Why I think some Modi haters are parochial: They identify anything bad with Gujarat

Manu's statue in Rajasthan High Court premises

By Rajiv Shah

Controversy has broken out around a Gujarat High Court judge asking the father of a pregnant teenage girl to read Manusmriti if he cares to find out when a girl gets pregnant. He said, the ancient treatise approvingly says that a girl can get pregnant at the age of 17, plus or minus a few months. Surely a very odd comment; however, some of the enthusiastic social media people -- mainly Modi haters -- made it an occasion to blame Gujarat for it.

Identifying Gujarat with Modi is nothing new among some left-of-centre activists, even academics. Anything bad emanates from Gujarat, they seek to suggest. Often words like "Gujjus" are derogatorily used to criticise Gujarat. These people go so far as to say, this is the impact of eating dhoklas, surely a tasty Gujarati dish. Being a Gujarati myself, I think, such comments are parochial in nature.

No doubt, some of the worst post-Independence communal riots took place in Gujarat -- in 1969 and 2002. However, why forget that the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 in Delhi, India's capital, were worse than the two Gujarat riots put together. Besides, Gujarat, despite being a border state, had the least impact of the communal outrage that took place 1947. And, who doesn't know the contribution of Gujarat in the Indian freedom struggle?

As for the High Court judge, who quoted Manusmriti, the "spiritual" book known for its contempt for Dalits and women, those seeking to identifying him with Gujarat should know that there are numerous instances in other states as well of High Court judges quoting scriptures to support patriarchal framework.

I would like the critics of Gujarat to read the two articles -- Manusmriti and the Judiciary – A Dangerous Game by Atindriyo Chakraborty, and another one The Times Indian Judiciary Turns To Manusmriti To Deliver Verdicts by Shahina K.K.

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