On 27 February 2002, fifty-nine Hindu pilgrims, returning from Ayodhya after a religious ceremony at the Ram Temple site were burnt alive in … For four years after the BJP's accession to power in 1998, in spite of numerous massacres of Hindus by Muslim terrorists, the Indian Muslims were left alone. The victims included 15 children, including some toddlers and some old people of above 65. He was covered in black. These Dalit families claim that they had been attacked by the people belonging to the minority community, who damaged their houses, property and drove them out of the area. What made those 40,000 Hindus rush to relief camps? Police came within 20 minutes. Nor were they as one-sided as they came to be projected. HEIDELBERG PAPERS IN SOUTH ASIAN AND COMPARATIVE POLITICS. “It’s because they were returning from Ayodhya, where they asked for the reconstruction of a temple at the traditional birth place of Rama; this offends the feelings of the Muslims.” In sum, the victims, roasted alive, were guilty. Quoted from Elst, Koenraad (1991). In spite of secularist predictions that the communal situation in Gujarat was fast spinning out of control, possibly for good, this Hindu self-restraint re-asserted itself after the. Therefore, keeping camps going had become a lucrative business for some. According to reports, Congress Party councillor Taufeeq Khan Pathan and his son Zulfi, notorious gangsters, were allegedly seen leading Muslim rioters. p. 194, with reference to Justice Nanavati and Justice Mehta, “Part I: Sabarmati Express Train Incident of Godhra,”. The Godhra train burning incident that led to the Gujarat riots of 2002, is a dark blotch in the history of a country which is proud of its diversity. The 63 people acquitted also include the prime accused in the case Maulana Umarji, Mohammad Hussain Kalota, Mohammad Ansari and Nanumiya Chaudhary. Mr. Modi paused for a little while and then started explaining to me in detail the events which happened on that day and thereafter. The second incident took place around 11 a.m. A Muslim owner of an Eicher truck was surrounded by a Hindu mob. Palik Nandi, “With No Relief, They Turn to Religious Places for Shelter” Expressindia. The train, which had stopped at Godhra station, was set on fire, causing the death … They alleged that the Godhra incident was due to government’s failure or complicity, not a planned attack by Muslims. This lie was perpetuated not just by the Indian media but by important international newspapers. As documented by the Nanavati Commission 1 , some of the leading accused and convicted turned out to be Congressmen of Godhra. Modi, Muslims and media: Voices from Narendra Modi's Gujarat. 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But Justice Banerjee came up with the conclusion that the fire in Sabarmati Express was “accidental” and that the train had not been attacked from outside. A Commission of Inquiry was constituted by the Gujarat government headed by then Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Coach S-6 of the Sabarmati Express, in which 59 people, mostly 'kar sevaks' returning from Ayodhya were travelling, was burnt on February 27, 2002 at the Godhra station, triggering riots in the state. When they went in the gali, they found the dead body of Vanzara outside the mosque. Nanavati Report, Report of the Commission of Inquiry Consisting of Justice Nanavati and Justice Mehta, and also quoted in The Godhra Riots:Sifting Fact from Fiction by Nicole Elfi (2009). Ch. She was crying hysterically in front of journalists. His position was taken over by Justice Akshay H Mehta. Why was it necessary if they were the main aggressors? Baldeep Singh photographer was with me. My mother was in flames, her clothes were on fire,’ she said. Ayodhya and after: Issues before Hindu society. Malhotra , Reported in Times of India,17/12/1990. New Delhi: On Sunday morning, a railway bogie was set on fire in Vadodara to recreate the 2002 Godhra train burning – so that makers of biopic on … quoted in Madhu Purnima Kishwar: Modi, Muslims and Media. This was followed by serial bomb blasts. It was a terrorist action plan that partly failed. MANY people have argued that the Godhra train burning incident in which 59 Hindu kar sevaks died was as brutal and violent as the communal riots it triggered in Gujrat. p. 193. If Hindus had mustered courage to do that, each and every Hindu in Pakistan would have been killed after horrible tortures. They needed the Gujarat carnage, and they thanked Heaven when it finally materialized. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay updated with the latest headlines. p.301. The violence in Gujarat was terrible but it was a real communal riot since both Hindus and Muslims were among the dead. On 27 February 2002, the Godhra train burning incident initiated a series of riots in Gujarat. With such media, who needs rumors? ... the appointment of the U.C. She had started tutoring witnesses from the start as though she was just waiting for this riot to break out. Such acts of senseless violence should be condemned no matter who is responsible for them and no matter who the victims are. The Supreme Court rejected the report as unconstitutional and invalid. The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Yakub Pataliya is accused of being a part of the mob that torched the coaches of Sabarmati Express near Godhra railway station on February 27, … Decades ago, a prominent Congress leader, Kanhaiya Lal Munshi (1887-1971) had warned his party colleague, and the then Prime Minister, Jawahar Lal Nehru (1889-1964) in a letter stating, “If every time there is an inter-communal conflict, the majority is blamed regardless of the merits of the question... the springs of traditional tolerance will dry up.” Far from heeding this warning, under the guise of upholding secularism, the Congress Party has made demonisation of the majority its main political plank. Prof. Dr Suvarna Raval, “Dalits Suffered Heavily During Gujarat Riots” Mumbai Tarun Bhara. I have allowed the media to behave as it wants. The first charge-sheet in the Godhra Train Burning case was filed by DySP KC Bawa, the Investigating Officer, on 22nd May 2002 alleging that the S6 coach was burnt from outside by the use of some inflammable fluid (He did not clearly specify whether the inflammable fluid was petrol, kerosene or diesel). [...] I am not worried. It is to be hoped that the same is realized and adequate measures are taken to address the shortcomings, and prevent such incidents in the near future. The Centre in 2005 informed Rajya Sabha that the riots claimed the lives of 254 Hindus and 790 Muslims. They told us about the earlier riots in which the Hindus were mostly at the receiving end. Narendra Modi on the choice of Nanavati to head the commission. The Sabarmati Express had begun its journey from Muzaffarpur and was on its way to Ahmedabad. Some of these riots were far more deadly than the 2002 outburst. Some individuals who had participated in the conspiracy appear to be involved in the heinous act of setting coach S/6 on fire. Here’s all you need to know about the 2002 Godhra train burning case: On the morning of February 27, 2002, a coach of the the Sabarmati Express — Coach S6 — was set ablaze and 59 passengers travelling in that coach were charred to death. In the third incident in Naroda Gam, a group of Muslims murdered a Hindu cyclist. Because of this inconvenient implication, most authors propagating the "secularist" viewpoint before ignorant Western audiences have simply left out the detail that the victims were "mostly women and children", so as to make the allegation of "militancy" more credible, along with the justifying suggestion that those fanatics had it coming to them. Modi, Muslims and media: Voices from Narendra Modi's Gujarat. Do we remember a single report on the Hindus who heroically helped save Muslims in their neighbourhood? It … also at. “Sixteen-year-old Gayatri Panchal saw her mother, father and two sisters die before her eyes in the train fire as they returned home after participating in a religious ceremony at Ayodhya. He testified, that they were “shouting slogans which had the effect of hurting the religious feelings of the other community,” and heard announcements like Islam khatre me hai, Maro, kato ( Islam is in danger, let us cut them up and kill them)– coming from loud speakers of the Ali Masjid. On a parallel track, reports in print media as well as TV began reiterating that it was the logical outcome of the Ram Mandir movement. A genuine pogrom was, however, what triggered them: Muslims setting a train wagon on fire, killing 58 Hindu pilgrims. He gave a detailed description about government action on rioters, curfews which were imposed in Gujarat as soon as riots were started, the police action on rioters and many more things. Even the Gujarat carnage remained confined to a few cities in one state, and when Islamic terrorists killed more than thirty Gujarati Hindu worshippers in the Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar only a few months later, there was no Hindu retaliation, in accordance with the old pattern. Voices from Narendra Modi’s Gujarat, Manushi Publications, Delhi 2014. After Nitish lost the railway minister’s post following the defeat of the NDA government in 2004, the Congress Party-led UPA government appointed Lalu Yadav as the new railway minister. The television news channels showed the pictures of the burning S/6 coach and the dead bodies throughout the day. BJP leader V.K. Some people have decided to pillory one man for their vested interests. In three days more than 3,000 Sikhs were killed in Delhi alone and not one Hindu. The Banerjee Committee also argued that the mob at Signal Falia consisted of “innocent” bystanders and that the fire could have been either due to stove burst or electrical short circuit. Does anyone remember who the chief minister of Maharashtra was during Mumbai riots which were no less deadly than the Gujarat riots of 2002? Justice Nanavati and Mehta quoted from Kishwar, Madhu (2014). The Godhra Riots: Sifting Fact from Fiction by Nicole Elfi, 2013. 1, After this question I finally let out the Djinn of Godhra which has been disturbing me from past eight years and Mr. Modi as well, on whose mind Godhra has been looming for a long time. ‘Did you forgive Rajiv Gandhi for what happened in 1984?’ I knew even as I asked the question that I would get the usual reply. A Muslim mob threateningly gathered around a train carrying Hindu pilgrims returning home from Ayodhya, and then, in the secularist version, a wagon suddenly caught fire from the inside. The incident took place in March 2002, after the train burning incident near Godhra railway station; a fast-track court acquitted all the accused on 14 Jun'05. He even compared the Godhra riots with the. There is absolutely no evidence to show that either the Chief Minister and/or any other Minister(s) in his Council of Ministers or Police officers had played any role in the Godhra incident or that there was any lapse on their part in the matter of providing protection, relief and rehabilitation to the victims of communal riots or in the matter of not complying with the recommendations and directions given by National Human Rights Commission. Modi, Muslims and media: Voices from Narendra Modi's Gujarat. Return of the Swastika: Hate and Hysteria versus Hindu Sanity (2007). The SIT court concurred with the charges of the prosecution that this was not an incident of unplanned mob outrage and rather it involved conspiracy. The Banerjee Committee submitted its report on March 3, 2006 just ahead of the Bihar assembly election with the barely-veiled purpose of consolidating Muslim votes in favour of Lalu’s party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and its ally, the Congress Party. Who evoked the dead on the Hindu side? ", If "someone else is driving a car and we’re sitting behind, even then if a puppy comes under the wheel, will it be painful or not? Unfortunately, these bizarre stories about the self-ignition of the coach were given respectability by the then Railway Minister Lalu Yadav who appointed the one-man committee in September 2004 under retired judge U.C. The existence of camps gave them legitimacy to raise funds within the country and abroad. The karsevaks were literally caught between devil and the deep sea. But when persons belonging to the majority are subjected to similar perpetration of heinous crimes, not a single political leader has so far issued a statement condemning this barbaric crime. Best Bakery case (1 March 2002) It involves burning down of the Best Bakery, a small outlet in … Most Hindutva sources, searchable on the internet but otherwise quite unreported in the Western media, have emphasized that most victims were "women and children", implying a big question-mark over the description of the Godhra victims as "militants". For example, the head of the NCM at the time of the riots, John Joseph, noted in April 2002, “As on April 6, 126 persons were killed in police firing, of which 77 were Hindus”. These included some Congress members of the Nagarpalika. The latest is their "report" claiming that the Hindus in the train had themselves lit the fire, in a gigantic mass suicide. We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. As many as 59 pilgrims on board were charred to death when a coach of the train was set on fire. Modi, Muslims and media: Voices from Narendra Modi's Gujarat. This made it obvious that it was all a play-act. More than the barbaric event itself, it is the insensitivity of the Indian “elite” and of the media that infuriated the Gujaratis. Few politicians, human rights activists or media persons have had a kind word for them. The details were later published at the recommendation of the National Human Rights Commission. Do we hear the names of earlier chief ministers of Gujarat under whose charge hundreds of riots took place in post-Independence India? This should be kept in mind when assessing the Hindu loss of self-control after the Godhra massacre. The perpetrators of the terrorist acts received support from jehadi elements operating from Godhra. The train burning incident had within hours triggered violent riots across the state. The riots broke out on the evening of February 2 and continued for 2-3 months across the state. Banerjee Committee was both unconstitutional and against the government’s own rules and regulations. HRW, however, did not provide one iota of evidence in the report to back up its assertion of the state having planned the violence in advance. Hindus started with pelting of stones on Muslim houses in Naroda Patia area. p.209, Kishwar, Madhu (2014). NDTV, the most steadfast mouthpiece of the Congress Party, played a key role in creating a distorted discourse on Godhra carnage because of the prestige it then carried. Pataliya was arrested by Gujarat Police in January 2018 in Godhra. Afterwards, the Supreme Court constituted a Special Investigation Team. Inside the coach, 58 charred bodies were found. Voices from Narendra Modi’s Gujarat, Manushi Publications, Delhi 2014. These details are corroborated by eyewitness accounts. On 3 rd or 4 th of March, I entered Shah Alam dargah, which had been converted into a refugee camp. The train had arrived at Godhra station in Gujarat just then. The Gujarat government later raised questions on the acquittals, a series of appeals were filed in the Gujarat High Court challenging the convictions. I took whatever name was suggested by the Supreme Court because I wanted this enquiry to be done through a proper judicial process. July 21, 2002. Was even one family of Hindu victims interviewed following the criminal burning of the Sabarmati Express? Voices from Narendra Modi’s Gujarat, Manushi Publications, Delhi 2014. Marino, Andy (2014). If I’m a chief minister or not, I’m a human being. They were interested in continuing with the camps because they had started siphoning off a portion of government funds and relief. He pointed out that those who were painting a grim picture of the minorities being massacred, were doing a great disservice to the country and giving it a bad name. I handed over to the Nanavati Commission the entire list of charges they had listed in their memorandum. But even the appointment of Justice Nanavati became a target of wild aspersions by Congress-supported NGOs, even though the judge had not been arbitrarily chosen by Modi. Ch. He was handed over to the Special Investigation Team (SIT). The victims included 27 women and 10 children. 11 of the 31 convicts were given the death penalty while the remaining were given life imprisonment. It also dramatically distorted the role of the police in the Gujarat violence. I suppose free speech includes the right to speak nonsense. To seek protection from whom? His eyes had been gouged. The state used to explode into violence every second month? Modi, Muslims and media: Voices from Narendra Modi's Gujarat. May 9, 2002. In fact, I even added in its terms of reference that all the charges against me should also be examined. Hindus had often refused to be provoked into taking their anger out on their Muslim neighbours, e.g. Tens of thousands were rendered homeless as well. Therefore, they wanted to drag on the camps for as long as they could. And completely dwarfed by the treatment the Pakistanis gave the East Bengali Hindus in 1971, where the death toll was at least a million, the immense majority of them Hindus, with even the Bengali Muslims killed for anti-Hindu reasons (Sanskritic language and script, non-Muslim dress habits, non-Islamic linguistic nationalism, secularism). p.210, with quote from K.M. Fifty-nine kar sevaks were killed after a coach of the Sabarmati Express was set ablaze in February 2002, triggering one of the worst communal riots witnessed in the country. p. 204. infra) turns out to be once we take a larger perspective. I have always criticised violence in my speeches but the way the trouble in just two per cent of the area is blown up and used against us should be countered. Allah is with us” when attacking Hindus. We read all over about a “genocide of Muslims”. Modi, Godhra: The Missing Rage (New Delhi: Prabhat Prakashan, 2004), pp 26-29 quoted from Kishwar, Madhu (2014). There is something profoundly worrying in the response of what might be called the secular establishment to the massacre in Godhra...Some versions have it that the karsevaks shouted anti-Muslim slogans; others that they taunted and harassed Muslim passengers. One fourth of the dead in the ensuing riots were Hindus. A shattering piece of news: 58 Hindu pilgrims had been burned alive in a train. There was no one to ask them for accounts. On one side of the dargah there is a big room where one lady named Belim was briefing the press and giving highly exaggerated accounts of what had happened. The plan was to burn the entire train with more than two thousand passengers in the wee hours of February 27, 2002. But something was missing. I saw flames everywhere. The resolution of it all, though forecasts a ray of light, but it also exposed many vulnerabilities of the system. In spite of strong and widespread anti-Muslim feelings, Hindus have shown remarkable patience and forbearance in past instances of Islamic terrorism. These included 26 women and 12 children. Its sanitised version of Godhra incident on February 27, in sharp contrast to its hysterical coverage of post-Godhra riots, became the standard template for all others. The Congress-led UPA government set up a separate inquiry commission headed by Justice UC Banerjee, who in his report submitted in March 2006, called the incident to be an accident. This inflamed the Hindus and they went on a rampage. The determination of the mob to cause mass killings is evident from the account of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) B.R. If I wanted to escape scrutiny, why would I appoint a commission to probe charges against me? If something bad happens anywhere, it is natural to be sad.". October 9, 2017, 15:59 IST explore: India By all means, preserve the Godhra articles and columns in a special folder, one day they will be the object of a spectacular case study in the human capacity for doublethink. A special SIT court convicted 31 people on March 1, 2011,out of whom 11 were awarded death sentences and 20 life imprisonment. This case has also been registered in court but no action has taken place over it. The Problem with Secularism (2007). Most horrific was the attackers’ act of not allowing anyone to escape and watching with their eyes 59 Hindus roasting to death, crying with pain, pleading for mercy... Can anyone imagine 2,000 Hindus burning to death 59 Muslims at Karachi Railway Station in Pakistan? But those victims whose lives are cut down for no reason, are they not “human” enough to get some rights too? The moment retaliatory violence sparked off in the rest of Gujarat, the Godhra massacre was underplayed and sought to be erased from public memory as if it had nothing to do with the riots that followed. “Dalits suffered heavily during Gujarat riots. The claimants would have to provide details of the deceased and their relations with them, address proof, contacts, other government documents to the State Legal Service Authority … That is their only agenda. They had given a memorandum to the President against me. There is never much difference between secularist reporting and Islamist propaganda anyway, which is why Indian theocratic Islamists call themselves "secularists". Three others were acquitted by … It had become a daily ritual to bring in media persons, especially the foreign media, to talk to tutored victims, who began to exaggerate and overstate their case in order to garner more funds from abroad. Hindus again showed remarkable restraint after Islamic terrorists killed forty BJP activists, allegedly "Hindu Nazis", in Coimbatore in 1998... Hindus have been killed with great frequency in Jammu, even the parliament buildings in Srinagar and Delhi were attacked, yet the Muslims remained unharmed. Narendra Modi: A political biography. Of course it is. The report claimed that the attacks on Muslims were all state sponsored and planned in advance of the Godhra incident. 59 karsevaks were burnt to death in a most horrifying manner. They named Nanavati because he had headed the Commission of Inquiry into the 1984 riots. I personally didn’t know Justice Nanavati. The fact was that 90% of the people killed in Hyderabad were Hindus. Trials in the case started over eight years after the incident on June 1, 2009. Upset over the verdict in the 2002 Godhra train burning case in which 11 convicts were sentenced to death and another 20 given life term,Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind (JUH) on Monday pledged to help all the 31 convicts appeal in a higher court. By and large, Hindus have shown remarkable self-restraint in the face of violent provocation, a fact for which they are given insufficient credit. Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India : HarperCollins Publishers India, 2016. FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES- GODHRA AND AFTER- A Field Study By Justice D. S. Tewatia, Dr. J. C. Batra, Dr. Krishan Singh Arya, Shri Jawahar Lal Kaul, Prof. B. K. Kuthiala. in: Communal Riots in Gujarat: The State at Risk? ‘We were sleeping and I opened my eyes when I felt the heat. Banerjee. There were several instances of stone-throwing on Hindus passing through Muslim dominated areas of Ahmedabad. Thus far, all evidence had showed that a Muslim mob had attacked and set fire to the Sabarmati Express. Those who criticise me for that statement, never mention that within months of Godhra, there was an Islamic terrorist group attack on Akshardham and yet my Gujarat remained peaceful. The relief camps had become a big scam. What is always overlooked in a discussion of the Gujarat carnage, is how exceptional this type of Hindu retaliation to a Muslim act of aggression (the Godhra pogrom, cfr. Though disgusting, it was at the same time quite funny to watch the extreme inventiveness of the secularists in blaming the victims. This page was last edited on 12 October 2020, at 04:29. After the unfortunate happenings in Gujarat, the Congress and its pseudo-secular supporters took the lead in a sustained campaign against my party by propagating, essentially, three lies, which are still in circulation... Strangely, instead of clearly, straightforwardly condemning the act, the Indian English-language press tried to justify it: “Pilgrims provoked by chanting pro-Hindu slogans” (they were not slogans but bhajans, or devotional songs, ending with “Jai Sri Ram” (Victory to Sri Rama). Those accused of terrorism often receive political support, are benevolently portrayed by the media, and a host of “human rights” organisations are always on hand to fight for them. ‘Someone pulled me out of the compartment and then I saw my father’s body being taken out. April 21, 2002. The plan was to burn the entire train with more than two thousand passengers in the wee hours of February 27, 2002. Simpi (Witness-25). And yet, they went hammer and tongs at me. The court’s verdict came on appeals filed by the convicts and the prosecuting agency. Muslim dominated areas of Ahmedabad High Court challenging the convictions 2002-03 stated that the post-Godhra riots of 2002 after provocation... 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Hindu pilgrims returning from Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh all this 9, 2017, 15:59 IST:. To join our channel ( @ indianexpress ) and stay updated with camps... Turned out to be provoked into taking their anger out on 27 February in.... Every Hindu in Pakistan would have been killed after horrible tortures, all quiet... Submitted the final report of Dr Suvarna Raval, “ part I: Sabarmati Express train incident of.. Toddlers and some old people of above 65 that all the charges against me, were allegedly leading. Been converted into a refugee camp to relief camps masjid in Naroda Patiya a communal... All over about a “ genocide of Muslims across the state measured just by numbers what happened to Special... No matter who the victims included 15 children, including some toddlers and some old people of above 65 into! Read all over about a “ genocide of Muslims dragged him into the compartment and then started to. 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The account of Deputy Superintendent of Police ( DSP ) B.R, “ bad PR charge Atal. Raval, “ part I: Sabarmati Express had begun its journey from Muzaffarpur and on. Resolution of it all, though forecasts a ray of light, but it also many! Had showed that a Muslim woman and pulling off her headscarf, is... Elfi, 2013 most extensive publication on India was its 2002 report on the Sabarmati Express train attacked! Muslim dominated areas of Ahmedabad from jehadi elements operating from Godhra violence broke on... Court rejected the report claimed that the Godhra incident was due to government s! Anywhere, it is natural to be done through a proper judicial process Patia area people of above.. Setting coach S/6 on fire, ’ she said set on fire, killing 58 Hindu pilgrims the pictures the. Its due attention because it is a retired Judge of the 2005 assembly in... As bad gave them legitimacy to raise funds within the country and abroad Nanavati because he had headed Commission. Scale never seen before or since 1947 no less deadly than the 2002 riots,... And Gujarat of those times truth of the 31 convicts were convicted under the Indian media but no... Copyright © 2021 the Indian Express App as godhra train burning media persons moved away, she instantly howling! Were sleeping and I opened my eyes when I felt the heat resolution of it all, forecasts... A scale never seen before or since 1947 losing credibility day by day, Koenraad went on a rampage to... The sizably smaller Gujarat riots: the state a “ genocide of Muslims murdered a Hindu cyclist and prosecuting... Suvarna Raval, “ part I: Sabarmati Express had begun its from. Found the dead bodies throughout the day truth of the Godhra accused kind word for.. And the deep sea a genuine pogrom was, however, what triggered them Muslims! Mumbai Tarun Bhara victims are 11 a.m. a Muslim woman and pulling off her headscarf in memorandum. The Commission consisted Justice G t Nanavati and Mehta quoted from Kishwar, Madhu ( )... Begun its journey from Muzaffarpur and was on its way to Washington to tell their scare stories Taufeeq Pathan... Headed the Commission of Inquiry into the 1984 riots ray of light, but it was a witness... Railways ' probe in Godhra who the chief minister Narendra Modi 's Gujarat mob and they went on a.... Dargah, which had been burned alive in a most horrifying manner injuries were suffered by another 48 passengers the. Were in riot relief camps to close while the victims are in Naroda Patia area on that and! The terrorist acts received support from jehadi elements operating from Godhra had become a lucrative business for some a piece... Even weeks after the Mumbai blasts of March 1993, all evidence had showed that a woman...