Case not closed

In his indignant letter to The Indian American, Washington Post reporter Rajiv Chandrasekaran wrote that the Banerjee commission concluded that the Godhra atrocity was an accident. "Case closed" was the last sentence in his letter.

Not so fast. The Nanavati-Mehta judicial inquiry commission states the Godhra atrocity was a “pre-planned conspiracy,” thereby contradicting the findings of the Banerjee commission, and by extension, Chandrasekharan's conclusion. As Chandrasekharan claimed that he based his report on interviews with witnesses, the Nanavati-Mehta commission based its conclusions on over 100 interviews with witnesses.

drisyadrisya: Neighbours envy, Owners pride!

From the drisyadrisya दृश्यादृश्य blog, this article Neighbours envy, Owners pride! is about Narendra Modi's recent election victory in Gujarat. The author identifies two factors that led to Modi's victory: the Congress Party's playing the Hindutva card and the efforts of the ELM (English language media) to defame Modi.

The author notes:

As a Malayalee, having seen the devil and deep sea alternately ruin such a beautiful state, I have to admit.... I envy Gujaratis, I envy Modi. I have seen most youth complain about their state's government - and rightly so many times. But a majority of my Gujarati friends, seem so proud of their government. They put youtube videos showcasing Gujarats rapid development on their orkut..... I am sure, some of them, if not most, also hope that what Sardar Patel was denied will be made up by Modi - if not immediately, some day, may be after Advani !

I can sympathize with the author's point of view. As the author has seen his native Kerala ruined by the Communists, my husband has seen how the Communists have ruined his home state of West Bengal.

Even Modi's foes acknowledge that he's been successful at attracting foreign investment: the Wall Street Journal claims that Gujarat has received 25% of foreign investment in India. People from Gujarat describe Modi as a good administrator (albeit dogmatic) and a clean politician, rather an anomaly in India. Could it be these qualities that make Gujarat a good bet for investment?

On reporting on Godhra and its aftermath

Found in IBN blogs:

The Curse of Being a Hindu in Modern IndiaIn this article, Saurabh Saksena ponders why the media focused only on Muslim victims of the Gujarat riots and not on the victims of the train fire in Godhra.

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After reading a cover story by Rajiv Chandrasekharan (formerly the  National Editor of The Washington Post),  in The Indian American, I hastily sent a letter to the editor about an article that Chandrasekharan wrote about Godhra, in he essentially blamed the victims of the Godhra train fire for their fate. In my letter, I quoted at length commentary by the lat Varsha Bhosle and Rajesh Srinavasan (with attribution, of course) on Charndrasekaran's article.

Imagine how startled I was to see an edited (mangled) version of my letter published in the next issue of The Indian American. Then imagine how overwhelmed I felt when a rejoinder by Chandrasekharan was published in the following issue, in which he told the editor that letters such as mine should not be published. He alternatively praised and blamed Indian media for the coverage of Godhra and its aftermath. He congratulated himself on interviewing many parties, including perpetrators, observers, and officials after the events. He said that Bhosle's and Srinavasan's commentary was written soon after the event, when passions ran high, when in fact, the commentaries were further removed in time, as they were reactions to his reporting.

I mean, how petty!  Rajiv Chandrasekharan was a reporter with the Washington Post.  The 2010 movie Green Zone starring Matt Damon was based on his 2006 book Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone.

Who was I?  Just someone who wrote a letter to the editor.