Was shaken to core by 2002 Gujarat riots, says Narendra Modi in a blog

Modi who had avoided media questioning on the issue for over a decade and had never said sorry or apologised for the riots today came out with a long statement in a blog saying he was quotshaken to the corequotu00a0 quot39Grief39 39Sadness39 39Misery39 39Pain39 39Anguish39 39Agony39mere words could not capture the absolute emptiness one felt on witnessing such inhumanityquot he said in the blog in an apparent attempt at reaching out to the Muslim community ahead of next year39s elections quotThis is the first time I am sharing the harrowing ordeal I had gone through in those words at a personal levelquot he said in the blog The 63yearold BJP39s prime ministerial candidate has consistently refused to express regrets for the riots that killed nearly 1000 people most of them Muslims Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi File pic Yesterday a Metropolitan Magistrate court here upheld an SIT clean chit given to Modi in the Gulberg Society massacre in which former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri was among the 68 people burnt alive during the riots quotThe Gujarat government had responded to the violence more swiftly and decisively than ever done before in any previous riots in the country Yesterday39s judgement culminated a process of unprecedented scrutiny closely monitored by the highest court of land the Honourable Supreme Court of India Gujarat39s 12 years of trial by the fire have finally drawn to an end I feel liberated and at peacequot he said Thanking the people who stood by him in these quottrying timesquot through the quotfacade of lies and deceitquot the chief minister said quotwith this cloud of misinformation firmly dispelled I will now also hope that the many others out there trying to understand and connect the real Narendra Modi would feel more empowered to do soquot Emerging from quotthis journey of pain and agonyquot he said he prayed to God in all humility that no bitterness seeped into his heart quotI sincerely do not see this judgement as a personal victory or defeat and urge all My friends and especially my opponents to not to do so as wellquot he said Modi who has the image of a hardline Hindutva proponent and describes himself as a Hindu nationalist said those who derive satisfaction by perpetuating pain in others will probably not stop their tirade against him quotI do not expect them to But I pray in all my humility that they at least now stop irresponsibly maligning the 6 crore people of Gujaratquot he said He said he fasted 37 days for Sadhbhavana harmony choosing to translate the positive judgement into constructive action reinforcing unity and sadbhavana in society at largequot quotI am deeply convinced that the future of any society state or country lies in harmony This is the only foundation on which progress and prosperity can be built Therefore I urge one and all to join hands in working towards the same ensuring smiles on each and every facequot he said quotOnce againquot Modi said quotsatyameva jayatequot truth alone triumphs Recalling the events of those days in the aftermath of the Godhra train burning Modi said he fervently urged for peace and restraint to ensure lives of innocents were not put at risk quotI had repeatedly reiterated the same principles in my daily interactions with the media in those fateful days of FebruaryMarch 2002 as well publicly underlining the political will as well as moral responsibility of the government to ensure peace deliver justice and punish all guilty of violence quotYou will also find these deep emotions in my recent words at my Sadbhavana fasts where I had emphasised how such deplorable incidents did not behove a civilised society and had pained me deeplyquot he said In fact Modi said his emphasis has always been on developing and emphasising a spirit of unity with the now widelyused concept of quotMy 5 crore Gujarati brothers and sisters39 having crystallised right at the beginning of his tenure as Chief Minister itself from this very space quotHowever as if all the suffering was not enough I was also accused of the death and misery of my own loved ones my Gujarati brothers and sisters Can you imagine the inner turmoil and shock of being blamed for the very events that have shattered youquot he said For so many years they incessantly kept up their attack leaving no stone unturned What pained even more was that in their overzealousness to hit at him for their narrow personal and political ends they ended up maligning the entire state and the country quotThey heartlessly kept reopening the wounds that we were sincerely trying to heal It ironically also delayed the very justice that these people claimed to be fighting for May be they did not realise how much suffering they were adding to an already pained peoplequot he said u00a0