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On Modispeak

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s image has taken a beating after his abrupt walkout from the interview with Karan Thapar on the Devil’s Advocate programme. By being impatient, he lost a golden opportunity to project his views on making Gujarat a model State if returned to power. That he is not repentant about the 2002 riots and refuses to look back is nothing strange, given the ideology to which he subscribes. The ghost of Godhra is unlikely to haunt Mr. Modi in the near future.

T.V. Ramamurthy,

Anyone who has watched Mr. Thapar’s style of interviewing will agree that he tends to be offensive. He perhaps feels that because he belongs to the media, he can ask his guests anything. He should learn to conduct interviews without antagonising the guests. May I add that this is not a defence of Mr. Modi and his orchestrated genocide.

T.V. Shankar Narayanan,

Why was Mr. Thapar insisting on an image makeover for Mr. Modi? He is not a film star or cricketer who should bother about his image. Mr. Modi’s answers were precise and he was quite forthright in asking Mr. Thapar to show a court judgment against him.

Indranil Basu,

Mr. Modi has unnecessarily offered scope for public criticism. The media are bound to provoke politicians. It is for the person being interviewed to keep his cool.

S.R. Badrinarayanan,

Why should Mr. Modi be called a mass murderer by an interviewer on a television channel? And who are the “people” Mr. Thapar was referring to? Those who were responsible for the killing of Sikhs in 1984 are still active in the Congress. It is an undeniable truth that Mr. Modi has taken Gujarat forward in many fields and has proved to be an exemplary administrator.

T.S. Pattabhi Raman,

A mediaperson cannot go on provoking an elected Chief Minister in the name of public scrutiny. The people’s will cannot be diminished by an interviewer. Journalists are in no way superior to a politician having the people’s mandate.

R. Narayana Iyer,

The argument that Mr. Thapar should not have harped on the 2002 killings is absurd. Here is a person who is directly or indirectly responsible for the Gujarat violence. It does not matter when it happened. What matters is that the person is not remorseful for his actions. It is only in India that we have people who find fault with the media for highlighting our leaders’ crimes and who are willing to vote the same ‘leaders’ back to power.

A. Shoba,

By refusing to answer appropriate and relevant questions posed to him, and walking out of the interview with Mr. Thapar, Mr. Modi has proved that he is not only remorseless but is also, in all respects, a modern-day Nero.

Tharcius S. Fernando,

The Gujarat violence is an indelible blot on India. The media, for their part, ensure that it remains thus. The riots are a thing of the past. Revisiting them will not serve any purpose. There are many things in Gujarat besides the riots — its economic growth and stability, for instance.

Himanshu Sachdeva,

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