Union Law Minister Kapil Sibal.In a scathing attack on Gujarat CM Narendra Modi, Union Law Minister Kapil Sibal on Sunday said it was "too late" for the Gujarat CM to be saying that the 2002 riots had shaken him to the core. "Modi's riots baggage will remain. It is too late for him to express that he was shaken to the core. Had that been so, the core would have reacted in time, not a belated reaction just before the Lok Sabha elections," Sibal said in a write-up on his website.
The "pain and agony" reflected in Modi's blog is for an audience whose sympathy will be vital in May, 2014, the Union Law minister said.
He further added that pain was heartfelt, spontaneous and an emotion that is expressed without calculation.
"Pain can never be a belated reaction after 11 years of silence. And a person who suffers in silence cannot remain silent for 11 years. While I do not want to be cynical in my comments, I do not want to be dishonest either. This act of liberation does not connect us with the real Modi," he said.
The Union Minister's reaction came two days after the BJP's prime ministerial candidate wrote a blog post saying that he felt "liberated and at peace" in the wake of the clean chit given to him by Ahmedabad metropolitan court in a case related to the 2002 Gujarat riots and claimed he was "shattered" by the blame laid at his door for the killings.
In his article, written in reaction to Modi's blog, Sibal said that it is the "harrowing ordeal" of the victims, and not that of Modi, that needs attention. The wisdom of the scriptures should have dawned on Modi in 2002, not in 2013, he further stated.
"Those who plan in solitude never suffer pain in solitude.
Those who believe in Newton's Laws of Motion do not wait for 11 years to react," Sibal said.
Sibal also posed a series of questions.
He asked where the "pain" was when the state of Gujarat defended those who now stand convicted.
"Where was the pain when affidavits about their innocence were filed in courts? Where was the pain when lawyers were paid for defending the indefensible? Where was the pain when the state did not reach out to those who were crying for help? Where was the pain of those who were seeking justice but were left in the cold? Where was the pain when the state was collaborating with the accused to settle their affidavits, while they were being prosecuted in court?," Sibal asked.
I was shaken to the core. 'Grief', 'Sadness', 'Misery', 'Pain', 'Anguish', 'Agony' - mere words could not capture the absolute emptiness one felt on witnessing such inhumanity", Modi wrote in his blog.
- With PTI inputs.
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