Shripal Sabnis
Sabnis also said Dalits in the country were looking with suspicion at Modi’s “Gandhi-Buddha” model which he is parading worldwide.
Written by MANOJ MORE | Pune | Published:January 21, 2016 5:17 am
Shripal Sabnis, president of the 89th Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan whose remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi triggered a row before the start of the literary meet, on Wednesday reiterated that Modi as Gujarat Chief Minister had failed to protect the lives of Muslims and win their confidence.
Sabnis, who was speaking at the Idea Exchange at The Indian Express on Wednesday, also said Dalits in the country were looking with suspicion at Modi’s “Gandhi-Buddha” model which he is parading worldwide.
“I do not agree with Modi who was the Gujarat chief minister. He had failed to protect the lives of Muslims and win their confidence. There has been no punishment. He has got the clean chit from the apex court, but the blot remains…, he had to face the prosecution,” Sabnis said, when asked to elaborate on his remarks.
The author, however, clarified that he was not alleging that Modi was behind the Gujarat riots.
Sabnis said BJP’s own senior leaders like Atal Bihari Vajpayee held a similar view. “Vajpayee had clearly said that Raj Dharma was not followed in Gujarat in the aftermath of the Godhra riots,” Sabnis said.
Asked if Modi as chief minister of Gujarat owed an apology to the Muslim community, Sabnis said, “We cannot force anybody… it has to come from within. Maybe, doing so could have threatened his political existence… or his party’s Hindu vote bank could have been affected…”