Ashish Khetan, the journalist who secretly taped Hindu rightists boasting of their role in the mass murder of Muslims in the 2002 Gujarat pogroms, says he now fears for his life and is frustrated by the lack of response. Khetan's "sting operation" for the left newsweekly Tehelka caused a national scandal, but the Hindu nationalists linked to the killings seem set for re-election in Gujarat state polls this month. "I got them to speak to me, make self-damning revelations, details of the killings and rapes," Khetan told AFP. "Despite the evidence, the political reaction to the exposé has been at best tepid and I feel very, very disappointed. There has been no action." Khetan said he was also shocked to receive "hate mails and even threats from journalists." He added: "My work has angered a lot of people. Who knows, some fanatic sitting in some corner of the country may have made a plan to kill me. Yes, I am afraid that I could be on the hit list of some fanatic or another." (AFP [2], Dec. 5)
See our last posts on India [3] and the Gujarat conspiracy [4].
