THE NEW DELHI-BASED NEWS MAGAZINE, TEHELKA, has once again lived up to the meaning of its name. It is not easy to translate the Hindi word ‘tehelka’: an explosive blast, a powerful storm, a cyclone, an upheaval turning things inside out. You pick and chose. The word means all that and more. TEHELKA magazine did just that a few days ago: created a full-blast tehelka in the political life of India.

Over the past five years and more, countless investigations into the genocidal massacre of Muslims throughout the state of Gujarat had unequivocally laid the blame on Chief Minister Narendra Modi and the State machinery at his disposal. These conclusions were drawn on the basis of evidence provided by victims, survivors, and other witnesses.

But now for the first time the full story is out; and it is told in the voice of those who actually perpetrated the ghastly crimes. It is an absolutely incredible feat in investigative journalism. All patriotic Indians, and all those who have valued the historically-evolved, composite civilisation of the country, and who have been horrified by the growth of the fascist Hindutva forces represented in the Sangh Parivar (BJP, RSS, VHP, Bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena etc.), and who crave for the truth, must indeed be grateful to TEHELKA.

The tehelka is on. Widespread demands are coming for the Central government to finally remove and dismiss the fascist, criminal Narendra Modi government, and initiate necessary legal proceedings, even five-and-a half years after the event. Will that happen? Will the guilty be punished? Will the fortress of impunity Narendra Modi and his Hindutva brigade have created for themselves be penetrated? Or will the tehelka subside, like all storms eventually do? Let’s wait and see.

Hari Sharma, South Asian Network
for Secularism and Democracy, Canada