on display in Ahmedabad does not alter the fact that Modi’s brand of partisan politics is antithetical to secularism. From a practical point of view, Narendra bhai cannot repudiate Hindutva and defend India against the encroachment of religion into politics. This renders him quite unfit to govern a secular country like ours.
G David Milton, Maruthancode
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