I was not silent on Gujarat riots: Modi

The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP's) prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 general elections, Narendra Modi, on Wednesday, rejected the view that he had remained silent on the February 2002 communal riots in Gujarat, which according to official figures, claimed the lives of 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus; caused injuries to about 2,500 people and reported 223 as missing. Speaking in an exclusive interview to Smita Prakash, Editor (News) Asian News International, he further said that he believed that unknown entities gave rise to a number of conspiracies that allegedly linked him to the tragedy. He maintained that he was committed to democracy, and added that "if the media had not worked to malign Modi, then who would known about Modi today?"