I was really nervous about the outcome of this meeting. He shook my hand and broke the ice saying in Hindi: “Aayo yaar!” Inside, there was a jhoola (swing). He made me sit next to him on the jhoola. Because at that time Modiji used to talk of Gujarati asmita (identity),I said to Mr Modi you are a slightly diluted Gujarati than me. He said: How come? I replied: You know that I am an Ahemadabadi and Ahmedabadis by all accounts are the purest of all Gujaratis while you are from Vadnagar. You are a very impure Gujrati. He said: “Yes, you have a point.”
"About 8-10 people were present during that meeting, including Rajat Sharma. I began by saying, ‘you have come here for Vibrant Gujarat, for the economic progress of Gujarat. But this economic progress will remain empty without justice. The West rules the world because these countries ensure justice to their citizens. And our country is in a mess—here I am not talking of Muslims alone—because every one of us faces injustice in our country. There cannot be peace without justice.’
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After that the Maulana gave a long sermon to Modi on the value of justice. A very top notch industrialist from Gujarat was also sitting there. He kept looking at his watch. Modi had some other big program fixed for that evening. But he told him, “Stop looking at your watch. I am going to spend time with these people now”. He then told us, “Take all the time you want, and say all that you want to tell me.”
"Then we began talking of all the riots and asked him: what were you doing on the morning of 27 February 2002? Why did you not call your police and the army? Why did you not go to Juhapura? Why did you not visit refugee camps? The questions that the SIT asked of Modi much later, we asked him all those questions that day. And yet we were accused of going to meet Modi to curry personal favours with him! Can there be a bigger lie than that?
Maulana Isa Mansuri
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Maulana Isa Mansuri was very tough on Modi, but Modi treated him with great respect because the Maulana is a great scholar. Modi kept listening, which was least expected from the “Hindu Hriday Samrat” (The Emperor of Hindu Hearts).Maulana said to him, “Modi sahib, forget everything else, help us get justice. If you do that you will automatically surge ahead. We are not talking of justice only in relation to the Muslims who are only 15 % of the population. Hindus are bigger victims of injustice. Make justice available to all.” Maulana literally made Modi stand in the dock. It is Modi’s maturity that even after winning the election with a thumping majority, he listened to all of that.
"My younger brother Talha was there for that meeting, he had come from India for it. Talha had seen it all and was actively involved in relief work. I told Modi, “Look, no one can deny that a 1000 plus Muslims were killed. I only ask you, whatever happens between Palamapur and Vapi, between Bharuch and Jamnagar—good or bad- the buck will stop with you. You are our chief minister. Whenever there is a problem, whoever is in put in trouble—whether Hindu or Muslim- it is your responsibility. We will always have the right to ask you: why did this happen under your charge?
"To this Modi replied: Yes, this blot happened during my tenure and I have to wash it off.(‘Haan ye mere kaal ka kalank hai, aur mujhe usko dhona hai’
.People told us Modi never says sorry. I said, what does sorry mean? If this Maya Kodnani comes and says sorry to Muslims, will she be forgiven? We have a criminal justice system in this country which does not accept sorry. What will Narendra Modi’s sorry mean to us? We will judge his sorry from his actual doings..
"We did not beg for any concessions from Modi. We did not say, ‘do this, do that for us’. My first statement to Modi was: you answer this one question before we proceed any further: ‘You talk of 5 crore Gujratis. Are the 60 lakh Muslims included in the 5 crore? If the answer is ‘yes’, then we talk further. But if you say that ‘I am the chief minister of only the 4.5 crore Hindus of Gujarat’, then there is nothing to say.
"He said, ‘Of course you are mine. Among the 5 crore Gujratis you are included. When I bring Narmada water into Sabarmati River, do I stop it flowing through Muslim settlement of Juhapura? Who are the biggest beneficiaries of Sabarmati waters near Nehru Bridge?’
"After hearing us out with patience, Modi said some of your points are valid but many are exaggerations.
Modi described how in February 2002, he was very new to administration. He was suddenly sent as chief minister of Gujarat in 2001, just three and a half months before the riots since BJP was in doldrums and the Keshubhai Patel government had performed very poorly. His mandate was to clean up the mess and win the December 2002 election for BJP. Then he explained to us all the steps he had taken starting 27th February under very challenging circumstance.
even though more muslims have been killed in east _ west pakistan put together than in India. Yes, the need to keep justifying TNT is very real and manifests daily on the forum.
