That seems to be the broad consensus across the Indian blogworld.

Patrix ridicules charges that the Tehelka investigation is politically motivated and hence suspect:

As far as the allegation of why Gujarat and why not <insert any act of terrorism> goes, I don’t think anyone has ever stopped those individuals or any other media outlet from investigating other acts of terrorism. If Tehelka investigates Gujarat, you are free to investigate Kashmir, Delhi 1984, Bombay blasts 1993, and the more recent Hyderabad blasts 2007. More the merrier, right? Go and steal Tehelka’s thunder. We have plenty of acts of terror going around (unfortunately) to keep everyone busy for a long time.

Prem questions similar arguments:

Whyfor? What does such a debate and discussion ever achieve? Neat argument—the very one Indira Gandhi used while declaring Emergency and muzzling our freedom to speak, to discuss, to debate; the very argument totalitarians historically use to forestall any discussion of their doings. Seriously, what kind of argument is that, to say oh come on, something happened, what’s the point of talking about it now, let’s move on? Hell, on this very forum, the last time I checked, something like 3500 unique IDs stayed logged on for the better part of eight hours, discussing a cricket match ball by ball, and debating whether this player should be sacked and that one blooded—sorry, but what were you hoping to achieve?

The ‘bit twisted, but somehow predictable’ logic of blocking television channels broadcasting the Tehelka expose has Amardeep asking some questions:

Obviously, the next step is to block channels that report that channels are being blocked, because that could also create seeds of dissent that could lead to communal tension. Right?

One point of confusion is who exactly is responsible for the order to black out the channels in question. The CNN-IBN article I linked to names the author of the order as “Ahmedabad District Magistrate and District Election Officer Dhananjay Dwivedi,” but also states that the Central Election Commission has “washed its hands,” saying it never issued any such order. I’m not really clear who has the real authority here — is Dhananjay Dwivedi’s action even legal?

Jo wants to congratulate ‘Tarun Tejpal and his team of brave journalists at Tehelka’

To the ignorant people out there who keep saying Christians and Muslims would just be safe in this country under a BJP rule (they site BJP’s first term as an example), should read this investigation report. Those who keep justifying Modi and are enraged whenever Modi and Sangh parivar have been mentioned as the mass murderers, they should read about the well laid-out plans of these saffronite terrorists. And now it is the turn of those pro-BJP/Sangh people to raise questions like “Why at such a time when Gujarat election is nearing?” and “Did Modi kill anyone with his own hands?” and the usual terms like “Pseudo-Secularism“, “Sickularism” etc. Take your trumpet and blow hard, but the silence from the graves of those who have been dead would be louder than that.

Dina agrees with Jo:

Bravo Tehelka. Finally some real proof!

Raghu Karnad says- ‘Murder will out’:

This is only a sampler of the recorded incriminations that Khaitan obtained. They appear to be extensive, interconnected and thoroughly damning. But as Shoma Chaudhury, Tehelka’s features editor, took pains to point out during the programme, the real exposure is not of the individuals who confessed on camera to participating in the massacres. The real exposure is of the state apparatus of Gujarat - the executive, the police, the judiciary - which is compromised in total. In total.

The dramatic unveiling of this footage shouldnt blind us to the fact that, for anyone who cared to look into it, the evidence for the collaboration of the government and the Sangh organizations in the massacres was always plentiful. It was easily accessible: in the reports of the People’s Union of Civil Liberties, in Rakesh Sharma’s documentary Final Solution, in Siddharth Vardarajan’s book Gujarat: The Making of a Tragedy, and in any number of news report and scholarly articles looking at the production of communal riots. What the sting operation may accomplish that is new and important is, firstly, to make the charge completely irrefutable, and secondly, and more importantly, to present the charges and the evidence in as public and dramatic and attention-gathering a format as possible.

Naveen too is all praise for Tehelka…but not so kind to the rest of the media:

Well, if Tehelka has unearthed this clinching evidence, they need to be congratulated. They have trodden where nobody in this large ‘democratic’ country has dared to tread. Governments have changed… people threw out the then incumbent government at the centre, hoping that the new one would look into the matter. But all we got was stoic silence from the new rulers. No action, no reaction and the perpetrators of the mass murders continued to rule. Tehelka has bucked the trend and followed up on an old and forgotten ’story’.[...] It is amazing to see the discussions in leading newspapers about the revelations. It is more about ‘who will gain in the elections by these revelations’, rather than how can the perpetrators of the mass murders and their cheer-leaders contest in the election and continue to ‘rule’. This is a total dumbing down of our democracy…

Dr.Bhaskar Dasgupta thinks ‘they are not Hindus anyway’:

Read this expose and weep at their thoughts and deeds. Tehelka has executed a detailed expose of the deliberate machinations of state terror in the Gujarat riots in 2002. They expose the conspirators, rioters, the role of the police, and the complicity of the state government. It is very clear that the Indian State of Gujarat, its administrative machinery and political masters masterminded this atrocity, helped abetted and carried it out. They have been condemned by their own mouths. They lead the pogrom and they should be punished. And no, no punishment in the hereafter, I want to see them in jail.

Liju Phillip calls Modi ‘The Butcher of Gujarat’:

Read the explosive article by Tehelka on how Narendra Modi planned, executed the riots in Gujarat post the Godhra train fire. How he let the mobs run free for 3 full days killing, maiming muslims and raping their women, children and systematically burning/destroying their business and economic activity.

As the Supreme Court observed, “Narendra Modi played the perfect Nero who fiddled while Gujarat burnt.”

Gaurav says: ‘when it comes to accountability for communal violence, we Indians tend to be so blase, it is shameful.’

Mike Ghouse links to several news stories on the fallout of the expose, including a report on outrage expressed by several Indian Americans and organizations who want Modi to be dismissed.

Indiatime calls the perpetrators of the pogrom ‘Unhindu Hindus’:

Nobody, I repeat, nobody who are involved in such unspeakable crimes, should remain in any public positions even for a minute, no matter how high those positions are. Narendra Modi can begin to prove his innocence first by resigning and then explaining to this nation why he and his cronies should be scot free after maligning the most tolerant religion on the face of the planet. The national leaders of the Hindu right need to take a long hard look at their party and come to a decision whether the worst kind of subversion of their founders’ ideology is reason enough to kick the butts of those whose deeds will put the rest of the nation to shame. BJP’s top leaders need to stop their wordsmithy, leave their self-absorbed oratory at home, and speak the truth.

Ram opines- ‘it’s time to reflect’:

We as a civilization have the saying, ‘ahimsa paramo dharma’, that non-violence is the fundamental dharma / duty / function. The violence on humans in Gujarat is an expression that defeats the spirit of this saying, it is but differently being vent upon the forests, the rivers the farmers, the villages every where,… it is important to realize that the largest perpetuator of such violence is a form of governance that has long since become alien to its people and the people themselves can become victims as well as tools in perpetuating such violence. How could a Modi be re-elected in Gujarat again is a question many have asked, he may be elected again after 5 years is the reality. Something is wrong with the Indian democracy and economy and the way we understand ‘development’. Something about it breeds violence that seems to be against the spirit of the people. The Tehelka sting is a time to reflect.

Churumuri asks:

What does this kind of bloodlust say about Hinduism? What does such thigh-slapping cannibalism say about vegetarianism? And what does it say about the maturity of our democracy to see the killers being voted into power and being hailed as “prime minister material”? About voters in the land Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born.

Zafar Anjum links to two news stories, one on the expose and another on proposed affirmative action in the Indian private sector, and looks at the larger picture:

I have many friends from India’s minority community who work and live abroad and they don’t want to go back to a ’shining’ India so readily. You can see why. It is sad but true and I hope things change fast in my country so that people of all faiths feel safe and secure and participate in its historic moment of progress with equal measure.

Tushizap agrees Gujarat is ‘vibrant’:

The big moustached, Ravana look alike – Godhra MLA boasts about bombs being made in his factory, the logistics efficiency that helped them in transporting them to various locations in Gujarat to torpedo Muslims and the compliance of the police forces that played up with them in torturing Muslims. He went on to admit, the chief protagonist Mr. Narendra Modi gave them a free run for 3 days and assured that nothing will happen to them. This unholy alliance between the ruling class, police and corrupt judiciary wrecked havoc in Gujarat in 2002.Gujarat which has now come with a sobriquet of sorts – “Vibrant Gujarat” indeed proves it is vibrant with religious militancy which has serious implication on minorities and lower castes.

Kashif looks at the strategy and the tactics..the method behind the madness:

A STRATEGY was devised on how to shield the attackers from the law after the riots. Prominent lawyers were briefed and senior police officers taken into confidence. The cadres were told Modi was squarely behind them

THE MOBILISATION of the under castes, something the Sangh had been engaged in for years, dovetailed into the deep penetration Hindutva already had among Gujarat’s higher castes. Godhra provided the perfect spark to fuse them together.

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