NEW DELHI -- The continuing communal violence in the western Indian state of Gujarat has not only left hundreds dead, but has also led to embarrassing condemnation by world leaders. New Delhi finds itself in an utterly shameful spot, a situation brought on by its own inept handling of the Hindu-Muslim frenzy.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, which heads a large coalition in New Delhi, has been mulish in not sacking Narendra Modi, Gujarat's chief minister, who has been accused of unleashing terror on Muslims with the help of Hindu goons. The reason is simple: Modi belongs to the Hindu nationalist BJP, which administers Gujarat.
Described by independent observers as reminiscent of Nazi brutality, the Gujarat riots have few parallels even in the country's own history. Barring what India witnessed at the time of partition -- when the British divided the subcontinent into India and Pakistan as one of the conditions for ending the 300-year-old colonial rule -- the nation of 1 billion people has not seen anything like the present Gujarat outrage.