A new book called "Modi, Muslim and Media" written by the well-known feminist-turned-Modi acolyte released earlier this month, quotes Narendra Modi telling a maulana that he cannot openly come out and speak about the steps he took to control the 2002 riots because he fears that the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) may politically wipe him out ahead of the 2003 state elections.
The statement, is in sharp contrast, to Modi's, Hindutava image and reported roots in RSS and VHP.
"You will not see me fail you in action. But don't ask me to say it openly. VHP types will wipe me out. Elections are right round the corner," said Modi to an England-based Maulana, Isa Mansuri, when asked why Modi didn't defend himself in public.
Kishwar in the book strongly attempts to neutralise Modi's anti- Muslim image.
As per the book, the statement was made by Modi in 2003 during one of his visits to England for the Vibrant Gujarat Submit. The conversation reported in the book has been shown as an excerpt narrated by news journalist Rajat Sharma, who was reportedly present in the same room.
""Maulana Isa Mansuri did not let Modi speak for an hour; he spoke in the harshest tones and words. But Modi did not interrupt any of them for a minute. After they (Maulana and Mumbai based businessmen Zafar Sareshwallah) finished, Modi responded in detail with facts of each case they narrated......Then he told Maulana, " You know very well, I had been chief minister only for four and a half months. When this happened, I had no experience of administration. I had not even been an MLA till then. There, I did not have full grip over the administration," reads the excerpt quoting Modi.
The book at several other instances show Modi taking a stand against right wing organisations like VHP, Bajrang Dal etc to protect the interest of minorities.
As per the excerpts from the interview of Sareshwallah in the book, Modi admitted that it was a mistake to not let the films Fanaa or Parzania run in Gujarat theatres or let hoodlums get away with disrupting the Baroda College of Art exhibition.
Similarly account of V V Augestine from Kerala, former member of the National Minorities Commission, shares how in 2006 in the Dang tribal area, Christian community lived under the constant threat of VHP until Modi intervened.
"The VHP had become very active in the area resulting in a lot of tension. When they planned to organise a big Shabri Kumbh Mela in that area, the Christians became extremely nervous and feared that they would be attacked during that period We went to Modi with our apprehensions. Christian organisation demanded a ban on the Shabri Mela. Modi did not ban the mela because that would have given the VHP an excuse to create a ruckus that Hindus were being put down at the behest of Christians leading to more tension. He assured us that nobody would be allowed to indulge in violence or other forms of lawless behavior and issued instructions to the police commissioner of the area," reads the book.
Besides the instances given in the book, rift was reported between VHP and Modi last year too when the leaders of VHP openly condemned Modi for his speech in Patna saying he would build toilets first and temples later.
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