A flag on play

At the book launch on Tuesday of Moditva, a book on the "vision" of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, a group of journalists and policy analysts, including Subramanian Swamy and Kiran Bedi, discussed what they thought the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate's vision of governance was. Conspicuously missing in the discussion was any mention of the Gujarat riots of 2002. But one panelist, economist Bibek Debroy, began his speech with a listing of the things that Indians expect from their government by saying first, and most important, was law and order. He then paused to say he wished "to flag that point" before moving on. The oblique reference passed right over the heads of most of the audience.