Gujarat appeared centre stage in the months leading up to the Indian national elections this year, contested between the incumbent Indian National Congress, the rightwing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a host of other alternative and regional parties. As Indian voters lined up to cast their ballots, they turned their attentions to the western Indian state of Gujarat and its long-standing Chief Minister Narendra Modi, whose unprecedented campaign became the focal point of the elections. On May 26 he was sworn in as the new Prime Minister of India.
Modi, the touted frontrunner during the election campaign, built his brand on the idea of the 'Gujarat Model'. Roughly defined as a composite of Modi's policies, including a purportedly tough stance on corruption, minimal government interference in the economy and a vision of Gujarat as an exclusively Hindu 'rashtra', this model is credited for Gujarat's supposed exceptional economic growth. Modi now proposes to implement it on a national scale.
Modi supporters gush about smooth roads, high growth rates and lack of corruption. But many Indians are sceptical about such claims, especially as they continue to stand in the shadow of the coordinated violence against Gujarati Muslims in 2002 and the systematic destruction of their property and businesses, which, many claim, occurred under Modi's watch and with his approval. Critics of Modi also argue, based on Gujarat's malnutrition, infant mortality and poverty indicators, the so-called high-growth rate figures are flawed and belie state policies that discriminate against minorities, workers and the poor.
Though critics are sceptical about the veracity of Modi's model, there has been little interest in considering alternative forms of identity and economy from within Gujarat itself, historically a powerhouse of economic growth. While Modi is routinely criticised for his anti-Muslim policies, there has been little effort to examine the rich history of Islam in Gujarat or to consider the role Islam has played in Gujarat's economy. As someone who has devoted much of the last ten years to the study of this region, I am struck by this stark absence in the national conversation around Gujarat. Part of the problem is the conflation of Modi's 'Gujarat Model' economic platform with the rich and varied economy Gujarat has historically authored through its diverse mercantile groups.