Why did PM Vajpayee remind CM Modi to follow ‘rajdharma’? Congress’s Jairam Ramesh asks 8 questions on SC verdict

NEW DELHI: Expressing disappointment over the Supreme Court judgment in the Zakia Jafri case pertaining to the 2002 Gujarat riots, Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said what happened to her husband Ehsan Jafri and family was the result of a fundamental lapse on the part of the state government.
In a statement issued on Monday, former Union minister Ramesh said, “The Supreme Court judgment in the Zakia Jafri case is deeply disappointing.”
He said despite the June 24 judgment, some fundamental questions remained unanswered.
“What is the constitutional and moral responsibility of the chief minister and state government in cases of large-scale communal riots? Is the responsibility in such cases only ever that of the collector and deputy commissioner of police and not of the political executive? Will the chief minister, cabinet and state government never be held accountable, even if a state is thrown into a circle of violence and riots?” Ramesh asked.
He said the Congress stood by its colleague late Ehsan Jafri and his family at his hour. Jafri, a former Congress MP, was allegedly burned to death by a mob at the peak of the Gujarat riots.
“What happened to him (Ehsan Jafri) in a most tragic manner was the result of a fundamental lapse on the part of the state government. Furthermore, while the Supreme Court has pronounced its judgment, there are five questions that will continue to haunt the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi),” Ramesh said.
“Was Shri Narendra Modi not the chief minister of Gujarat when the horrific riots took place in 2002? Why was PM (Atal Behari) Vajpayee so affected by his lack of action that he had to publicly remind him to do his duty, to follow his ‘rajdharma’?” he added.
Ramesh further said the Supreme Court itself had called out the conduct of the Modi government in Gujarat as that of "modern day Neros (who) were looking elsewhere when... innocent children and helpless women were burning, and were probably deliberating how the perpetrators of the crime can be saved or protected"?
He asked why sections of the BJP, including Union women and child development minister Smriti Irani, protested and called for Modi’s dismissal as CM if he was not guilty of any wrongdoing.
“What about all the numerous convictions that have been carried out on the basis of the evidence collected by the SIT (special investigation team) relating to the Gujarat riots? Can the BJP claim that those also stand invalidated?” Ramesh asked.
No amount of propaganda by the BJP could ever erase these facts, he added.