10-16-2006, 08:08 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> <b>Conspiracy Exposed</b>
The Pioneer Edit Desk
Twisting the truth about Godhra
The ham-handed attempt of the UPA Government to controvert the basic facts of the Godhra carnage in February 2002, in which a coach of Sabarmati Express packed with Hindu pilgrims was set ablaze by a Muslim mob, has come a cropper, with the Gujarat High Court declaring the Justice UC Banerjee Committee as "unconstitutional, illegal and void". Mr Banerjee was appointed by Union Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav to conduct a parallel 'inquiry' into the ghastly incident and the committee's interim report, widely used as election propaganda material in Bihar by the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal, made it abundantly clear that along with his remit, the former judge of the Supreme Court was also given a draft of what he should say in his findings. Although Mr Banerjee, whose conduct puts a question mark on his credibility and integrity, now claims that his findings are free of political bias, the High Court's judgement upholds the popular perception that the collaborative effort to cleanse the culprits of their horrendous crime is not without an ulterior motive and of a piece with the surreptitious effort to use the POTA review committee, nominated by the UPA Government, to drop the charges against those arrested for planning and executing the ghastly act. That this inference is not unfounded is further borne out by the efforts of the Congress and its allies to save Mohammed Afzal Guru from the gallows. The pattern that emerges is clear: <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>This regime is willing to go to any extent to appease those who have nothing but contempt for the nation and its people in the mistaken belief that by sparing criminals it can reap Muslim votes. </span>The outcome of the Bihar Assembly election should have effectively negated such perverse thinking, but neither the Congress nor its drumbeaters, including those in the Left, are easily deterred.
Hence, the Gujarat High Court's ruling - that by setting up the UC Banerjee Committee, the UPA Government violated provisions of the Commission of the Inquiry Act and the Indian Railways Act because the Justice Nanavati-Shah Commission is already probing the Godhra carnage that resulted in the death of 59 karsevaks returning from Ayodhya - has not had its desired deterrent effect on the UPA Government, least of all on the Congress. The irreverence with which the Congress treats judicial pronouncements is reflected in the party spokesman's rejection of Friday's judgement and the brazen assertion that the High Court verdict is not the last word in the judicial process. This is only to be expected because the absurd 'finding' of Mr Banerjee, who did not even bother to speak to those who survived the attack or the relatives of those who died and yet came to the amazing conclusion that the devastating fire in the coach was accidental and not intentional, suits the twisted politics of those who practice minorityism. For them, it is inconsequential that a Railway Tribunal's findings differ from this story; nor is it of any relevance that a local court has prima facie accepted that the fire was the handiwork of a mob. But sooner than later, justice catches up with criminals and their 'secular' patrons. And the voices of those who have suffered on account of this nexus have begun to count.
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The Pioneer Edit Desk
Twisting the truth about Godhra
The ham-handed attempt of the UPA Government to controvert the basic facts of the Godhra carnage in February 2002, in which a coach of Sabarmati Express packed with Hindu pilgrims was set ablaze by a Muslim mob, has come a cropper, with the Gujarat High Court declaring the Justice UC Banerjee Committee as "unconstitutional, illegal and void". Mr Banerjee was appointed by Union Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav to conduct a parallel 'inquiry' into the ghastly incident and the committee's interim report, widely used as election propaganda material in Bihar by the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal, made it abundantly clear that along with his remit, the former judge of the Supreme Court was also given a draft of what he should say in his findings. Although Mr Banerjee, whose conduct puts a question mark on his credibility and integrity, now claims that his findings are free of political bias, the High Court's judgement upholds the popular perception that the collaborative effort to cleanse the culprits of their horrendous crime is not without an ulterior motive and of a piece with the surreptitious effort to use the POTA review committee, nominated by the UPA Government, to drop the charges against those arrested for planning and executing the ghastly act. That this inference is not unfounded is further borne out by the efforts of the Congress and its allies to save Mohammed Afzal Guru from the gallows. The pattern that emerges is clear: <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>This regime is willing to go to any extent to appease those who have nothing but contempt for the nation and its people in the mistaken belief that by sparing criminals it can reap Muslim votes. </span>The outcome of the Bihar Assembly election should have effectively negated such perverse thinking, but neither the Congress nor its drumbeaters, including those in the Left, are easily deterred.
Hence, the Gujarat High Court's ruling - that by setting up the UC Banerjee Committee, the UPA Government violated provisions of the Commission of the Inquiry Act and the Indian Railways Act because the Justice Nanavati-Shah Commission is already probing the Godhra carnage that resulted in the death of 59 karsevaks returning from Ayodhya - has not had its desired deterrent effect on the UPA Government, least of all on the Congress. The irreverence with which the Congress treats judicial pronouncements is reflected in the party spokesman's rejection of Friday's judgement and the brazen assertion that the High Court verdict is not the last word in the judicial process. This is only to be expected because the absurd 'finding' of Mr Banerjee, who did not even bother to speak to those who survived the attack or the relatives of those who died and yet came to the amazing conclusion that the devastating fire in the coach was accidental and not intentional, suits the twisted politics of those who practice minorityism. For them, it is inconsequential that a Railway Tribunal's findings differ from this story; nor is it of any relevance that a local court has prima facie accepted that the fire was the handiwork of a mob. But sooner than later, justice catches up with criminals and their 'secular' patrons. And the voices of those who have suffered on account of this nexus have begun to count.
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