Next week will mark the 24th anniversary of the massacre of more than 3,000 Sikhs in a pogrom that was to become Modi’s model after Godhra. Nearly all the killers walk free and remain faceless because in the days before 24-hour news channels the Indian state made an art out of ensuring that justice was never done after communal violence.

Governments changed, prime ministers came and went, and still justice remained elusive because the state protected itself by rising above political differences.

This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the Hashimpura massacre in which more than 70 Muslim men (some children, some very old) were rounded up in a Meerut bazaar, taken to a lonely spot on the banks of the Ganga canal and shot to death in the truck into which they had been crammed. The killers were policemen. Nobody has been punished.

Nobody ever is after a communal riot, which is the main reason why we continued to have this kind of violence till Gujarat 2002. Then, Narendra Modi did the country a favour by not realising that television had made it impossible for the state to get away with murder and Tehelka’s investigation shown on Aaj Tak is proof of this.

But the question of justice remains and unless the Indian state can convince Muslims that they will not be denied justice and equal opportunity we will continue to have a Muslim problem.

It is not just about the punishment of crimes against the community but also about social justice. What is needed is a sincere and dedicated effort to help ordinary Muslims out of the morass of illiteracy and poverty in which the vast majority remain mired. In areas where the problem is acute what will make a real difference are schools, skills training programmes and economic assistance. The task is massive and requires honesty and commitment. But because this is something our political class — whether secular or communal — is incapable of, what we get instead are the political games in which the winner secures the Muslim vote bank.

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