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The term 2002 Gujarat violence refers to the riots which were triggered on February 27 , 2002 by a vicious attack on a passenger Train , the Sabarmati Express , passing through the town of Godhra . Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav appointed Justice Banerjee to investigate the cause of fire. On the eve of election in Railway Minister's Native State Bihar, Justice Banerjee submitted an interim report concluding that the fire and attack are two separate events. It claimed, very controversially, that the fire was likely started from within the train, and not by a mob gathered outside the train This interim report was used in Bihar Election to attract Muslim votes. [http://www.tribuneindia.com/2005/20050120/main2.htm The Interim Report's credibilty is in serious doubt due to timing of it's release and subsequent use in election campaigning [http://www.ipcs.org/India_articles2.jsp?action=showView&kValue=1651&country=1016&status=article&mod=a {Link without Title} THE RIOTS According to an Indian Central Government report released in 2005, 254 Hindus and 790 Muslims were killed with an estimated 223 deemed missing. Human rights groups estimated the death toll was between 2,000 and 3,500. The destruction of homes, places of worship and means of livelihood of thousands of civilians also took place. About 140,000 people fled their homes in the aftermath of the massacres and many remained homeless at the end of the year. The Gujarat government did not actively fulfill its duty to provide appropriate relief and rehabilitation to the survivors. Following the violence, the same police force that was accused of colluding with the attackers was put in charge of the investigations into the massacres, undermining the process of delivery of justice to the victims. A commission of inquiry was appointed to investigate responsibilities in the violence, but its progress was extremely slow. When AI sought permission to visit Gujarat in July to investigate the violence, its delegates were effectively denied access to the state. {Link without Title} . In one of the worst incidents, on February 28 a mob set fire to the mainly Muslim locality of Naroda Patia in Ahmedabad , killing at least 65 people. The community religious place was burnt using LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) cylinders. According to Human Rights Watch , who visited Naroda Patia three weeks later, homes in the area were completely burnt for the affected. Several witnesses claimed that the police failed to protect residents. In the following days, hundreds of young people with swords, daggers, axes, and iron rods walked around the area, shouting angry slogans. Among those killed during the first few days of the riot was the former Muslim MP of the city, Ehsan Jafri . A mob attacked his housing colony. In retaliation he fired several shots at the mob. Central Government stated in parliament: "The police under the Joint Police Commissioner, DCP, rushed to the site and tried their very best to protect and shift the residents. The police succeeded in saving 180 people including women and children. But unfortunately, the lives of late Jafri and 17 others could not be saved." {Link without Title} {Link without Title} Through the day, witnesses said, Mr. Jafri made increasingly frantic calls to the city police commissioner and other powerful people, among them Amarsinh Chaudhary, who was the state Congress Party president and a former chief minister of Gujarat. Mr. Chaudhary said he, in turn, called the heads of the city and state police forces. The third and last time Mr. Jafri called, he wept, begging: "Kindly help me. They will kill me. My society is burning." The police arrived in numbers only large enough to take on the mob at about 4 or 5 p.m. — too late to save the women and children, who burned to death with Mr. Jafri, survivors said. The next day, the smell of roasted flesh still hung heavy in the ruins of the residential complex. K. G. Erda, a senior police inspector, was standing outside, watching as people carried on with their looting. {Link without Title} These killings are under investigation in an official inquiry comprising of Justice (retd)G T Nanavati and Justice (retd) K G shah. The inquiry included gathering and analysis of 2094 oral and written testimonies, both individual and collective, from survivors and independent Human Rights groups, women's groups, NGO s and academics. Many organizations allege that the Gujarat government did not actively fulfil its duty to provide appropriate relief and rehabilitation to the survivors. Following the violence, the same police force that was accused of colluding with the attackers was put in charge of the investigations into the massacres, undermining the process of delivery of justice to the victims. A commission of inquiry was appointed to investigate responsibilities in the violence, but its progress was extremely slow. When AI sought permission to visit Gujarat in July to investigate the violence, its delegates were effectively denied access to the state. {Link without Title} One of the most mentionable incidents in the aftermath of the Gujarat Riots is the case of Zaheera Sheikh, a young Muslim girl who was the main witness in the infamous Best Bakery Case. The teenage girl captured the imagination of many human rights organizations, when she approached the NHRC asking for "justice" to the Best Bakery victims, as a lone crusader for truth. In this she was actively supported by social worker Teesta Seetalvad. However, Zaheera changed her statements several times after this incident, even turning on mentor Teesta to claim that her statements were forced out of her. More mudslinging ensued, including the surfacing of a Tehelka.com video that alleged that BJP MLA Madhu Srivastava had paid Zaheera to go back on her words. Interestingly, the tape also claimed that Zaheera herself had approached Madhu Srivastava with the offer and the money was provided to Zaheera by Madhu's relative, a Congress corporator called Badhoo Srivastava. After several twists, the court finally announced prosecutions in the Best Bakery Case and Zaheera was sentenced to 1 year of imprisonment on account of perjury. In the unkindest cut of all, the court referred to her as a "self condemned liar". THE ROLE OF THE CENTRAL AND THE GUJARAT STATE GOVERNMENT IN THE RIOTS Various independent human rights groups as well as major Indian Newspapers have accused the Gujarat state government, led by Chief Minister Narendra Modi of supporting, and in some cases instigating, the riots. India's own National Human Rights Commission indicted the state government saying "the commission has, therefore, reached that (sic) there was comprehensive failure of the state to protect the constitutional rights of the people of Gujarat." {Link without Title} On 3rd March, 2002, as mobs ruled the streets, Mr. Modi is reported to have stated : "Every action has an equal and opposite reaction". However, Mr. Modi has since denied making this quote. At the height of the violence, Modi further added that Gujarat's 50 million Hindus had shown "remarkable restraint under grave provocation", implying that the violence could have been worse. {Link without Title} As a result of Narendra Modi's alleged role in abetting the riots, the US Government revoked his visa under Section 212 (a)(2)(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act which makes any foreign government official who was responsible or directly carried out, at any time, particularly severe violations of religions freedom, ineligible for the visa. ( This decision was protested by the Indian government, but in response the US government pointed out that their decision was based on the report by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of India. [http://www.hindu.com/2005/03/20/stories/2005032005430100.htm On part of the government's effort to control the riots:
In parliament debate, Government stated that "Ahmedabad and these riots were to be the only riots in the history of India where hundred persons have been killed in police firing." {Link without Title} The President Of India at that time, K. R. Narayanan , later blamed the ruling BJP government which was perceived as a "Hindu" party, for supporting the riots. In an interview to the Malayalam magazine Manava Samskriti on the eve of the third anniversary of the Gujarat riots he said : There was governmental and administrative support for the communal riots in Gujarat. I gave several letters to Prime Minister Vajpayee in this regard on this issue. I met him personally and talked to him directly. But Vajpayee did not do anything effective. I requested him to send the army to Gujarat and suppress the riots. The military was sent, but they were not given powers to shoot. If the military was given powers to shoot at the perpetrators of violence, recurrence of tragedies in Gujarat could have been avoided. However, both the state(the Narendra Modi government) and central government did not do so. I feel there was a conspiracy involving the state and central governments behind the Gujarat riots.( Narayanan's views were consistent with reports by Rahul Bedi that the soldiers were held back by the government in the initial days of the riots which gave the rioters a free hand. [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/03/04/whind04.xml . This however is contradicted in part by Prime Minister Vajpayee's famous advice to Narendra Modi to follow "Rajdharma"( the duty of a just ruler) when violence broke out in Gujarat. |