Recalling 9/11 in US and 2002 in Gujarat

The tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist strikes in the United States was befittingly observed on September 11 this year with the leaders of the country, headed by President Barack Obama, poignantly dedicating at New York’s Ground Zero, where 10 years ago stood the Twin Towers, an appropriate memorial to the 2749 persons who perished there in the worst terror attack in the citadel of the industrialised West. The families of the dead gathered not only at Ground Zero but also in Washington and Pennsylvania to pay tributes to the 224 who had breathed their last at those two places as victims of terrorism on that fateful day. However, there was a different backdrop to the observance of 9/11 this year: this was the first such anniversary after the killing of Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the daring terror acts on US soil.

In his exclusive write-up in The Times of India to mark the occasion, Obama wrote about the nearly 3000 innocents lost that day (that is, on September 11, 2001) and did not fail to point to the fact that they belonged to as many as 90 nations; he underlined that “we join with their families and nations in honouring their memory†.

At the same time he emphatically declared that the US “is not and never will be at war with Islam†, adding:

Rather, with allies and partners we are united against Al-Qaeda, which has attacked dozens of countries and killed tens of thousands of innocent men, women and children—the vast majority of them Muslims.

He also did not forget to highlight the role of the victims of Al-Qaeda the world over in the fight against terror.

With characteristic eloquence he further under-scored:

Working together, we have disrupted Al-Qaeda plots, eliminated Osama bin Laden and much of his leadership, and put Al-Qaeda on the path to defeat. Meanwhile, people across the Middle East and North Africa are showing that the surest path to justice and dignity is the moral force of non-violence, not mindless terrorism and violence. It is clear that violent extremists are being left behind and that the future belongs to those who want to build, not to destroy.

These words as well as his assertion that all nations and peoples seeking a future of peace and prosperity have a “partner in the US†were unexceptional at face value though one could question the nature of that partnership given Washington’s past record. But thereafter his reiteration of the US pledge to “play a unique leadership role in the world†was jarring as it once more betrayed Washington’s hoiler-than-thou and hegemonic proclivities which peoples of countries facing US subjugation have legitimately militated against as these trampled underfeet national sovereignty, whether in Iraq or Afghanistan, even if they were couched in the elaborate explanations on the need to fight global terror.

Based as these are on the US Administration’s intention and inclination to behave as the global supercop, Obama’s reaffirmation of Washington’s leadership role does not inspire confidence among the peoples of every continent in the wake of their experience in both Iraq and Afghanistan. This is where the UN’s authority needs to be brought into focus, an authority undermined primarily by US actions in different corners of the globe.

While on the issue of terrorism, it is necessary to stress that India, which has been a victim of terrorist onslaughts over the years principally from across its northwestern borders, has failed to elicit concrete US support in its fight against terror beyond lip-service. As far as this country’s internal security mechanism is concerned, even though lately there seems to have been some kind of breakthrough in the latest Delhi High Court blast case with the arrest of at least some persons, the fact that none of the cases of terror after the
26/11 attacks in Mumbai three years ago have been solved bears eloquent testimony to the distance we have yet to traverse in our nation to make a real dent in the struggle against terror.

Meanwhile the Supreme Court order directing the Special Investigating Team (SIT) to submit to the relevant trial court its report on the Zakia Jafri petition seeking Narendra Modi’s prosecution (for his role in the 2002 Gujarat riots) has been prematurely interpreted by the BJP as amounting to a clean chit to the Gujarat CM. Actually that is not the case. It is the trial court which has to give its verdict on the issue taking into consideration not just the SIT report but also the adverse observations against the Modi Government by the amicus curiae. However, what cannot be denied is that even after almost 10 years of the Gujarat carnage, the victims, belonging to the minority community, have yet to witness justice. This is where Modi’s evasion of prosecution despite his highly objectionable state-ments, like “every action has an equal and opposite reaction†, leaves a permanent scar on India’s democratic body politic.

It is also the height of cynicism on the part of the Gujarat CM that after the SC order he is going on a three-day sadbhavana fast in the name of peace and harmony! Why can’t he first apologise for the 2002 tragedy as the Congress did for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots? That would help to change his image before the public at large. Or else he would continue to function only as a sectarian leader lionised by the Hindutvavadis without any national approach in a multicultural and multireligious country like ours (regardless of the speculation by a Washington think-tank that he has the distinct possibility of emerging as the BJP’s likely prime ministerial candidate in the next general elections).

Basically it is his hoiler-than-thou and me-infallible attitude that prevents Modi from adopting a national vision in Indian politics. It is quite akin to the US’ blinkered view of the overall global reality. The trauma of Gujarat 2002 and 9/10 in the US has in essence failed to alter their outlook.

September 15 S.C.