It is not often that a minister is declared an absconder, but if this unusual event has taken place in Gujarat, the reason is that many of the criminal cases pertaining to the 2002 riots are still continuing. The minister, Maya Kodnani, who has now sought anticipatory bail, is an accused in the infamous Naroda Patiya massacre, in which 95 people were killed. Another absconder is the local VHP leader, Jaydeep Patel. Their alleged role tends to substantiate Atal Behari Vajpayee’s comment that some of his party leaders and associates were driven by their emotions during the carnage (“bhavnao se parichalit thhey”). Their involvement is now being investigated by the Special Investigating Team, set up by the Supreme Court, following the seemingly hasty closure of nearly 2,000 cases by the local police on grounds such as the lack of evidence or failure to trace the culprits.
As is known, some of the cases, of which the shocking Best Bakery murders were one, had to be tried outside Gujarat because it was felt that the law might not be allowed to follow its course in the state because of political pressure on the police. The latest incident gives credence to this allegation, for it has taken an outside agency to pursue the cases with much greater diligence than might have been possible at the local level.
Since both Kodnani and Patel are high-profile individuals, it is understandable how they have managed to evade the long arm of the law so far.
By absconding, however, they have not done any good to their own reputation or that of the ruling party and the administration since the very act of disappearance is suspicious.
For the BJP, the latest developments can be embarrassing on the eve of the next general election not only because they revive memories of the horrendous outbreak some years ago, but also because they point to the possible involvement of party functionaries in the disturbances.
If and when Kodnani and Patel are apprehended and their depositions become public knowledge, there may be more uncomfortable moments for the BJP and the VHP. The BJP may not have paid any political price for the outbreak — Kodnani won the post-riots election — but the taint of complicity has refused to go away. Like Banquo’s ghost, it continues to hover over Gujarat despite its other achievements.