The verdict in the case of Bilkis Bano, a Muslim woman who was brutally raped by a Hindu mob merely because she was a Muslim, has elicited an understandable sense of satisfaction, even elation, in right thinking members of society. The perpetrators have been found guilty and given a stiff sentence. The fact that the guilty verdict took so long is a minor irritant. Justice delayed has become a fact of life in India. The public has long come to terms with it.

The elation, though, needs to be tempered with a reality check. Bilkis Bano may have finally got justice, but will it change anything in her life, or that of her family? And what of her coreligionists in Gujarat? Justice remains as distant a dream for them today as it was in 2002. For me, the most telling passage in the news report is the part that states that Bilkis Bano's family, along with other Muslim families in their village, have left their homes; fearing for their safety. Their fear is perfectly justified. Nothing has changed for them in Chief Minister Narendra Modi's Gujarat. Modi has made it perfectly plain that his vibrant Gujarat' is reserved exclusively for Hindus. Gujarati Muslims are second class citizens in their own state and they had better accept the fact. If they do not like it, they are more than welcome to leave.

On the face of it, it would appear that Narendra Modi has an almost pathological hatred of Muslims. Nothing could be further from the truth. What makes Modi such a superb politician is that he does not make any decision based on emotions. Moreover, Modi is not immoral as his detractors portray him he is simply amoral. Everything he does, every public pronouncement he makes, has only one purpose to keep him in power and, eventually, put him in the Prime Minister's seat. He is a master at gauging the mood of his majority public; and using it to his advantage. Notice the skillful way he has made virtue out of calumny in the Bano case, by highlighting the fact that some of the accused have been acquitted. He conveniently forgets that they were released not because their innocence was established, but because the prosecution could not present credible evidence against them.

In the recent assembly elections, posing as a champion of Hindutva (Hindu nationalism) brought Modi immense political dividends. Even his enemies would be forced to admit that he is the consummate performer, probably the best in Indian politics today. In the elections, he alternately played the development and Hindutva cards, gauging his audience's mood to perfection.

Much as the idealists and intellectuals would want it otherwise, Narendra Modi's march to the top job in Delhi has now become an irresistible force. No other politician in the country can match him in guile and political astuteness. They are amateurs compared to him. For ordinary Indians, it will be a mixed blessing. The country's economy will continue to boom; and they will have more money in their pockets. On the other hand, their dream of living in a truly secular democracy will recede farther into the distance.

Learn more about this author, Firoze Hirjikaka.
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