PRAFUL AND Shantilal Vaghela, decided on July 22 against getting ‘martyred’ to serve the cause of all-knowing ‘rationalists’ in society! Refusing to be coerced by unscrupulous elements in politics and media, they went to chief minister Narendra Modi’s residence at Gandhinagar. Later, they announced that their ‘fast-unto-death’ was off. The two Vaghelas were fathers of two cousins – pre-teen inmates of Asaram Gurukul in Ahmedabad, whose corpses were found in Sabarmati river on July 5.

In other words, Modi triumphed over ‘Jagega Gujarat Sangarsh Samity’ (Committee to Crusade for Gujarat’s Awakening) without moving from his seat! Thus came abruptly to an end the epicentre of the disgrace that Ahmedabad (and Gujarat) suffered for a fortnight. JGSS is a dubious outfit hyped by the paparazzi and electronic media of the city as ‘civil society organisations’. Perhaps, he must have performed some bizarre tantric ritual to achieve his ‘evil’ goal!

JGSS spearheaded an agitation, formally sponsored by Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee, to destroy the image of Gujaratis as one of the most hospitable people in the country. Its strategy was to confront and harass more than one lakh followers of the noted evangelist Asaram Bapu, thronging to his ashram on Guru Purnima day (July 18). This was apparently the only way they could think of to dislodge Modi.

The conspiracy targetting the globe-trotting spiritual Guru had succeeded in instigating the unfortunate parents to denounce and denigrate him. It was not a difficult job to push them to insanity, given the extreme grief that could be exploited by ‘clever’ elite. The Vaghelas did not accept the possibility that the boys could have sneaked out of the hostel to have some fun at Rath Yatra. They refused to believe that their sons could possess a sense of adventurism, not unusual in boys of that age, and got drowned. They alleged that the boys were killed by tantriks as part of witchcraft being practiced at the ashram.

Even as police investigations, including forensic analyses, to verify the charge were on, the all-knowing paparazzi mounted a deadly assault on the state government. Modi was accused of hushing up the ‘mystery’ and shielding the ashram. An ‘agitation for justice’ was launched. JGSS converted the outrage in the neighbourhood at the tragedy into anger and hate by organising shutdowns. As is inevitable in any ‘bandh’, tensions built up in the area. Unscrupulous elements in the media stoked passions to incite violence by telecasting and publishing incendiary reports. Adding fuel to the incited violence, Praful refused to share with the investigators any information in his possession that point to human sacrifice. He went on a ‘moun vrat’ (vow of silence) and then compounded it with a ‘fast unto death’ demanding justice. JGSS and the local media interpreted ‘justice’ as the closing down of the ashram in existence since 30 years.

Asaram, who arrived in the city on the eve of Guru Purnima, personally went to Vaghela’s residence to offer condolences to the bereaved family, where he was insulted. The humiliation was covered gleefully by the paparazzi with beaming headlines, ’Asharam Bapu forced to run as public anger spills over’. The report gloated, “he was barely there for three minutes before he was booed away… (Vaghela) ordered that all the things Asharam Bapu had touched be burnt. Even the wooden mat he sat on was set ablaze."

It is not difficult for a couple of hundred hooligans, supported by sinister elements in the media and polity, to disrupt normal life of four million people. They ‘achieved’ it on Guru Purnima Day by declaring a grand ‘bandh’. Lakhs of devotees were stranded far from the ashram. Dozens of vehicles were damaged and those walking down the distance were brutally attacked.

The police were having a tough job already, controlling the milling crowds of the day. The media slammed the police for being ineffective, when it decided not to interfere prematurely in scuffles between the harassed devotees and the local goons. Lawlessness was blown up in the media, particularly the cheap TV channels. Ahmedabad city Congress took an active part in the ‘agitation for justice’ with general secretary Naginbhai Desai stealing the limelight. Overzealous journos, who were vying for sensational footage and willingly putting themselves at risk, got manhandled.

At this, a mob of 500, led by some journalists, took out a noisy procession. They carried placards reading ’The freedom of press is immortal’, ’Journalists condemn the attack on fourth estate’, and ’Stop gagging the press’ and wanted to hand over a memorandum over alleged ’goondaism’ let loose by Asaram’s followers. They were stopped from barging in. The mob indulged in arson and was dispersed. About two dozen of those, describing themselves as scribes, were taken to police station and later let off. Journos, who were trying their best to transform rowdyism into communal riots, greeted the action with cries of ’repression of media’.

In fact, a ‘national daily’ published a report titled ’Agitation turns communal in old city’. All major communal riots in Gujarat are typically triggered with such ‘hair raising’ reports, to incite unruly elements in society. Obviously, the government is keen that the issue does not snowball into riots manipulated by big-time criminals.

In the light of the refusal of Vaghelas, at the instance of powerful riot operators, to cooperate with the police, a CID probe and a judicial commission has been ordered. There appears to be nothing more that could be done by the government to ‘ensure justice’, which does not happen overnight. On July 21, a community leader and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Govind Prajapati went to Praful’s house and impressed him on this. Praful was reported by the media as insisting that the chief minister must come and request him. Media gods chided Prajapati as insensitive when he said, “Vaghelas should not ask the CM to meet them for this petty issue. Otherwise it will become a trend."

Vaghelas seem to have realised rather late in the day that their farce had only brought misery to themselves and numerous others. Countless children had to miss valuable academic days and a lot of public property has been destroyed. Praful claimed to have got a call from Gandinagar and gone to CM’s residence to break his fast. He said he has been satisfied with Modi’s assurance that any culpability of Asaram ashram in the death of the boys will be fairly probed. There has been no confirmation or denial of the reports from Gandhinagar.

To the sensationalist media, keen on a hatchet in preparation for elections, Vaghelas’ move came as a shocker. A newspaper reported disappointingly, ’After meeting the chief minister, without informing any of their supporters, Praful and his brother Shanti broke their fast’.

A sensation-mongering tabloid belonging to a ‘national’ media house, which has become typical for hatchet job journalism, carried a huge headline proclaiming, ’betrayal’. It described Praful’s action as ’blatant attempt to shield the real culprits’, as if its journos have already identified them! The tabloid added, “All those who supported Dipesh and Abhishek’s fathers in their fight against Asaram felt let down after the compromise with the govt!"

The omniscient journos quoted one Suresh Vaghela, supposed to be the ‘third brother’, as saying that it was not enough for the CM to meet them. He needed to come before the media to announce that a judicial inquiry had been instituted. ’If that was not done, the protests over the deaths continue’. A woman Jayshree, supposed to be Praful’s sister, was reported as opining, “People who had supported them in the protest over the deaths have been let down badly. They were shortchanged!" as if she wanted her brother to become a martyr!

In a signed central editorial comment on July 22, a mass circulation newspaper had even dismissed Asaram’s followers as ’a sect with roots in the Sindhi community, especially among petty shopkeepers and traders’, adding that the ’children who died did not belong to the main community’. The ‘venerable and secular’ journalist had vowed to ’pursue this (inciting of violence) regardless of threat force or intimidation’. It is tragic that India is burdened with this type of paparazzi and irresponsible media. Is there no punishment for indulging in such criminal activities to the worthies claiming to be ‘fourth estate’ and claiming to be even more sacred than ‘sects’?

 http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=138096

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