Why should I apologise, asks Narendra Modi again

NEW DELHI: Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi's remarks that there was no need to apologise but he should be hanged if found guilty has resurrected the political sparring over the 2002 post-Godhra Gujarat riots.

In an interview to an Urdu weekly, Modi said: "In 2004, I had given an interview where I had asked, 'why should I apologise?' If my government had done this, I should be hanged in public in such a way that it remains a lesson the next 100 years so that nobody dares to do it."

Congress ridiculed his statement and dared him to allow an FIR to be lodged against him if he was ready for a probe while BJP defended Modi, alleging he and the Gujarat government were maligned by UPA.

"I don't think we believe in kangaroo justice. Whatever the law is in the country will prevail. The courts will decide. The agencies that are working for the courts will have to decide, place the material before the court, and the court will take a decision," law minister Salman Khurshid said.

He said it was not up to Modi to take a decision by himself. Asked if Modi was trying to 'improve' his image, Khurshid said "he should improve his conduct instead."

HRD minister Kapil Sibal said there was no question of holding him guilty or hanging him if an FIR has not been filed. "I was surprised to see the statement because you have to follow a procedure before being proved guilty. Before a person can be adjudged guilty, a FIR has to be lodged. But it does not seem to be mandatory in Modi's case, because civil society has been fighting for this...for an FIR so that an investigation could start."

He said Modi had made the remark keeping in mind the Gujarat elections, which are due this year end. "Modi must make another statement. He must say that I and no other agency will raise an objection if an FIR is lodged against me in any police station in Gujarat. After that, an investigation can be started. There is a lot of evidence available...," Sibal said.