This refers to a news item "Vajpayee felt Gujarat riots were a 'mistake'" carried by Business Recorder on Saturday; according to which, a book penned by former RAW chief A S Dulat has claimed that former Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee felt that the 2002 Gujarat riots had a bearing on the BJP's defeat in 2004 Lok Sabha polls.
According to Dulat, Vajpayee, in his characteristic style, quipped that even the congress does not know how it managed the victory. "Then Vajpayee mentioned Gujarat. 'Who hamare se galti hui' ('that was a mistake'), he said. "Perhaps, he felt that was the reason he lost power, because he did not stop the 2002 riots," dulat writes. Here, one must not lose sight of the fact that it was Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister of Gujarat, who presided over the pogrom of the members of India's largest minority. How unfortunate and ironic it is that he has been elected to the post of prime minister in a country which claims to uphold human rights as rights that are universal, and inalienable. The election of Modi has shown to the world that ideals of human dignity, freedom, the rule of law and respect for human rights have lost their appeal in today's India.