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Sonia Gandhi (C, seated), leader of the opposition and president of the Congress (I) Party, leads opposition members of parliament in a sit-in under a statue of Mahatma Gandhi outside Parliament, 07 March 2002 in New Delhi protesting against the government’s handling of the outbreak of communal violence in Gujarat state which left over 600 people dead. AFP

Whether it be cricket or communal violence, the subcontinental bookmaker's craving for a fast buck seems to be uncontainable. While saner sections of world opinion look on in stunned disbelief at the rising death toll in Hindu-Moslem violence in India's Gujarat state, bookmakers in neighbouring Rajasthan are believed to be inviting bets on the possibility of the communal carnage spreading across India.

Reports said that bookmakers were offering odds of between 4-1 and 6-1 on the unrest flowing over Gujarat. To spur business, the bookmakers were said to be spreading the rumour that the sectarian violence had erupted in adjacent states. Quick action by the law enforces had helped nab some of these predatory money-makers.

Thus has the profiteering spirit in South Asia manifested a bizarre new dimension which distressing to the sensitive observer. The ravenous appetite for business and profit seems to be knowing no bounds: not even communal violence which undermines the civilizational basis of a society is considered a taboo area by money-hungry, exploitative elements among South Asia's new business elite.

Homeless Muslims wait for a meal after gathering at the Shah Alam Dargah, holy shrine within a mosque, in Ahmedabad, in India’s western state of Gujarat, 03 March 2002. The Shah Alam Dargah houses over 4,500 people whose homes had been set ablaze during riots in the last week. AFP

This development seems to be a new twist to the link which is perceived to exist between rapacious commercial interests and the instigation and eruption of communal violence. There is a school of thought which holds that extreme nationalism and communalism are the brainchild of sections of a country's business and entrepreneurial class.

This accounts for the fact the Chinese minority in some South Asian countries become victims of ethnic violence. Likewise, Tamil business houses and commercial establishments were destroyed by business rivals in communal violence in Sri Lanka. The events in Gujarat in the aftermath of the communal violence, proves the sustainability of this thesis. Exploitative business interests thrive to a considerable degree on communal friction. Hence their attempts to fan Hindu-Moslem antagonisms and ensure their increase.

The communal hell-fires in Gujarat which have left over 650 dead, therefore, help focus anew on the causative agents of communalism in South Asia. Besides the role of big and exploitative business interests in the friction, the communal explosion also brought to light the grave damage weak law enforcement and bad governance could bring about in these situations.

Observers in India have criticized the state government for delayed action in bringing the law and order situation in Gujarat under control. This inaction is sourced to the Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, who is believed to be aligned to Hindu extremist organisations.

It is believed that he chose to turn a blind eye on the violence rather than enforce the law firmly. The Director General of Police and the Ahmedabad Commissioner Police are accused of conniving with the Chief Minister. Hence the dramatic collapse of law and order.

The Gujarat tragedy points to the cruciality of India remaining committed to her secular ideals. Secularism in India signifies equal treatment of religions and cultures by the State. A deviation from these ideals would have a disintegrative impact on India's social fabric.

Indeed, the same could happen in any of South Asia's ethnically heterogenous societies. There is no getting away from the fact that the equal treatment of communities and cultures ensures social harmony and peace.

As Sri Lanka makes a fresh attempt of forging ethnic peace, these lessons from across the Palk Strait need to be borne in mind. Equal treatment of communities and cultures is a must for communal unity and this is a task for the State which must prove to be impartial and capable of dispensing justice with an even hand.

The UNF Government has managed to measure up to these standards thus far, through its efforts to bring relief to the Tamil masses. Priority should be continued to be attached to the task of winning the confidence of all communities, through the even-handed dispensing of justice and the shunning of majoritarian chauvinism.