http://www.fisiusa.org/fisi_News_items/God...ghts_report.htm
<b>FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES GODHRA AND AFTER</b>
A Field Study by
<b>Justice D. S. Tewatia
Dr. J.C.Batra
Dr. Krishan Singh Arya
Shri Jawahar Lal Kaul
Prof. B.K.Kuthiala</b>
COUNCIL FOR INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS AND HUMAN RIGHTS
A-208, Surajmal Vihar
Delhi; 110 092
(Phone 2374816, fax 2377653, Email: rjournal@ndf.vsnl.net.in)
COUNCIL FOR INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS AND HUMAN RIGHTS
GOVERNING BODY FOR THE TERM 2001-03
Chairman : Shri Shanta Kumar, Parliamentarian, Palampur
Vice-Chairmen: Justice D S Tewatia, Jurist, Gurgaon
Shri Chaman Lal Gupta, Parliamentarian, Jammu
Shri Y D Ahuja, Academician, New Delhi
Secy. General: Shri Shyam Khosla, Journalist, New Delhi
Secretaries: Prof. B K Kuthiala, Academician; Hisar
Shri R K Sharma, Journalist, New Delhi
Shri Kumar Rakesh, Journalist, New Delhi
Treasurer: Shri R Chandiwala, Chartered Accountant, New Delhi
Members: 1. Shri A.R.Kohli, Governor of Mizoram, Aizwal.
2. Dr Harsh Vardhan, Medical Administrator, New Delhi
3. Dr N K Trikha, Journalist, New Delhi
4. Dr Ajay Kumar, Physician, New Delhi
5. Shri A N Misra, Journalist, Nagpur
6. Mrs. Sudesh Bhatia, Academician, New Delhi
7. Prof. Shivaji Sarkar, Academician, New Delhi
8. Dr. J C Batra, Senior Advocate, New Delhi
9. Shri Vikas Mahajan, Advocate, New Delhi
10. Dr. J B Goyal, Academician, New Delhi
11. Shri Joseph Gathia, Social Activist, New Delhi
12. Shri Pradeep Thakur, Journalist, Gaziabad
13. Dr. K.C.Pandey, Teacher, Gaziabad
<b>PREFACE</b>
The Council for International Affairs and Human Rights is deeply concerned over the Godhra carnage that consumed 58 pilgrims, including 26 women and 12 children, returning from Ayodhya when the Sabarmati Express carrying them was torched near Godhra railway station and the subsequent sectarian violence. These gory incidents shocked the nation to no end. Torching alive innocent citizens is in total violation of Indian values and traditions and is a blot on the fair name of this ancient civilization. It is a gross violation of human rights of innocent citizens who were roasted alive or brutally killed or maimed for no fault of theirs.
The Gujarat tragedy is too deep for tears. An in-depth and objective study to understand the conspiracy, if any, that led to the burning alive of pilgrims and the killing of innocent citizens that took place is several parts of Gujarat is the need of the hour. It is equally important to identify the evil forces that were instrumental in accomplishing the "mission". The civil society needs to evolve ways and means to resolve the communal divide that has become a festering wound and poses a serious threat to human rights. It is of utmost importance to know how the administration responded to the challenge and what was the role of the political parties, social organisations, the intelligentsia and the media. It is in this context that the Governing Body of the Council that met at Delhi on March 22, 2002 decided to send a team to conduct a field study into the communal strife in Gujarat.
Justice D.S. Tewatia, Vice-Chairman of the Council and a former Chief Justice of Calcutta and Punjab and Haryana High Courts, is the leader of the team. Other members are: Dr J C Batra, senior advocate, Supreme Court of India, Dr. Krishan Singh Arya, Academician, Chandigarh, Shri Jawahar Lal Kaul, former Assistant Editor, Jansatta, Delhi, and Prof. B K Kuthiala, Dean, Faculty of Media Studies, G.J. University Hisar. The team left for Gujarat on April 1 and returned on April 7, 2002.
The team conducted a scientific field study into the horrendous happenings in Godhra and other parts of Gujarat and collected enormous evidence in the form of interviews and documents. It has produced a comprehensive rep ort dealing with numerous aspects of the tragedy. It was not possible for the team to uncover each and every dimension of the tragedy due to constraints of time and resources. But it has done a wonderful job in the limited time and resources available to it. The Council is extremely grateful to Justice Tewatia and his team for conducting the study and producing a comprehensive report.
The Council hopes that its labours will not go waste and that authorities concerned, the intelligentsia and the media as also the common citizens will take serious note of the conclusions and recommendations made by the team. A careful reading of the report will help sift fact from fiction and identify rumours and canards that have been spread by vested interests. The report, one hopes, will enable the nation to have a correct perspective of the forces behind the tragedy and the elements that exploited it for partisan considerations.
The Council is grateful to the members of the team, the representatives of various organisations of Hindus and Muslims of Gujarat, concerned citizens who came forward to narrate details of incidents and provided evidence and the local authorities that ensured that the team conducted the study without any hindrance.
Shyam Khosla
Secretary General.
April 26, 2002
<b>CONTENTS</b>
S No Chapter Page
1. Introduction 1
2. Data Collection 5
3. Godhra incident 9
4. Facts and inferences 22
5. Communal riots in Gujarat 25
6. Conclusions 35
7. Recommendations 40
<b>INTRODUCTION NEED FOR AN OBJECTIVE ANALYTICAL STUDY</b>
Finding the truth is the ultimate objective of any intellectual exercise. Be it a fact-finding mission, analysis of social, political or economic processes or a spiritual journey the edifice of truth is built on the facts. In sciences experiments are conducted to generate new information, which forms the basis for the enunciation of new theories and principles. Facts become sacred, inferences and opinions must arise from the information of the past and the new data gathered. Neutrality in the selection of past data, in the process of gathering new information and also in the process of analysis and derivation of inferences is fundamental to any objective intellectual endeavor.
<b>UNIPOLAR THOUGHT PROCESS</b>
Any exercise to search for truth has to make a beginning without any predispositions. Objectivity is lost if the past attitudes and aptitudes of the seeker of truth colour the vision and the analyst becomes blind to a set of information bits and another set of data is visualized as being greater than its real worth. In research hypothesis are stated and the researcher has a mind-set wherein based on dispassionate analysis of gathered data the stated hypothesis is either proved to be right or wrong. Incorrect derivations and inferences would arise if the researcher were emotionally or ideologically inclined to prove or disprove a given hypothesis. Truth is the first casualty of such an exercise. Intellectual honesty demands observations, analysis and derivations that are free from the personal or group prejudice and likes and dislikes of the analysts.
Unfortunately in todayâs India the vocal, articulate and dominant sections of thinkers and analysts have become predictable. Even before an exercise of analysis of events and processes begins it is possible to almost correctly forecast the inferences and conclusions that are likely to be drawn by the individuals, groups or organizations. A newspaper would publish editorials and articles supporting and proving only one point of view. The outcome of the discussion is predictable depending upon the television channel that is hosting it. Even in the case of simple journalistic reporting the personal predispositions of the reporter glare prominently in the news stories. The questions asked clearly indicate
the ideological inclinations of the interviewer. So much so that even the organizations created under the statutes of the Constitution become partisan and their contentions are blind to a set of data and hyper-responsive to another set of facts. Unipolar thought process of Indian analysts and commentators has become a practice rather than an exception.
<b>QUEST FOR TRUTH</b>
When the problems of the nation receive skewed notice from its intellectuals the analysis cannot be realistic. Not only the problems get politicized, the analysis too is coloured with the vision of the analyst.
If the diagnosis of the problem is faulty, the solution is bound to be unrealistic and misdirected. When a physician commits error in the diagnosis of an ailment, he fails to cure the disease and may give birth to new problems. The country today needs better treatment by its intelligentsia. It is the dharma of the intelligentsia to be objective and search and state the truth and only the truth.
If we look back and introspect the achievements and failures of the nation after independence three facts clearly emerge. First, there was acute shortage of food grains and the country had to import wheat. It posed a serious challenge. The farming community and the scientists responded magnificently and we are now faced with a problem of plenty. Second, whenever the nation faced an external threat our jawans lived up to our expectations and defended our borders at the cost of their lives. It is a matter of pride for us that jawans and kisans that constitute the majority of the population brought glory to the country. The scientists too have taken the country to new heights, be it innovations in farming practices, atomic and space research or information technology.
<b>FAILURE OF GOVERNING CLASS</b>
Third, in most of the cases when a task came before the governing class of the society that includes bureaucracy and politicians, mismanagement, failures and deceptions are the outcome. The ruling class failed to manage the massive surplus produced by the farmers. The contradiction is that while millions of tonnes of wheat is rotting, a large chunk of our society is denied two square meals a day. It is a sad commentary on the governing class. Successive Governments lost on the table the gains achieved by our jawans in the battlefields. A vast majority of the people has contributed towards the growth and development of the country during fifty-five years of independence but a minuscule minority comprising the political class, bureaucracy, intelligentsia and the media have let the country down.
The tragic fact is that despite India being a democratic polity, a small minority of the elite controls the destiny of the nation. The intelligentsia, professionals and the media failed to provide the link between the vast majority of patriotic and duty conscious citizens and the governing class. They were supposed to keep a watch and provide policy and action options without prejudice. But what did they do? They lost their moorings and became a part of the governing class and diverted their intellect for perpetuation of the exploitative and self-serving elite class. Whereas kisans, jawans and scientists have more than met the challenges of nation building the intelligentsia along with politicians and bureaucrats have miserably failed to deliver the goods.
<b>ALTERNATE ACTION PLAN</b>
Independent India inherited the problem of disharmonious relationships between Hindus and Muslims. Amongst many other major problems communal disharmony has been a serious issue before the nation after independence. There were certain inherited realities and solutions were to be found within those parameters. The managers of free India have miserably failed to solve this problem. In fact, they have accentuated the problem and widened the gulf between the two largest communities living in the country. The disease aggravated as the decades passed largely because of the wrong medication. Is not the continuation of communal tensions between two major communities of the country an adverse comment on the performance of our ruling class, intelligentsia and the media? The answer is an assertive YES.
The inhuman burning of the Indian citizens traveling in a train at Godhra in the morning of February 27, 2002 and whatever followed in Gujarat and elsewhere is an evidence of the mismanagement of the communal divide between two major communities of the country. The political class having made appropriate noises to please their respective constituencies will go to back to its Kumbhkarani sleep to be woken up only when another carnage takes place. When a physician fails to cure certain ailment he looks for an alternative action plan and even takes a second opinion. But not our rulers.
<b>INDEPENDENT PROFESSIONALS</b>
But do our thinkers, planners and implementers ever sit back and ponder over their failures? They sing the same songs with perhaps new music. Instead of looking for their own failures they once again refuse to see the reality and selectively isolate the data to prove their own, many times repeated and widely known viewpoints. They are blind to their skewed perceptions. They are either unaware or willfully remaining unaware of the need for an alternate course of action.
It was in this backdrop that the Council for International Affairs and Human Rights decided to depute a Study Team of conscientious and independent professionals to conduct a field study in Godhra and other areas affected by sectarian violence. The team comprised:
1.Justice D.S. Tewatia, former Chief Justice: Calcutta High Court and Punjab and Haryana High Court.
2.Dr. J.C.Batra, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India.
3.Dr. Krishan Singh, Academician.
4.Shri Jawahar Lal Kaul, Veteran Journalist.
5.Prof. B.K.Kuthiala, Dean Faculty of Media Studies, G J University, Hisar.
<b>DATA COLLECTION VISITS INTERACTION AND DOCUMENTS</b>
The team reached Ahmedabad on 02.04.02 in the morning by train and visited three affected areas and some of the relief camps. At all the places team members interacted with the members of the public freely without intervention of any officials, government or otherwise.
On 03.04.02 the team went to Godhra and five delegations from both communities and also of mixed composition presented their views and facts to the team. The team then went to the Godhra Railway Station and interviewed the officials and some other witnesses of the burning of the S-6 Coach of the Sabarmati Express in the morning of 27.02.02. The site where the train was initially stopped and stoned was also visited. The team also minutely observed the burnt S-6 coach. The officials of the Fire Brigade who were involved in the fire fighting on the morning of 27.02.02 were also interviewed. The localities adjacent to the railway station along with the sites where demolition of structures illegally erected was carried out on 27.02.02 during the curfew hours were also visited. The team also visited a Girls High School at Godhara where Muslims from rural hinterland had migrated for safety.
In the evening the team had a meeting with the District Collector, Godhra along with other officials. The District Collector made a presentation of the actions that the district administration had taken after the incident near the railway station. Information was also provided in response to the questions raised by the members of the team. Prime Minister was to reach Godhra the next day and the team left for Vadodara late at night, as it did not want to be an obstacle in the arrangements being made for his visit.
<b>RELIEF CAMPS OF HINDUS AND MUSLIMS</b>
On 04.04.02 the team was in Vadodara where it visited five relief camps of both the communities and seven areas, which were the scenes of arson, fire and violence during the last month. Team also exposed itself to ground situations by visiting some sensitive areas where either:
a.two communities lived face to face with each other in different localities.
b.a small number of families of one community lived in neighborhood and surrounded by a large number of the families of the other community.
c.two communities lived in the same locality, both in significant numbers with houses of both communities randomly distributed.
The team visited some of the areas, which have been evacuated by the residents because either they were attacked or they apprehended an attack. To have the exposure to the realities the team also visited some areas where curfew was imposed. Permission to visit such areas was taken from the appropriate authorities.
In the afternoon the Commissioner Police, Vadodra and District Collector Vadodra met the team along with other officials. The team members were updated with the information regarding the management of situation till that day. The officials also answered the queries of the team.
At 5.00 pm the team met with the representatives of various media organizations - both print and electronic. About thirty media persons were present and an informative interaction took place. The team had taken a conscious decision not to address a press conference, as it did not want to express unprocessed, half-baked and impressionistic opinions.
<b>MEETING THE GOVERNOR & THE CHIEF MINISTER</b>
In the evening thirteen (13) delegations consisting of 121 citizens met the team and presented their viewpoints and information. The delegations included not only the members of both the communities but ranged from the Association of Hoteliers to a group of adivasis to affected Muslim and Hindu women.
On 05.04.02 the team once again visited the affected areas to see the change in the ground situation in two days after the team has visited on 02.04.02. Here once again the team spoke to common persons at the affected sites. In the afternoon the team had an in-depth discussion on the situation in the state with Shri Narendra Modi, Chief Minister, Gujarat. After meeting the Chief Minister, the team met the Police Commissioner, Ahmedabad. He gave some data about the preventive arrests (3046), booked (1807), FIRs lodged (636) killed (267 including 58 in police firing) and rounds fired by police (2842). In the afternoon seven delegations - five from Ahmedabad and two representing state level organizations
â briefed the team of their version of the incidents, perceptions and possible remedial measures.
Total number of citizens, both Muslims and Hindus, present in these meetings was 91. During and after dinner some important persons of the minority community met the team members personally and provided useful information. A retired judge of the High Court belonging to the Muslim community also apprised the team of his perception of the communal riots. He himself is a victim as his house was burnt a few days ago. In the morning of 06.04.02 team members went out individually to interact informally with common men to feel the pulse of the people. At noon the team went to Raj Bhawan to meet Shri Sunder Singh Bhandari, Governor, Gujarat where a very useful interaction took place.
<b>OBJECTIVITY IN OBSERVATION AND ANALYSIS</b>
In the evening the members boarded a train back to Delhi from where the team members dispersed to their respective stations. At this point of time every team member carried a heavy load of information, views and images of realities. For a week the team members engaged themselves in the process of sieving facts from fiction, correlating data with perceived realities and an objective dispassionate analysis. On 15.04.02 and also on 19.04.02 the team met in Delhi and after sharing each otherâs analysis the report has been penned down as a collective effort.
It would also be worth mentioning that the Study Team has used both audio and video systems to record images of ground situation, evidence, and narration of the events by victims and witnesses and interviews. Some of these recordings were done with an explicit assurance given by the team to use the material only for the purposes of analysis and shall not be made public. Similarly a load of printed and handwritten documents have also been collected both from official and privates sources. Use of Internet has also been made extensively to interact and surfing for collection of relevant information.
All this information about the methodology is being provided so that the consumers of this information can evaluate the observations and analysis of the team independently. The strengths and weaknesses are both laid out and there is no attempt to pronounce hasty judgments without any scientific analysis or even without collating the information with other members of the study team. It did not visit the affected areas to strengthen the beliefs and perceptions of its members in a partisan manner, but it went with an open mind and a clean state and allowed the facts to speak for themselves. The objectivity of observation and analysis has been coupled with the honesty and integrity of scientific process of deducing and theory propositions.
<b>GODHRA INCIDENT
BURNING ALIVE OF 58 INDIAN CITIZENS TRAVELLING IN
COACH S-6 OF SABARMATI EXPRESS</b>
Train numbers 9164, 9166 and 9168 have been named Sabarmati Express after the name of the Sabarmati Ashram established by Mahatma Gandhi to experiment and propagate his philosophies of non-violence and swadeshi. The train runs up to Ahmedabad, from Faizabad (9164) on Saturdays, from Muzaffarabad (9166) on Wednesday, Friday and Monday and from Varanasi (9168) on Thursday, Sunday and Tuesday. It covers Lucknow, Gwalior, Bhopal, Indore and Dahod is its first halt in Gujarat. After traveling 74 km in 2 hrs and 19 minutes from Dahod the train is scheduled to arrive at 0255hrs at Godhra. After Godhra it halts at Vadodra, Anand and Nadiad reaching Ahmedabad at 0700hrs
<b>INNOCENT PILGRIMS</b>
On 26.02.02 Sabarmati Express started from Faizabad about 225 minutes late. On that fateful day, about 2300 pilgrims were travelling by the train. Most of them were returning from Ayodhya where they had gone for either participating in the shila pujan or for the purana ahuti of the ritual jap of Ram naam that the devotees began one month in advance at their respective places.
There were other passengers in the train including members of the Muslim community. However, it has been reported that most of the Muslim passengers got down at Dahod Railway Station and rest of them at Godhra and it appears that when the train was torched there was no Muslim passengers on the train except the elements who were to stop the train by pulling the chain as part of a conspiracy to burn the pilgrims alive.
<b>CHAIN PULLED AND VACUUM PIPE CUT</b>
At 07.42 hrs the train stopped at Godhra railway Station. After about five minutes, the train started to move but stopped for a few moments as some passengers could not board the train. It finally left the station but came to halt about 700 metres away from the station as some one had pulled the chain. The vacuum pipe between the Coaches No. S-6 and S-7 was cut thereby preventing any further movement of the train.
Miscreants threw bricks and stones at the train as soon as it left Godhra railway station. The stoning intensified after it finally stopped about 700 metres from the station. The passengers of the train, particularly Coaches S-5, S-6 and S-7, were the main targets. The passengers reportedly shut the windows and doors to protect themselves. Burning missiles and acid bulbs were thrown on and in the coaches. One such acid missile landed in Coach S-7 and a fire started which the passengers were able to extinguish. But the attack continued and more burning missiles were thrown into the Coach S-6.
<b>FIFTY EIGHT PILGRIMS ROASTED ALIVE</b>
Soon, S-6 caught fire and within minutes it was in flames. Passengers who managed to get out of the burning compartment were attacked with sharp weapons and stoned. They received serious injuries. Some of them got out through the windows and took shelter below the coach. After some time (between 20 minutes and 40 minutes) fire engine arrived at the scene and took about half an hour to extinguish the fire.
Inside the coach, 58 charred bodies were found. These included 26 women and 12 children. Those who had seen the charred bodies shiver even weeks after the incident while recalling the gory scene. Even a cursory look at the photographs of the charred bodies is a chilling experience. Forty-three (43) injured persons were rushed to the Civil Hospital at Godhra with different degrees of burns. The train left
Godhra at about 1230 hours minus Coach S-6, 58 dead and 43 injured.
The question why a large number of Hindus were roasted alive at the hands of Muslim crowds at Godhra and also what was the motivation to enact such a ghastly act needs to be answered. There is strong logic supported by direct and circumstantial evidence that enables the team to assert without an iota of doubt that the entire action was carried out on the behest of the Government of Pakistan. The primary objective was to create Hindu-Muslim communal conflagration in India. The reasons why Pakistan would resort to such acts are:
1.Hindu-Muslim communal riots in India would have echo in Bangladesh, and would help in cleansing of Hindus from that country resulting in further straining of relations with India. The communal rioting will provide yet another excuse for India bashing. The reaction in Bangladesh will add fuel to the already communally tense situation in India. It would ultimately gives sustenance to the "Two Nation Theory".
2.Hindu-Muslim riots in India would further accentuate alienation of Kashmiri Muslims, thereby creating further space in Kashmir for Pakistanâs nefarious activities against India.
3.Hindu-Muslim riots in India would tend to adversely affect Indiaâs present friendly relations with Afghanistan. It is worth mentioning here that Prime Minister of Afghanistan had in a television interview while responding to a question about the nature of Afghanistanâs relations with India observed, "That would depend upon how India treats its Muslim minority". Incidentally, the Prime Minister of Afghanistan was in Delhi on the fateful day the train was torched.
4.Situation at the Indo-Pak border is extremely critical and volatile. A little misunderstanding or even an unintended move can lead to a war between the two countries. Hindu-Muslim riots in such a situation would come handy to weaken our defences as the army would have to be withdrawn from the borders to combat riots. The army is normally summoned to assist the civil authorities when the situation worsens as happened during recent riots in Gujarat.
With a view to maintain law and order, two Brigades of army were deployed in various parts of the state thereby leaving a portion of our border uncovered or weakly protected. To cite an example, if the troops deployed on the Katch border are withdrawn our defences in that area become weak and border more porous thereby increasing the danger of infiltration by jehadis and smugglers dealing with drugs and arms. What would please more the hostile neighbour and ISI than weak defences and porous borders and what can be a better mechanism than creating a situation where Indian armyâs attention is diverted because of its deployment in riot-hit areas. All patriotic and nationalist forces demanding deployment of army to assist the civil authority for one reason or the other need to look at the situation from this angle as well.
5.Hindu-Muslim riots increase the alienation of the saner elements among Kashmiri Muslim and add to the support base of terrorist outfits sponsored, armed and financed by ISI. Terrorism and insurgency get a shot in the arm. In the event of a war between the two countries these subversive groups can play havoc.
6.Hindu-Muslim riots create tensions and misunderstanding between India and Muslim countries with which India has developed understanding and goodwill. By provoking communal violence, Pakistan wants to isolate India in the international community and tarnish its image as a pluralistic and democratic society.
Another question that needs systematic analysis is: Why Godhra? Why did Pakistan choose to enact this ghastly act at a small, little known town of Godhra? On the basis of information gathered from various sources the team identifies the following reasons for choosing Godhra for this carnage:
The rate of growth of Muslim population in Godhra is much higher than the national growth rate of Muslim population. At present the estimated ratio of Hindu-Muslim population ranges from 60:40 to 48:52. In any case, it is an established fact that Godhra has a very large Muslim population.
Most of them live on both the sides of the railway station in depth. In normal course, the Sabarmati Express was to arrive at Godhra railway Station at 02.55 a.m. The conspirators must have chosen the place with a view to complete their operation "Burn the train" at the dead of night when most of the passengers would be asleep. They must have planned to accomplish their evil "mission" unhindered and with impunity.
Godhra has the dubious distinction of having a large number of Muslim fundamentalists and âjehadiâ elements. Godhra is neither a Muslim pilgrim center like Ajmer nor a Muslim educational center like Aligarh and Deoband. The local Muslims are not economically affluent either, yet this town had hosted three âistemaâ- religious congregations. In one of the âistemaâ, Muslim representatives from more than hundred countries participated. The holding of international congregations on such a massive scale gives credence to the commonly held perception that there has been a massive inflow of foreign money into Godhra.
One Shri Haji Bilal, a Congress member of Nagarpalika, who has been booked by the police as the executor of the carnage, have been, according to locals, proudly proclaiming himself to be "Bin Laden of Godhra". President of the District Congress Committee, Farooq Malla and Congress activist and member of Godhra Nagarpalika, Abdul Rehman Dhatia, are amongst those booked for the carnage giving credence to reports that local Congressmen were actively involved in the
burning of the train.
The next question is: Why was this particular train chosen for torching? The team provides the following answer:
This particular train was chosen because the 2300 âpilgrimsâ were returning from Ayodhya on this train. Torching and burning alive a large number of Hindu pilgrims (including women and children) was intended to let loose a tide of indignation and provocation of horrendous proportion in Hindu population resulting in intended ignition of the communal tinder box, causing wide spread Hindu-Muslim riots all over the country. However, the train got late and the miscreants were able to burn only one compartment instead of the entire train and (contrary to the expectations of their Pakistani masters) the communal riots were confined to only a part of Gujarat.
The evidence that leads to the conclusion that the torching of Sabarmati Express on the morning of 27.02.02 was pre-meditated can be stated as:
The train took only three minutes, as per the statement of the Stationmaster, form the platform to the place where it was stopped by pulling the chain at a distance of about 700 metres. It is impossible for a mob of about 2000 persons carrying acid bulbs and highly combustible liquids to converge within three minutes that too in the early hours of the morning.
The conspirators had done their homework. They ensured that the mob gets enough time to accomplish the misdeed. Had the train stopped because of chain pulling, the driver could have re-started the train after it was attacked by the mob. In order to ensure that the train would not move even an inch, the conspirators had deputed certain persons to cut the vacuum pipe.
Consequently, the train could not move before the pipe was repaired.
In order to establish the correct chronology of events the Study Team collected information from:
1.Staff at the Railway Station, Godhra
2.District Administration
3.Passengers traveling in Sabarmati Express on 27.02.02 in S-6
4.Passengers traveling in Sabarmati Express on 27.02.02 other than in S-6
5.Staff of the Fire Brigade, Godhra
6.Others who were witness to the later part of the incident
7. Reports in local, regional and Delhi Press.
<b>STAFF OF RAILWAY STATION GODHRA</b>
The staff at the Railway Station Godhra told the team that no serious quarrel took place on the platform when the train halted there for about 05 minutes. Immediately after the train started moving it stopped and few left-out passengers boarded the train and it started again. A mob of about 1000 Muslims ahead of the Railway Station started pelting stones and other missiles on the train. The train after moving about 700 metres stopped once again but with a jerk as a result of chain pulling. The vacuum pipe of the Coach No. S-6 was cut. The mob had by then swelled to more than 2000. They stoned the train and also threw burning missiles, concentrating on S-6 and S-7. Soon the Coach S-6 was seen burning and the flames reached outside the coach in no time. Railway Police rushed to the scene and after initial hesitation fired in the air to disperse the mob. There was no impact on the mob that did not disperse even after firing in the air and kept shouting slogans and throwing missiles at the police and the crowd comprising railway officials, passengers of the other coaches of the train and bystanders.
Fire brigade reached the site after about half an hour (from the time of the departure of the train from the platform). It took about half an hour to extinguish the flames and cool down the S-6 coach. District administration reached the spot after the fire had almost been extinguished and the mob had withdrawn to a distant place but was still shouting slogans. All through voices were heard on loudspeakers from both the sides of the railway track inciting the mob to kill and burn the infidels (kafirs) and the enemies of Bin Laden. With the help of civilians, the injured were taken to the Civil Hospital and the dead were brought out and counted. Burnt bodies of passengers were identified with the help of other passengers of the train including those of S-6 who had escaped unhurt or were not seriously injured.
<b>DISTRICT ADMINSTRATION, GODHRA</b>
As per the presentation made by the Collector of Panchmahal at Godhra, the Sabarmati express arrived at Godhra Railway station at 7.43 am (scheduled arrival at 2.55a.m.). Train departed at 7.48 a.m. and was stopped at a distance of 1km from Godhra railway station by pulling chain at "Signal Faliya". A mob of about 2000 miscreants attacked the train with stones and firebombs. Bogies no S/5 and S/6 were set on fire, bogies S/6 was completely burnt with 58 passengers in it including 26 women, 12 children and 20 men roasted alive.
D.S.P. rushed to the spot as soon as he got the information about the incident. Relief work started immediately by the Collector. Arrangements for firefighters were made. Along with the arrangements of Ambulance Van and ST Buses from RTO. Team of three doctors rushed to the site. Twentyfive passengers were treated on site. Food packets, drinking water was made available to stranded passengers. 43 injured passengers were shifted to civil hospital. Police fired 14 rounds and 30 teargas shells to prevent the mob from causing further damage. Curfew was imposed in the town at 10.55am. Collector with senior railway officers entered the burnt carriage to assess the casualties - 58 dead bodies found. Train departed for Ahmedabad with the rest of passengers at 12.40 pm. Inquest & post-mortem of all bodies was done by 4.30 pm. Bodies dispatched at 10.30 pm to Civil hospital, Sola, Ahmedabad.
<b>PASSENGERS TRAVELLING IN SABARMATI EXPRESS ON 27.02.02 IN COACH NO S-6</b>
Kamala (name changed in view of threats received and bomb attack on her a day before she was interviewed by the Study Team on O4.02.02), a college student, went to Ayodhya along with her parents and two sisters to perform the purana ahuti of the Ram jaap her mother was doing for the last one month. The family boarded the train at Faizabad in Coach no S-6 on 26.02.02 at about 0800 hours.
There were many passengers on the train who were chanting Ram naam and occasionally chanting jai Sri ram. In the morning of 27.02.02 the train was at Godhra railway station and as soon as it moved, a barrage of stones were thrown at the compartment. Terrified and taken aback, the passengers closed the windows.
The train stopped for a few moments and again started. After about 2-3 minutes the train stopped with a strong jerk rattling the passengers and the luggage. The train continued to be stoned with great intensity. Mob outside the train was pounding upon the windows and doors. Somebody from outside the train was able to open a window and threw a burning object into the compartment. It fell on the luggage and the fire started. Some passengers stated stamping on the fire, but more burning objects were thrown in as the mob broke open more windows. Some liquid was also poured in from the windows, which intensified the fire. Iron grills of some windows were detached from one side and bent to pick up the passengersâ luggage. This luggage was set on fire and thrown back into the coach. The passengers were terribly shaken and shouting for help. Some of them were able to open the door and get out.
Soon the entire coach was gutted. Smoke was so thick that it was impossible to breathe or see anything. She looked for her family members in vain and dropped out of the train from a window whose grill had been bent and detached from one side. Lying of the ground she could breathe a little and saw a huge mob with swords and iron rods hurling abuses at Hindus. She moved below the coach from where she was rescued after sometime. She may have remained unconscious for some time. She later identified the charred bodies of her mother, father and two sisters. One sister was an engineer and the other was a commerce graduate.
The same train took her to Ahmedabad where she now lives with her younger sister. She has already got Rs. 50,000 as relief and expects more. She told the team that she had heard certain Muslims saying that a lot of trouble was caused to them because of her narration of the Godhra tragedy and that she would be eliminated. A bomb was thrown into the room in which she was sleeping a day before the team met her. Fortunately, it did not explode. The matter was reported to the police who are investigating the case.
Raghu (name changed for reasons of security of the witness) was traveling in Coach S-6 of the Sabarmati Express on 27.02.02 and his narration of the events is similar to those of Kamala. When the coach was set on fire he went up on the upper berth in the hope that the fire will soon be extinguished. But when he got a choked because of the thick smoke he moved from one upper berth to another towards the door but the flames frustrated his first attempt to jump out. He returned and after some time made a desperate attempt and was able to reach the door where a passenger whom he had earlier seen in the train dragged him outside. He fell unconscious and was given water and sugar by a lady who was managing the passengers belonging to Ahmedabad. Though he felt dizzy he received no burn injuries except that his hair were partly burnt. His father and uncle were burnt alive in the same coach.
<b>PASSENGERS TRAVELLING IN SABARMATI EXPRESS ON 27.02.02 IN COACHES OTHER THAN S-6</b>
Shakuntla (name changed because of security reasons) narrates a story similar to that of Kamala and Raghu except that she was traveling in Coach S-7 and she was looking after a group of pilgrims from Ahmedabad. She got down at Godhra Railway Station and saw many pilgrims bidding each other Jai Ram ji ki as the first greeting in the morning. Some passengers took tea and one of the vendors angrily asked them not to make a noise. The pilgrims did not respond and got into the train as it had started moving. As some lady passengers were not able to board, the train stopped for a few moments and again steamed-off when the left-out passengers boarded. Along with the stones a burning missile landed in S-7 in which she was traveling but the fire was put out without much effort. After some time the train again stopped with a great jerk and shouts of maro-maro came from outside. She could not tell the approximate number of persons in the mob as all the windows were closed. Some one using a mike was inciting the mob to kill and loot the kafirs and the enemies of Bin laden.. Through a slit in the window she saw a part of the mob with iron rods and swords.
There was tension and suspense in the compartment No one knew what was happening or what would happen to him or her the next moment. After some time both the shouts of the crowd and the voice on the mike stopped. Shakuntla along with some other passengers got out and saw S-6 in flames. There were some injured and perplexed passengers outside. The mob had withdrawn a few hundred yards away. The fire engine arrived and the fire was put off. The mob kept throwing stones at the train from a distance. A few policemen were also there but they did nothing to protect the passengers. More and more passengers assembled near the burning coach and urged the police to take action against the miscreants but the police did nothing. Crying and shouting Shakuntla took out her bangles and offered them to the two policemen with rifles. The policemen fired a few shots in the air. That did not deter the mob.
When more police came and the fire was put out several passengers along with some policemen chased the attackers. Some persons told the police that the attackers had taken shelter in a nearby garage. The police hesitated to enter the garage. When the policemen on duty did not take any action, some passengers and locals entered the garage. But it was too late as the miscreants had by then escaped from another door on the other side of the garage. Shkuntla helped the authorities to identify some of the bodies and returned to Ahmedabad by the same train.
<b>STAFF OF THE FIRE BRIGADE, GODHRA</b>
Shri Pradeep Singh s/o Shri Bhola Singh, Motor Driver, Fire brigade, Godhra & Shri Vijay Kumar s/o Shri Ram Chander Sharma, Fireman, Fire Brigade, Godhra (names mentioned with the consent of the witnesses) said they reported for their shift duty at 0800hrs on 27.02.02. One of the major vehicles was out of order, as its clutch-plates had been taken out a few days earlier. On their arrival on 27.02.02 in their office they found that one of the nuts that connects the pipe to the water tank of the other fire engine was also missing. By the time they had put the nut in place a message about the fire in the train was received.
The Driver along with the firemen rushed towards the spot but on the way a mob led by Haji Balal, a Congress member of the Godra Nagarpalika, stopped the vehicle and did not allow it to proceed any further. A tall well built young man stood in front of the vehicle. The mob started pelted stones at the vehicle. A fireman sitting in the front seat had to take shelter behind the driver. The headlights and the windowpanes of the vehicle got damaged. Fearing for his own and his crewâs life the driver drove the vehicle through the mob, as it was not possible to move backwards. The mob gave in but by that time precious 15-20 minutes had been lost.
The vehicle reached at the site and crew saw one of the compartments blazing. The fire was brought under control in about half an hour. Fireman Vijay Singh reported that he saw one woman trying to come out. He covered himself with a blanket and tried twice to reach the lady but the flames were too hot and high and he could not enter the coach. He is deeply disappointed and said some lives could have been saved if the miscreants had not delayed the arrival of the fire engine. Both the witnesses stated that they were sure that the acts of demobilizing one of the vehicles and removing the nut of the connection of the pipe with the water tank were premeditated and the Congress member of Ghodhra Nagarpalika, Haji Balal, who is also chairman of the Vehicle Committee of the Nagarpalika, had hatched the conspiracy. Haji Balal had been visiting the fire station at night for the past few days on the pretext of watching films on the television. They also stated that had the train reached during the night, the entire train would have been burnt. Both the witnesses also said that the manner in which the bodies were charred and the furniture and luggage burnt indicates the use of some highly inflammable material like solvent in addition to petrol, diesel and kerosene.
The fire-crew informed the team that although they had reported the damage to the vehicle to their seniors no formal complaint had been registered. They also reported having received a threatening call warning them not to give statements about the obstruction to the fire engine by a crowd on 27.02.02. As the fire station has a call identification system, they know who made the threatening call.
The Study Team also inspected the Coach S-6. There was no evidence of any stove in the compartment. Although the Team was surprised to find two plastic jerrycans that have been referred to in the report submitted by a team of CPI (M). Wonder of wonders is that while the entire coach got burnt roasting alive the passengers, two plastic jerrycans remained intact. It seems to be a deliberate
attempt to plant evidence that is a very serious offence.
<b>OTHERS WHO WERE WITNESS TO LATER PART OF THE INCIDENT</b>
It is natural that when an incident of such a gravity happens many citizens gather at and near the place of incident. While visiting the affected areas and the relief camps the team members kept on searching for the persons who had been the witness to at least some part of the incident. Three such persons could be contacted and interviewed. All of them reported of the inability of the police to take action against the mob. The firing in the air was reluctant and no one saw firing of teargas shells or use of lathies as claimed by the police.
<b>REPORTS IN LOCAL, REGIONAL AND DELHI MEDIA</b>
The Study Team went carefully through the reports of the gory incidents published in 22 newspapers and 9 newsmagazines. There is so much variance in the reporting of the events in these publications that it is impossible to draw out a cohesive and acceptable chain of events. The reports vary from an accusation that the fire was stage-managed in order to malign the Muslim minority to an assertion that all Muslim passengers were asked to get down before Godhra by the conspirators. Since the team had reasonably credible evidence from direct witnesses it decided not to analyze the media reports for reconstruction of the chronology of events.
<b>GODHRA INCIDENT- ANALYSED</b>
<b>FACTS AND INFERENCES</b>
There has been so much said, written and broadcast about the Godhra incident that it is difficult to distinguish between facts, half-truths, innocent imagination and motivated lies. Media and interested parties have selected, distorted and added fiction to the story to prove their respective points of view.
Unfortunately, professionalism took a back seat as media persons, fact-finding commissions and administrators, by and large, failed to maintain the fairness, neutrality and objectivity expected from them. To engage in a dispassionate analysis the Study Team has divided all the facts relating to this incident into four categories:
1.Indisputable facts.
2. Facts that appear to be true but need verification.
1.Information that appears to be untrue.
2.Mysteries.
INDISPUTABLE FACTS
1.On 27.02.02 Sabarmati Express from Faizabad reached Godhra more than four hours late.
2.There were more than 2000 Hindu pilgrims on this train.
3.No serious dispute took place at the platform at Godhra between the passengers and the vendors.
4.The entire train was stoned right after it left the platform at Godhra and it continued even after it was stopped at Signal Faliya.
5.Firebombs, acid bulbs and highly inflammable liquid(s) were used to set the coaches on fire that must have been stored already for the purpose.
6.Miscreants succeeded in torching only one coach.
7.The conspirators did not allow the fire fighting staff to reach the burning train expeditiously.
8.The iron grills of the windows of S-6 were broken and bent from outside.
9.Fifty-eight passengers of coach S-6 were burnt to death by a Muslim mob and that one of the conspirators was a Congress Councillor, Haji Balal.
10.The train was stopped by pulling the chain and the vacuum pipe was cut.
11.Someone used the public address system exhorting the mob to kill kafirs and enemies of Bin Laden.
12.Assembly of a mob of about 2000 Muslims in three minutes could not have been spontaneous.
13.The attack on Sabarmati Express on 27.02.02 was pre-planned and pre-meditated. It was the result of a criminal conspiracy hatched by a hostile foreign power with the help of local jehadis.
<b>FACTS THAT NEED VERIFICATION</b>
1.There was a conspiracy to reduce the effectiveness of the fire fighting system of Godhra municipal committee.
2.The mob that burnt the coach had Muslims from outside the town as well.
3.Firearms were used by the mob.
4.Police could have caught or killed some of the miscreants at the spot.
5.Local politicians and elected representatives took active part in instigating the mob.
6.Railway Police at Dahod sent a message to Godhra Railway police that some Muslim youths on board Sabarmati Express were likely to create mischief at Godhra.
7.Head of a passenger of S-6 coach was cut when he tried to get out of the window. The head was later thrown back into the coach to burn.
<b>INFORMATION THAT APPEARS TO BE UNTRUE</b>
1.Some women passengers are missing.
2.Some women passengers were raped or molested.
3.Passengers had pulled the beard of a vendor at Godhra Railway Station.
4.Passengers carried weapons with them.
5.Railway staff connived with the miscreants.
6.The pilgrims had taunted certain Muslims of Godhra while returning from Ayodhya.
7.Police firing while they were burning the coach killed two Muslims.
<b>SOME MYSTERIES</b>
1.Assistant Collector, Godhra (a young Muslim from eastern UP) goes on leave two days before the incident and does not return till the middle of the March while the district of his posting was aflame with communal riots.
2.The unusual growth rate of Muslim population in Godhra.
3.Absence of information with the District officials about the number of arms licenses issued.
4.Abnormally large number of passports issued to the residents of Godhra.
5.Presence of a very large number of persons without ration cards in Signal Faliya and Polan Bazar areas of Godhra.
6.A large number of unemployed Muslims in Godhra have mobile phones.
7.Very high traffic of telephone calls from Godhra to Pakistan (mainly Karachi) before 27.02.02.
8. Holding of âistemaâ - religious gatherings - at Godhra that were attended by foreigners in large numbers.
<b>COMMUNAL RIOTS IN GUJARAT
AFTER 27.02.02
BOTH SPONTANEOUS AND PLANNED BUT A TRAP OF INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM</b>
The news of the events of 27.02.02 at Godhra at about 0800 hrs spread like wild fire all over the country by the afternoon. The television media, which has the advantage of instantaneous reporting, played its role in disseminating the information about this carnage. Nothing happened for almost twenty-four hours, though the situation was said to be very tense. Vishwa Hindu Parishad gave a call for statewide bandh to protest against the Godhra carnage. Communal violence erupted almost simultaneously on 28.02.02 in many parts of the state when the charred bodies, the injured and the passengers travelling in the ill-fated train reached their homes. It became more intense during next twenty-four hours and started subsiding after that. After 01.03.02 there were only stray incidents of communal violence in certain parts of the state.
On 15.03.02, after shila daan ceremony at Ayodhya by Ramchandra Paramhans, processions of Ram dhun were taken out all over Gujarat. The participation on these occasions was very large in Gujarat, presumably as a reaction of what had happened in Godhra. The Ram dhun processions at many places including Ahemdabad and Vadodra became the points of communal tensions once again and the communal tension that was subsiding again flared up. Although the Muslim elders had assured the police at Vadodra that peace would be maintained at all costs, the processions were stoned from a mosque.
The intensity of the attack proves that these were pre-meditated. The attack was so massive that the police had a tough time handling it. The state once again came under the grip of communal riots. The rioting was very intense for about three days. Sectarian violence, however, continued in several parts of the state even three days after the attack on Hindu procession at Vadodra.
Incidents of violence on a large scale were initially reported from Ahmedabad and Vadodara towns and the districts of Panchmahals, Sabarkantha and Mehsana. Later it spread to other areas also. However the communal violence was mainly confined to Central and North Gujarat. Saurashtra and South Gujarat remained relatively peaceful. There was no communal violence in almost one half of Gujarat.
The team was told that when the charred bodies of the dead reached their families or the news of their killings reached the relatives, friends and neighbors attacked the nearby Muslim establishments. Similar incidents took place when chautha and kriya ceremonies of the dead were solemnised.
Gujarat has a long history of communal riots. The first such riot has been reported in 17
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