The Truth: Gujarat 2002 - Tehelka report

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tehelka video footage of ex-Bajrang Dal leader and BJP MLA Haresh Bhatt.

The Truth: Gujarat 2002^[1] was an extensive report on the 2002 Gujarat violence published by the Tehelka magazine in its November 7, 2007 issue. The report, which was based on a six-month long investigation and involved sting operations, claimed that the violence was possible because of the connivance of the state police as well as the Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi.

The sting operation has led to partisan criticism and raised questions on journalistic ethics.

1 Content
2 Reactions
3 Criticism
- 3.1 Political
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Content

An October 2007 report by the investigative newsmagazine Tehelka quoted several Sangh Parivar activists claiming that Modi was personally aware of the planning for the riots; a senior Bajrang Dal leader is quoted as saying that at a public meeting the day of the fire, "he had given us three days to do whatever we could. He said he would not give us time after that, he said this openly."^[2]

[edit] Reactions

Gujarati Muslims In the Narul resettlement colony in Ahmedabad interviewed by Outlook magazine expressed distress at the renewed focus on the riots, as well as fear and suspicion that it meant another riot may be planned in the lead up to the upcoming elections. Some hoped that the report would serve a legal purpose bringing the perpetrators of the violence to justice.^[3]

BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad denied that Narendra Modi had visited Naroda Patia as alleged in the report.^[4]

Political commentator Achyut Yagnik and activist Gagan Sethi conclude that the report will not "shame" the people of Gujarat who, according to Yagnik, are deeply anti-Muslim and have no remorse over the 2002 violence.^[3]

[edit] Criticism

The timing of the report release, a month before assembly elections in Gujarat, was criticized as being politically motivated by Kanchan Gupta,^[5] and Chandan Mitra, the latter writing that it was "so transparently pegged to the Gujarat assembly polls that even breast-beating secular fundamentalists found it hard to defend".^[6] Swapan Dasgupta concludes that the report failed to accomplish what he considers its sole, "political", objective - to bring down Narendra Modi.^[7]

Noting that while the reporter Ashish Khetan broke two of the customary rules of "squeaky clean" journalism by lying about his identity and breaking confidentiality promises, Arthur Dudney, a South Asia scholar at Columbia University writes in the SAJA Forum that there did not appear to be any other way to bring a key public-interest matter to light.^[8]

Arvind Lavakare criticises Aaj Tak's television coverage of the report, which he says mixes Tehelka footage with material from the movie Parzania to sensationalize the findings.^[9]

[edit] Political

Bal Thackeray, the head of the Shiv Sena party termed the report a "political conspiracy to defame the Hindus" by the "so-called secularists".^[10] The Bharatiya Janata Party claimed that Tehelka never conducted any sting against the Indian National Congress and alleged that the Congress-led government gave Tehelka tax exemptions.^[11] Some members of the Indian National Congress allege Tehelka of being in cahoots with the BJP^[12] and releasing the report to galvanize the Hindu vote.