2014 general elections has been a disrupter, so to say. No one expected Narendra Modi, who had entire international media community, Indian mainstream media which has shown unshaken loyalty for the Nehru-Gandhi family and the opinion makers against him. But he came, he saw and and conquer he did.
That did not leave a lot of people happy.
Narendra Modi’s close confidante Amit Shah was instrumental in the 2014 victory. He spent months in Uttar Pradesh building the strong Modi support base. He then contested 2019 elections and was made the Union Home Minister. Two top men in the Centre were not only most hated by the ‘liberals’ in India and abroad but were also Gujaratis. But whether they liked it or not, Modi had not just won the 2019 elections but had fared even better and had won even more seats than 2014 elections.
Indians had not only accepted but loved him enough to bring him back to power with thumping majority. And if things go as it stands now, he is likely to win the 2024 elections as well.
And so the ‘liberals’ have found themselves new enemies: The entire Gujarati community. Two top men running the nation are Gujaratis, and so by extension, all Gujaratis are evil.
You see, contrary to what they expected after the 2002 Gujarat riots which took place after the train with Hindu pilgrims returning from Ayodhya was set on fire at Godhra by a Muslim mob, instead of being swayed by international propaganda against Modi, Gujaratis rallied strongly behind him. They had seen the efforts he had made to control the violence and did not fall for the falsehoods that were spread. Modi never bothered to clarify and Gujaratis continued to trust the man who ensured peace in the land.
He won December 2002, 2007 and 2012 state assembly elections despite such strong propaganda against him. Hence, Gujaratis were ‘bigoted’. Instead of pushing him into oblivion, we made him win elections term after term and then in 2014, where every 26 Lok Sabha seats were won by the BJP, in a record of sorts. Gujaratis wanted their son to replicate the Gujarat model on national scale.
And that’s when things went south for Gujaratis. Rahul Gandhi was one of the first to insult Gujaratis. In 2021, during runup to Assam elections, Rahul Gandhi said that if Congress comes to power in the state he will increase the wage rate of tea workers. That’s great. But while making the promise, he said that to fund that extra wage rate, he will take money from Gujarati tea traders.
Why the divisive politics? Why single out ‘Gujarati tea traders’? Didn’t he just promise to make India ‘hate free’ in his ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’? Gujarat is not part of Bharat?
Speaking of hate, here is how Congress leaders chose to let Gujaratis die.
When Sabarmati Express train was set on fire in Godhra and Karsevaks were burnt live by a Muslim mob, violent communal riots broke out in the state. The situation at border was a little tensed because of the December 2001 Parliament attack by Pakistan-backed terrorists. The then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi reached out to three neighbouring states: Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. All three Congress ruled states. None of them sent help.
In September 2021, when authorities were busy busting drug rackets, which are often used for terror funding, Rahul Gandhi again attacked Gujaratis and cast aspersions that we are drug addicts. Here is a tweet from Congress’ official Twitter account:
The slander campaign is launched months before Gujarat went to poll in 2022. Besides, Congress even convened a press conference to assert that Gujarat provides conducive route for drugs to be smuggled in to India. The press conference was addressed by Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera who alluded that people in Gujarat are morally corrupt to have allowed their state to be used for smuggling drugs in the country.
During an election rally in the run-up to the 2019 elections, Rahul Gandhi had mocked an entire community in Gujarat by saying, “Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi… how come they all have Modi as a common surname? How come all thieves have Modi as a common surname?” He has now been held guilty in this case and he is an out on bail convict.
When the police recently arrested a conman from Gujarat who posed as a member of the PMO entrusted with the responsibility of looking for improvement in hotel facilities in Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress ecosystem and its elements fell over themselves to defame Gujarat and Gujaratis over the incident.
This hate against Gujaratis has now been picked up by other politicians too. Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, recently suggested that only Gujaratis could be fraudsters in the current scenario, as they would be forgiven for their actions due to the fact that both the Prime Minister and the Home Minister are Gujaratis. In January 2022, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and MP Akhilesh Yadav spewed hatred on Gujaratis and accused them of ‘taking away everything’. Prior to that, Mamata Banerjee had led a hate campaign against Gujaratis and vowed not to let ‘Bengal turn into Gujarat’. In a blatant display of hatred against Gujaratis, she had alleged, “Gujaratis are trying to capture Bengal by bringing goons from UP and Bihar.” The West Bengal CM had emphasised, “We will not allow Bengal to become like Gujarat.”
In fact, so much is the hate against Gujaratis that the politicians have regularly attacked Indian businessmen Gautam Adani and Reliance’s Mukesh Ambani and accused them of indulging in crony capitalism and being involved in various scams with PM Modi. The two men are also having Gujarati roots.
What is jarring is that this hate has now poured on to the streets. Recently, a video has surfaced from the UK where a pro-Khalistani goon can be seen threatening a man of Gujarat origins. The viral video shows a Gujarati Hindu man trying to have a conversation with the protesting pro-Khalistanis when one of them got agitated and started shouting at him.
The agitated pro-Khalistani, who was donning a Khalistani flag and raising ‘Khalistan Zindabad’ slogans, said, “You Gujaratis need to listen carefully. Run away, or I will slap you. If you want to have Langar, have it quietly and leave. Your cow urine-drinking community has created a lot of drama. Tell every Gujarati. If the war starts, this time, we will fight in Gujarat. We will fight inside your house. Now go and drink cow urine.” He later challenged the Gujarati Hindu man to do whatever he could do.
The hate that Rahul Gandhi and other politicians like him have sowed against Gujaratis has now started to threaten Gujaratis with physical harm. The possibility of Gujaratis being victims of hate crime in and outside of India because of irresponsible statements of politicians and their divisive agenda is very real.
As a Gujarati living outside of Gujarat and who is also a supporter of Narendra Modi, how safe am I? Should my political views and my being Gujarati make it okay for others to lead an attack on me? Aren’t ‘liberals’ supposed to be open to views contrary to their own? Why are Gujaratis dehumanised to the extent that threats to them specifically because of them being Gujaratis is not considered hate crime?
Are 6.5 crore of us subhumans?
This dogwhistling against the Gujarati community needs to stop before Gujaratis are driven out of their homeland. The hate should end.