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Estimates of those killed range from the official figure of 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus killed to 2000 Muslims killed.<ref name="Embree 2012"/> There were instances of rape, burning alive of children, and widespread looting and destruction of property. Chief Minister [[Narendra Modi]] has been accused of initiating and condoning the violence, as have police and government officials who directed the rioters and gave them lists of Muslim-owned properties.<ref name="Murphy 2011"/> In 2012, Modi was cleared of complicity in the violence by a Special Investigation Team appointed by the [[Supreme Court of India]]. [[Syed Ahmed Bukhari]], interviewed as a representative of Indian Muslims, has been reported to have reacted with "anger and disbelief" at the clearance by the SIT, the case is being pursued as legal options have not been exhausted.<ref name="Krishnan 2012"/>
Estimates of those killed range from the official figure of 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus killed to 2000 Muslims killed.<ref name="Embree 2012"/> There were instances of rape, burning alive of children, and widespread looting and destruction of property. Chief Minister [[Narendra Modi]] has been accused of initiating and condoning the violence, as have police and government officials who directed the rioters and gave them lists of Muslim-owned properties.<ref name="Murphy 2011"/> In 2012, Modi was cleared of complicity in the violence by a Special Investigation Team appointed by the [[Supreme Court of India]]. [[Syed Ahmed Bukhari]], interviewed as a representative of Indian Muslims, has been reported to have reacted with "anger and disbelief" at the clearance by the SIT, the case is being pursued as legal options have not been exhausted.<ref name="Krishnan 2012"/>

Like previous instances{{clarify|reason=Which instances?|date=July 2013}} of mass violence the 2002 attacks came to be termed a [[Pogrom|pogrom]].<ref name="Dhattiwala 2012"/>{{By whom|date=July 2013}} Independent observers have stated that these events had met the "legal definition of [[Genocide|genocide]]".<ref name="Garlough 2013"/> Others have called it an instance of [[State Terrorism|state terrorism]],<ref name="Pandey 2005"/><ref name="Baruah"/> while others have said the incidents were tantamount to [[Ethnic cleansing|ethnic cleansing]].<ref name="Khosrokhavar 2010"/> Some notable instances of mass violence were in [[Naroda Patiya massacre|Naroda]] (located right next to a police training camp),<ref name="Patiya massacre"/> the [[Gulbarg Society massacre]] which resulted in the death of [[Ehsan Jafri]] (a former member of parliament) and in the city of [[Vadodara]].<ref name="Vadodara 2007"/>


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Revision as of 10:47, 11 July 2013

2002 Gujarat violence
The skyline of Ahmedabad filled with smoke as buildings and shops are set on fire by rioting mobs
Date27 February 2002 (2002-02-27)–
Mid-June 2002
Location
Gujarat, India
Caused byGodhra train attack
Casualties and losses
790-2000 Muslims
254 Hindus

The 2002 Gujarat violence was a period of communal violence in Gujarat, a state in western India, which lasted for approximately three days. Following the initial incident there were further outbreaks of violence in Ahmedabad which lasted for approximately three weeks, statewide there were further outbreaks of mass killings against the minority Muslim population for three months.[1][2] The attack on a train on 27 February 2002, assumed by most to have been carried out by Muslims and which caused the deaths of 58 people, some of which were activists returning from Ayodhya is believed to have been the cause of the incidents with some commentators calling the violence an act of retaliation.[3] Others contend that the attacks had been pre-planned, were well orchestrated and that the attack on the train was a "staged trigger" for what was actually premeditated violence.[4][5]

Estimates of those killed range from the official figure of 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus killed to 2000 Muslims killed.[6] There were instances of rape, burning alive of children, and widespread looting and destruction of property. Chief Minister Narendra Modi has been accused of initiating and condoning the violence, as have police and government officials who directed the rioters and gave them lists of Muslim-owned properties.[7] In 2012, Modi was cleared of complicity in the violence by a Special Investigation Team appointed by the Supreme Court of India. Syed Ahmed Bukhari, interviewed as a representative of Indian Muslims, has been reported to have reacted with "anger and disbelief" at the clearance by the SIT, the case is being pursued as legal options have not been exhausted.[8]

Godhra train burning

File:Godhra Train Burning Image.jpg
The Sabarmati Express afire

On 27 February 2002, the Sabarmati Express was reported to have been attacked and set alight by a crowd of Muslims, these reports resulted in a concerted attack on the Muslim community. The causes of the initial confrontation at Godhra railway station are undetermined, it was reported that the activists had harassed Muslim vendors on the station platform, and this has been cited as a probable cause for the attack on the train.[9] There were several inquiries into the train burning incident. The first[citation needed] of these investigation was The Banerjee Committee headed up by a retired Supreme Court judge, Umesh Chandra Banerjee. This investigation concluded that the fire had started inside the train and was most likely accidental. This investigation was declared null and void by the Gujarat High Court.[10] Another report carried out by the Hazards Centre, an NGO from Delhi also concluded that the fire must have begun inside the train, and both the Hazard and the Banerjee reports were critical of the preliminary investigations carried out by local police.[11] The NGO Concerned Citizens Tribunal(CCT) also concluded that the fire had been an accident.[12][13]

Another investigation, which was commissioned by the Gujarat government lead by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party was headed by G. T. Nanavati, a retired Supreme Court judge. This investigation known as the "Shah-Nanavati commission" concluded that the attacks on the train had been pre-planned and was the result of a conspiracy by locals.[14] Arvind Pandya[who?] in an interview stated that the Shah-Nanavati commission would fall in favour of the BJP, as Shah was their man and Nanavati could be bribed.[15] Independent observers[clarification needed] have concluded that the fire itself was almost certainly an accident, and that the initial cause of the conflagration will never be determined.[16][17] According to Ainslie Thomas Embree[who?] the official version of the attack on the train, that it was organized, pre-planned and carried out by people under orders from Pakistan is entirely baseless.[6]

Post Godhra violence

2002 Gujarat riots is located in Gujarat
Vadodara
Vadodara
Naroda
Naroda
Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad
Godhra
Godhra
Ode
Ode
Gandhinagar
Gandhinagar
Mehsana
Mehsana
Bharuch
Bharuch
Surat
Surat
Rajkot
Rajkot
Halvad
Halvad
Modasa
Modasa
Himatnagar
Himatnagar
class=notpageimage|
Location of major incidents.

Following the attack on the train the Vishva Hindu Parishad(VHP) called for a statewide "bandh"(strike), even though these have been declared by the supreme court to be unconstitutional and illegal. It is common knowledge in India that these strikes are usually followed by violence. No action was taken by the state to prevent the strike, or put a stop the initial violence.[18] Independent reports indicate that former VHP president Rana Rajendrasinh had endorsed the strike, and that Modi and Rana had used inflammatory language which could worsen the situation.[19]

Modi declared that the attack on the train had been carried out by "terrorists", these words were interpreted as a single to take vengeance on the Muslim community.[20] Local newspapers and members of the state government used the Godhra incident to incite the violence. They claimed the attack on the train was carried out by Pakistan's intelligence agency and that local Muslims had conspired with them to attack Hindus in the state. False stories were also printed by local newspapers which claimed that Muslims kidnapped and then raped some Hindu women.[21]

The day following the fire coordinated attacks began. Men wearing saffron robes and khaki shorts arrived en masse in trucks. They had swords, explosives and gas cylinders which were used to destroy homes and places of business. Attacks were made in full view of police stations and police officers, however the police did not intervene.[7] The rioters used mobile phones to coordinate their attacks.[22] By days end on 28 February in 27 towns and cities a curfew was declared.[23] A minister who spoke with Rediff.com stated that though the circumstances were tense in Baroda and Ahmedabad, the situation was under control, and that the police who had been deployed were enough to prevent any violence. In Baroda the administration also imposed a curfew in seven areas. The deputy superintendent of police stated that the Rapid Action Force had been deployed to sensitive areas in Godhra. Gordhan Zadaphia, the state home minister believed there would be no retaliation from the Hindu community.[24] Three days after the violence had begun troops were airlifted into the state and began flag marches. Modi, stated that the violence was no longer as intense as it had been and that it would soon be brought under control, he also said that if the situation warranted it, then the the police would have help by deploying the army. A shoot to kill order was also issued.[25] However the troop deployment was withheld by the state until the most severe aspects of the violence had ended, and it was not until 1 March that contingents of troops began to be deployed to help put down the violence.[26]

There was widespread targeted destruction of shrines and mosques. The tomb of Malik Asin was bulldozed, the Muhafiz Khan Mosque was also destroyed. The tomb of the eighteenth century saint Wali Gujrati was leveled and paved over the following day by the council. It is estimated that 230 masjids and dargahs were destroyed during the violence.[27] For the first time in the history of communal riots Hindu women took part, and looted Muslim shops.[23] It is estimated that up to 150,000 people were displaced during the violence.[28] It is estimated that 200 police officers died while trying to control the violence and human rights watch has reported on acts of exceptional heroism by Hindus, Dalits and tribals who tried to protect Muslims from the violence.[29][30]

Attacks on Muslims

Dionne Bunsha writing on the Gulbarg Society massacre and murder of Ehsan Jafri, has said that Jafri begged the crowd to spare the women, he was dragged into the street and forced to parade naked yet he refused to say "Jai Shri Ram". He was then beheaded and thrown onto a fire, following this the rioters returned and burned Jafri's family, including two small boys to death. After the massacre Gulbarg burned for a week.[31][32] According to Siddharth Varadarajan on February 28 in the districts of Morjari Chowk and Charodia Chowk, in Ahmedabad of forty people killed by police shooting, all were Muslim.[33] It is estimated that at least 250 girls and women had been gang raped and then burned to death.[34] Children were killed by being burnt alive and those digging mass graves described the bodies as "burned and butchered beyond recognition".[35] Children were force fed petrol and then set on fire, pregnant women were gutted and their unborn child's body then shown to the women. In the Naroda Patiya mass grave of 96 bodies 46 were women. The murderers also flooded homes and electrocuted entire families inside.[36] Violence against women also included their being stripped naked, objects being forced into their bodies and then their being killed. According to Kalpana Kannabiran the rapes were part of a well organized, deliberate and pre-planned strategy, and that this puts the violence in the area of a political pogrom and genocide.[37] Other acts of violence against women were acid attacks, beatings and the killing of women who were pregnant. Children were also killed in front of their parents.[38] George Fernandes in a discussion in parliament on the violence caused widespread furore in his defence of the state government, saying that this was not the first time that women and been violated and raped in India.[39]

Children and infants were speared and held aloft before being thrown into fires.[40] Describing the sexual violence perpetrated against Muslim women and girls, Renu Khanna writes that the survivors reported "that sexual violence consisted of forced nudity, mass rapes, gang-rapes, mutilation, insertion of objects into bodies, cutting of breasts, slitting the stomach and reproductive organs, and carving of Hindu religious symbols on women’s body parts."[41] The Concerned Citizens’ Tribunal, characterised the use of rape "as an instrument for the subjugation and humiliation of a community".[41] Testimony heard by the committee stated that:

A chilling technique, absent in pogroms unleashed hitherto but very much in evidence this time in a large number of cases, was the deliberate destruction of evidence. Barring a few, in most instances of sexual violence, the women victims were stripped and paraded naked, then gang-raped, and thereafter quartered and burnt beyond recognition. . .The leaders of the mobs even raped young girls, some as young as 11 years old. . . before burning them alive. . . Even a 20-day-old infant, or a fetus in the womb of its mother, was not spared.[41]

For the first time in the history of communal riots Hindu women took part, and looted Muslim shops.[23] According to Vandana Shiva "Young boys have been thought to burn, rape and kill in the name of Hindutva".[42]

Attacks on Hindus

Human rights watch has reported that 10000 Hindus had been displaced during the violence, many Hindu residents were in fear of reprisal attacks or being mistaken for Muslim. Hindu home and business owners had placed saffron flags or pictures of Hindu deities on their properties to identify themselves as Hindu. On 17 March there was an attack by Muslims on Dalits. In Himatnagar, a man was found dead, his eyes had been gouged out. The Sindhi Market and Bhanderi Pole areas of Ahmedabad, were also attacked.[43]

There was a retaliatory attack in Jamalpur which resulted in 25 Hindus injured and five house being razed. The police quickly responded, and the colony was visited by Modi after a short period of time.[43][44] According to Varadarajan the majority of Hindu deaths were from shootings by the police, some were killed by Hindutva rioters after they had been mistaken for Muslims, with some deliberately killed for having worked with, or having befriended Muslims. A report from Frontline on the violence in Ahmedabad of 249 bodies recovered by 5 march, 30 were Hindus. Of these 13 had died as a result of police action and several others had died while attacking Muslim owned properties. 24 Muslims had died in police shootings even though there had been very few attacks by Muslims on Hindu neighborhoods.[45]

Media coverage

The events in Gujarat were the first instance of communal violence in India in the age of 24 hour news coverage, and were televised worldwide, this coverage played a central role in the politics of the situation. Media coverage was generally critical of the Hindu right, however the BJP portrayed the coverage as an assault on the honour of Gujaratis and turned the hostility into an emotive part of their electoral campaign.[46][47]

With the violence receding in April a peace meeting was arranged at Sabarmati Ashram a former home of Gandhi. Hindutva supporters and Police officers attacked almost a dozen Journalists. The state government banned television news channels critical of the government's response, and local stations were blocked. Two reporters working for STAR News were assaulted several times while covering the violence, on a return trip from having interviewed Modi when their car was surrounded by a crowd, one of the crowd claimed that they would be killed should they be a member of a minority community. Prasun Sonwalkar believes the media can play an important role in highlighting acts of action, or inaction and abuses of power.[48]

The Editors Guild of India, in its report on media ethics and coverage on the incidents stated that the news coverage was exemplary, with only a few minor lapses. The local newspapers Sandesh Gujarati and Gujarat Samachar however were heavily criticised.[49] The report states that Sandesh had headlines which would "provoke, communalize and terrorise people. The newspaper also used a quote from a VHP leader as a headline, "Avenge with blood". The report also stated that Samachar had played a role in increasing the tensions, but did not give all of its coverage over to "hawkish and inflammatory reportage in the first few weeks" The paper also carried reports to highlight communal harmony. Gujarat Today was given praise for showing restraint and for the balanced reportage of the violence.[50]

Critical reporting on the Gujarat government's handling of the situation helped bring about the Indian government's intervention in controlling the violence. The Editorial Guild of India rejected the charge that graphic news coverage aggravated the situation, saying that the coverage exposed the "horrors" of the riots as well as the "supine if not complicit" attitude of the state, helping propel remedial action..[51]

Allegations of state complicity

Dipankar Gupta believes that the state and police were complicit in the violence is an undoubted fact. Gupta has also said that some officers were outstanding in the performance of their duties such as Himanshu Bhatt and Rahul Sharma. Sharma was reported to have said "I don't think any other job would have allowed me to save so many lives".[52] These attacks have been described by Gyanendra Pandey as pogroms and a new form of state terrorism, and that these incidents are not riots but "organized political massacres".[53] According to Paul Brass the only conclusion from the evidence which is available points to a methodical Anti-Muslim pogrom which was carried out with exceptional brutality and was highly coordinated.[54]

The media has also described the attacks as state terrorism rather than “communal riots" due to the lack of state intervention.[55] Selective targeting of properties was shown by the destruction of the offices of the Muslim Wakf board which was located within the confines of the high security zone and just 500 meters from the office of the chief minister.[56] Cited as further evidence of state complicity was that the rioters had printouts of voter registration lists, allowing them to target Muslim properties.[57][58]

According to Scott W. Hibbard the violence had been planned far in advance, and that similar to other instances of communal violence the Bajrang Dal, the VHP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh all took part in the attacks.[59] An investigation by the British high commission concluded that the violence had been pre-planned and the state government had supported the rioters and that the violence had the mark of ethnic cleansing. This report also said that while Modi remained in power then reconciliation between the Hindu and Muslim communities would not be possible.[60] The US Commision on International Religious Freedom Report in 2003 and 2004 called India a "country of particular concern", and cited as one reason for this was the violence in 2002. They also wrote the even though India has a tradition of democracy, minorities are subjected to mass killings and intense violence periodically. It also made note that those who carry out these acts of violence are rarely held accountable for their actions.[61]

The Gujarat state government was reprimanded immediately for failing to prevent the riots, but then increasingly for actively fomenting and participating in it, which was a far more serious charge. Critiques came repeatedly from the Supreme Court, and the upper house of the Indian parliament unanimously passed a resolution calling for federal intervention in Gujarat; a similar censure motion in the lower house was defeated by about 100 votes.[62]

An international fact finding committee formed of all women international experts from US, UK, France, Germany and Sri Lanka reported, "sexual violence was being used as a strategy for terrorising women belonging to minority community in the state."[63]

"India's National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), an official body, found evidence in the killings of premeditation by members of Hindu extremist groups; complicity by Gujarat state government officials; and police inaction in the midst of attacks. The NHRC also noted "widespread reports and allegations of well-organized persons, armed with mobile telephones and addresses, singling out certain homes and properties for death and destruction in certain districts-sometimes within view of police stations and personnel," suggesting the attacks may have been planned in advance."[64]

In April 2002, retired Supreme Court Justices V. R. Krishna Iyer and P. B. Sawant headed a citizen's panel to investigate the riots.[65] Their report includes testimony of the then Gujarat BJP minister Haren Pandya (since murdered), who testified about an evening meeting convened by Narendra Modi the evening of the Godhra train burning. At this meeting, officials were instructed not to obstruct the Hindu rage following the incident.[66] The report also highlighted a second meeting, held in Lunawada village of Panchmahal district, attended by state ministers Ashok Bhatt, and Prabhatsinh Chauhan, and other BJP and RSS leaders, where "detailed plans were made on the use of kerosene and petrol for arson and other methods of killing."[67]

The Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind claimed in 2002 that some regional Congress workers collaborated with the perpetrators of the violence.[68]

Organizations such as Human Rights Watch criticised the Indian government for failure to address the resulting humanitarian condition of the people, the "overwhelming majority of them Muslim," who fled their homes for relief camps in the aftermath of the events, as well as the Gujarat state administration for engaging in a cover-up of the state's role in the massacres.[69]

In response to allegations of state involvement, Gujarat government spokesman, Bharat Pandya, told the BBC that the rioting was a spontaneous Hindu backlash fuelled by widespread anger against Muslims. He said "Hindus are frustrated over the role of Muslims in the on-going violence in Indian-administered Kashmir and other parts of India".[70]

The US Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, John Hanford, expressing concern over religious intolerance in Indian politics, said that while the rioters may have been aided by state and local officials, he did not believe that the BJP-led central government was involved in inciting the riots.[71]

Criminal prosecutions

There have been 249 convictions in 19 cases as of August 2012. This includes 184 Hindus and 65 Muslims- 31 for Godhra and 34 for post-Godhra.

The Indian Supreme Court has been strongly critical of the state government's investigation and prosecution of those accused of violence during the riots, directing police to review about 2,000 of the 4,000 riot-related cases that had been closed citing lack of evidence or leads.[72] Following this direction, police identified nearly 1,600 cases for re-investigation, arrested 640 accused and launched investigations against 40 police officers for their failures.[73][74]

Human Rights Watch alleged[75] that state and law enforcement officials were harassing and intimidating[76] key witnesses, NGOs, social activists and lawyers who were fighting to seek justice for riot victims. In its 2003 annual report, Amnesty International stated, "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."[77]

The Best Bakery murder trial received wide attention after witnesses retracted testimony in court and all of the accused were acquitted. The Indian Supreme Court, acting on a petition by social activist Teesta Setalvad, ordered a retrial outside Gujarat in which nine accused were found guilty in 2006.[78] A key witness, Zaheera Sheikh, who repeatedly changed her testimony during the trials and the petition was found guilty of perjury.[79]

After a local court dismissed the case against her assailants, Bilkis Bano approached the National Human Rights Commission and petitioned the Supreme Court seeking a retrial. The Supreme Court granted the motion, directing the Central Bureau of Investigation to take over the investigation. CBI appointed a team of experts from CFSL Delhi and AIIMS under the guidance and leadership of Professor T. D. Dogra of AIIMS to exhume the mass graves to established the identity and cause of death of victims. The team successfully located and exhumed the remains of victims.[80] The trial of the case was transferred out of Gujarat and directing the central government to appoint the public prosecutor.[81][82] Charges were filed in a Mumbai court against nineteen people as well as six police officials and a government doctor over their role in the initial investigations.[83] In January 2008, eleven men were sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape and murders and a policeman was convicted of falsifying evidence.[84]

In 2005, the Vadodara fast-track court acquitted 108 people accused of murdering two youths, during a mob attack on a group of displaced Muslims returning under police escort to their homes in Avdhootnagar. The court passed strictures against the police for failing to protect the people under their escort[85] and failing to identify the attackers they had witnessed.[86]

Nine people were convicted of killing a Hindu man and injuring another during group clashes in Danilimda, Ahmedabad on 12 April, while 25 others were acquitted.[87]

Eight people, including a VHP leader and a member of the BJP, were convicted for the murder of seven members of a family and the rape of two minor girls in the village of Eral in Panchmahal district.[88][89]

52 people from Pavagadh and Dhikva villages in Panchmahal district were acquitted of rioting charges for lack of evidence.[90]

A stringent anti-terror law, the POTA, was used by the Gujarat government to charge 131 people in connection to the Godhra train fire, but not invoked in prosecuting any of the accused in the post-Godhra riots.[91][92] In 2005 the POTA Review Committee set up by the central government to review the application of the law opined that the Godhra accused should not be tried under the provisions of POTA.[93]

In February 2011 a special fast track court convicted 31 Muslims for the Godhra train burning incident and the conspiracy for the crime[94]

On 9 November 2011, a court in Ahmedabad sentenced 31 Hindus to life imprisonment for murdering dozens of Muslims, by burning a building in which they took shelter.[95] 41 other Hindus were acquitted of murder charges due to lack of evidence.[95] 22 additional people were convicted for attempted murder on 30 July 2012, while 61 others were acquitted.[96]

On 29 July 2012, an Indian court gave the verdict in the Naroda Patiya massacre case and convicted 32 people, including former state minister Maya Kodnani and Hindu leader Babu Bajrangi of involvement in the attacks. The court case began in 2009, and over 300 people (including victims, witnesses, doctors, and journalists) had testified before the court. For the first time, the verdict acknowledged the role of a politician in inciting Hindu mobs. Activists say that the verdict will embolden the opponent of Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat, in the crucial run-up to state elections later this year, when Modi will seek a third term. Modi refused to apologise and denied that the government had a role in the riots. Twenty-nine people were acquitted during the verdict. Teesta Setalvad, a human rights campaigner, said, "For the first time, this judgment actually goes beyond neighborhood perpetrators and goes up to the political conspiracy. The fact that convictions have gone that high means the conspiracy charge has been accepted and the political influencing of the mobs has been accepted by the judge. This is a huge victory for justice."[97]

In April 2009, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) setup by the Supreme Court of India to investigate and expedite the Gujarat riot cases submitted before the Court that Teesta Setalvad had cooked up cases of violence to spice up the incidents. The SIT which is headed by former CBI director, R. K. Raghavan has said that false witnesses were tutored to give evidence about imaginary incidents by Setalvad and other NGOs.[98] The SIT charged her of "cooking up macabre tales of killings".[99][100]

The court was told that 22 witnesses, who had submitted identical affidavits before various courts relating to riot incidents, were questioned by SIT and it was found that the witnesses had not actually witnessed the incidents and they were tutored and the affidavits were handed over to them by Setalvad.[99]

The report which was brought to the notice of the bench, consisting of Justices Arijit Pasayat, P Sathasivam and Aftab Alam, noted that the much publicised case of a pregnant Muslim woman Kausar Banu being gangraped by a mob and foetus being removed from sharp weapons, was also cooked up and false.[98][101]

Many of the investigations and prosecutions of those accused of violence during the riots have been opened for re-investigation and prosecution.[72][73]

Inquiries

On 6 March, the Gujarat government set up a commission of inquiry headed by retired High Court judge K.G. Shah to enquire into the Godhra train burning and the subsequent violence and submit a report in three months.[102] Following criticism from victims' organisations, activists and political parties over Shah's alleged proximity to the BJP, on 22 May, the government reconstituted the commission, appointing retired Supreme Court Justice G.T. Nanavati to lead the commission.[103][104] In 2008, the Nanavati commission came out largely in favour of the Gujarat government's aspect.[105] Nanavati's evidence hinged on the acquisition of 140 litres of petrol hours before the arrival of the train and the storage of the said petrol at the alleged key conspirator's, Razzak Kurkur, guest house. This was further corroborated by forensic evidence showing fuel was poured on the train compartment before being burnt. The alleged mastermind was said to be the cleric Maulvi Husain Haji Ibrahim Umarji and a dismissed Central Reserve Police Force officer named Nanumiyan, from Assam, who had instigated the Muslim crowds. Furthermore, two Kashmiris, Gulamnabi and Ali Mohammed, were in the same guesthouse for a fortnight prior to the event speaking about the Kashmir liberation movement.[106]

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Indian National Congress party both came out railing against the exoneration of the Gujarat government by the commission citing the timing of the report (with general elections months away) as evident of unfairness. Congress spokesperson Veerappa Moily commented at the strange absolvement of the Gujarat government for complacency for the carnage. He also said the report reinforced communal prejudices.[107]

In its proceedings of 1 April 2002, the Commission had set out its preliminary comments and recommendations on the situation and sent a confidential report from the team of the Commission that visited Gujarat from 19–22 March 2002 to Gujarat government and Central Home Ministry. It observed that "the responsibility of the State extended not only to the acts of its own agents, but also to those of non-State players within its jurisdiction and to any action that may cause or facilitate the violation of human rights. The Commission added that, unless rebutted by the State Government, the adverse inference arising against it would render it accountable. The burden of proof was therefore on the State Government to rebut this presumption."[108]

In its Proceedings of 1 May 2002, the Commission noted that the Government of Gujarat had sent a reply dated 12 April 2002, and observed that nothing in the reports received in response rebuts the presumption. It further observed that "the violence in the State, which was initially claimed to have been brought under control in seventy two hours, persisted in varying degree for over two months, the toll in death and destruction rising with the passage of time despite the measures reportedly taken by the State Government". The report claims failure of intelligence, failure to take appropriate action, patterns of arrests, uneven handling of major cases, and "Distorted FIRs: ‘extraneous influences’, issue of transparency and integrity" as key factors in the incident(s).

The citizen tribunal headed by retired Supreme Court Justice Krishna Iyer collected evidence and testimony from more than 2000 riot victims, witnesses and others. In its report, the tribunal blames Godhra train passengers, indirectly denies Godhra massacre, and accuses the state government and chief minister Modi of complicity in the violence. While Krishna Iyer was nominally part of this tribunal, he made it clear in the preface of the report that his involvement was very limited.[109][110][111]

Aftermath

Police records show 21,563 preventive arrests were made by the end of April (17,947 of the arrested were listed as Hindus and 3,616 as Muslims) as well as 13,989 substantive arrests (9,954 Hindus and 4,035 Muslims).

On 3 May, former Punjab police chief K P S Gill was appointed as security adviser to the Chief Minister.[112]

The Gujarat government transferred several senior police officers who had taken active measures to contain and investigate violent attacks to administrative positions.[113][114] According to R. B. Sreekumar police officers who had followed the rule of law and helped prevent the riots from spreading were punished by the Modi government. They were subjected to disciplinary proceedings and transfers with some having to leave the state.[115] Sreekumar also alleged that the state government issued "unconstitutional directives", with officials asking him to kill Muslims involved in rioting or disrupting a Hindu religious event. The Gujarat government denied the allegations, calling them "baseless" and instigated out of malice because Mr. Sreekumar was not promoted.[116]

Defending the Modi administration in the Rajya Sabha against charges of genocide, BJP spokesman V K Malhotra said that the official toll of 254 Hindus, killed mostly by police fire, indicates how the state authorities took effective steps to curb the violence.[117] BJP MP and journalist Balbir Punj disputed allegations of bias against Muslims by the BJP-run state government, pointing out that the majority of those arrested during and after the riots were Hindus.[118]

An unidentified pamphlet circulated to journalists in Gujarat in 2007 labelled Modi's government as anti-Hindu for arresting VHP workers and Hindu activists involved in the riots.[119]

The recent report of Supreme Court appointed Special Investigation Team led by former CBI Chief R.K Raghavan gave a clean chit to the Gujarat government and noticed that Gujarat Police tried everything to prevent the riots.[120]

On Narendra Modi's role the Special Investigation Team report states,[120]

Law and order review meetings were held by Modi and all the things was done to control the situation... the Army was called on time to contain the communal violence.

Modi was busy with steps to control the situation, establishment of relief camps for riot victims and also with efforts to restore peace and normalcy.

In view of the detailed inquiry and satisfactory explanation of the person involved, no criminal case is made out against Narendra Modi.

536 places of worship were damaged: 273 dargahs, 241 mosques, 19 temples, and 3 churches.[121] Muslim-owned businesses suffered the bulk of the damage. 61,000 Muslims and 10,000 Hindus fled their homes. Preventive arrests of 17,947 Hindus and 3,616 Muslims were made. In total 27,901 Hindus and 7,651 Muslims were arrested.[122][123]

Opposition parties as well as three coalition partners[124] of the BJP-led central government demanded the dismissal of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for failing to contain the violence, with some calling for the removal of Union Home Minister L. K. Advani as well.[125]

On 18 July, Chief Minister Narendra Modi asked the Governor of Gujarat to dissolve the state assembly and call fresh elections.[126] The Indian Election Commission ruled out early elections, citing the prevailing law and order situation, a decision the union government unsuccessfully[127] appealed against in the Supreme Court.[128]

In August 2002 a plot by Lashkar-e-Toiba to assassinate Narendra Modi, Praveen Togadia, and other Sangh Parivar leaders was unearthed by Indian police. The terrorists were planning to set up a base in Gujarat and were trying to lure some of the riot-hit people into taking up "so-called jihadi activities" Delhi Police Special Commissioner (Intelligence) K K Paul said.[129]

In September 2002, at least 29 people were killed when Islamic fundamentalist gunmen engaged in the Akshardham Temple attack in the city of Gandhinagar in Gujarat. The Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence and Islamic terrorist group Lashkar-e-Toiba were accused of supporting the terrorists.[130][131][132][133]

Elections were held in December, and Modi was returned to power in a landslide victory.[134]

In 2004, the weekly newspaper Tehelka published a hidden camera exposé alleging that BJP legislator Madhu Srivastava bribed Zaheera Sheikh, a witness in the Best Bakery killings trial.[135] Srivatsava denied the allegation,[136] and an inquiry committee appointed by the Indian Supreme Court drew an "adverse inference" from the video footage, though it failed to uncover evidence that money was actually paid.[137] In a 2007 expose, the newspaper released hidden camera footage of several members of the BJP, VHP and the Bajrang Dal admitting their role in the riots.[138][139] Among those featured in the tapes was the special counsel representing the Gujarat government before the Nanavati-Shah Commission, Arvind Pandya, who resigned from his post after they were made public.[140] While the report was criticised by some as being politically motivated,[141][142][143][144] some newspapers said the revelations simply reinforced what was common knowledge.[139][145][146][147] However there were several inaccuracies in the statements that diluted the impact of the sting operation. Babu Bajrani and Suresh Richard in the statements said that Narendra Modi visited Naroda Patiya one day after the massacre to thank them. However official record shows that Naredra Modi didn't visit Naroda Patiya. VHP activist, Ramesh Dave told Tehelka reporter that S.K.Gadhvi, one of the divisional superintendents of Police killed five Muslims in Dariapur area as promised to him. But the official records show that Gadhvi was only posted in Dariapur one month after the riots. During his tenure no such incident took place in Dariapur.[148] The Gujarat government blocked telecast of cable news channels broadcasting the expose, a move strongly condemned by the Editors Guild of India.[149]

Taking a stand decried by the media and other rights groups, Nafisa Hussain, a member of the National Commission for Women accused organisations and the media of needlessly exaggerating the plight of women victims of the riots.[150][151][152] which was strongly disputed as Gujarat did not have a State Commission for Women to act on the ground.[150] The newspaper Tribune reported that "The National Commission for Women has reluctantly agreed to the complicity of Gujarat Government in the communal violence in the state." The tone of their most recent report was reported by the Tribune as "lenient".[153]

In April 2012, a Special Investigation Team found absolved Modi of any involvement in the Gulberg massacre, arguably the worst episode of the riots.[154] The Special Investigation Team (SIT) report on the riots exonerated Modi of all charges.[155]

In his report, Mr. Raju Ramachandran, the amicus curiae for the case, strongly disagreed with a key conclusion of the R.K. Raghavan-led SIT: that IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt was not present at a late-night meeting of top Gujarat cops held at the Chief Minister's residence in the wake of the 27 February 2002 Godhra carnage. It has been Mr. Bhatt's claim — made in an affidavit before the apex court and in statements to the SIT and the amicus — that he was present at the meeting where Mr. Modi allegedly said Hindus must be allowed to carry out retaliatory violence against Muslims. Raju Ramachandran was of the opinion that Mr Modi could be prosecuted for alleged statements he had made. Mr. Ramachandran said there was no clinching material available in the pre-trial stage to disbelieve Mr. Bhatt, whose claim could be tested only in court. "Hence, it cannot be said, at this stage, that Shri Bhatt should be disbelieved and no further proceedings should be taken against Shri Modi." [156] [157] Further, RK Shah the public prosecutor in the Gulbarg Society massacre resigned as the public prosecutor because he found it impossible to work with the SIT and further stated that "Here I am collecting witnesses who know something about a gruesome case in which so many people, mostly women and children huddled in Jafri's house, were killed and I get no cooperation. The SIT officers are unsympathetic towards witnesses, they try to browbeat them and don’t share evidence with the prosecution as they are supposed to do."[158]

Relief efforts

Amnesty International's annual report on India in 2003 claimed the "Gujarat government did not actively fulfill its duty to provide appropriate relief and rehabilitation to the survivors".[77]

The state government initially offered compensation payments of 200,000 rupees to the families of those who died in the Godhra train fire and 100,000 rupees to the families of those who died in the subsequent riots, which local Muslims described as discriminatory.[159] Subsequently, the government set the compensation amount at 150,000 rupees.[160]

By 27 March, nearly 100,000 displaced people moved into 101 relief camps. This swelled to over 150,000 in 104 camps the next two weeks.[161] The camps were run by community groups and NGOs, with the government committing to provide amenities and supplementary services. Drinking water, medical help, clothing and blankets were in short supply at the camps.[162] At least another 100 camps were denied government support, according to a camp organiser.[163] and relief supplies were prevented from reaching the camps over fears that they may be carrying arms.[164]

Relief camp organisers alleged that the state government was coercing refugees to leave relief camps, with 25,000 people made to leave eighteen camps that were shut down. Following government assurances that camps would not be shut down, the Gujarat High Court bench ordered that camp organizers be given a supervisory role to ensure that the assurances were met.[165]

On 23 May 2008, the Union Government announced a 3.20 billion rupee (US $80 million) relief package for the victims of the riots.[166]

Novels

Films

  • 2007 film Parzania was inspired by the true story of a ten-year-old Parsi boy, Azhar Mody, essayed in the film as Parzaan Pithawala in the film, who disappeared after the Gulbarg Society massacre. The film traces the journey of the Pithawala family while trying to locate their missing son.
  • Firaaq was a 2008 political thriller film set one month after the violence and looks at the aftermath in its effects on the lives of everyday people.

See also

References

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