Hindustan Times: Ahmedabad:
Saturday, September 28, 2013.
At a time
when controversy is raging on Muslims being asked to wear skull caps to attend
BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's public rallies, an RTI query
has revealed that Gujarat government had purchased skull caps worth Rs. 4,800
during Modi's Sadbhavana mission.
These skull
caps were purchased for the Navsari leg of Modi's Sadbhavana mission in 2011.
One Kalu Odedara had filed an RTI application seeking details on whether public
money was spent to buy skull caps to be distributed among those who visited the
CM in the day-long Sadbhavna fast at Navsari, which has a significant Muslim
population.
The
information officer at the Navsari district collector's office, RR Gamit,
stated in the response that Rs. 4,800 was spent on buying skull caps for Modi's
mission.
In 2011, Modi
had observed a three-day Sadbhavna fast after he was given a clean chit in the
Gulbarg society massacre case by the Supreme Court-appointed SIT. Subsequently,
he had also visited each district where he held one-day fasts amid thousands of
supporters and visitors.
Modi had
described his Sadbhavna mission as an attempt to promote communal harmony in
the state. He had also announced financial packages - worth Rs. 39,769 crore -
for each district. RTI replies from the districts, however, revealed that no
district actually received any financial assistance as announced by the CM
during the fast.
"We had
sought details from each district collector regarding the special financial
package the CM had announced for their respective districts. But it turned out
that the announcements were only on paper," said Gordhan Zadaphia, a
leader of Gujarat Parivartan Party founded by former chief minister Keshubhai
Patel.
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