Truth, ten years on

Yes, like in South Africa emerging from apartheid, let's have a Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Gujarat, 2002. Why not?

For that matter, let's have a T&RC for Bombay, 1992-93; for Kashmir 1989+; for Delhi, 1984; for Laxmanpur-Bathe, 1997; etc -- but this is a tenth anniversary of Gujarat we're marking, so let's discuss just that for now.

The important part of that is that first word, "Truth". Meaning we need to see the perpetrators of ghastly murders come out and tell the truth about what they did. It's called making a clean breast, and there's no substitute for that.

Meaning: No rhetoric that we've "moved on", or "much water has flowed down the Sabarmati", or "what's the point of re-opening old wounds that have healed?" No resort to invoking 300-year histories of communal violence. No pointing fingers at previous despicable Congress governments. None of that stuff. Just fronting up to the truth.

There's a reason it hasn't happened yet. Making a clean breast of things needs great courage. Far more courage than you need when you're in a mob setting fire to a train, or chopping up defenceless women, even pregnant women. Because you have to look in the mirror, and be true to yourself. Hard to at the best of times, infinitely harder when you've got blood on your hands, or when you're trying to cover up or explain away the blood on your friends' hands.

Nevertheless, it's possible, that truth and reconciliation. Let's start with the truth. Right now.