04-27-2007, 02:26 AM
What Ails the Indian Intellectuals?
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Jo Johnson's article in the Financial Times is merely one among several such etherized articles that appear regularly in the Indian mainstream media.
Johnson contends that <b>Muslim terrorism is the direct consequence of their feeling marginalized in India. This ad nauseam-refrain is neither new nor original but it breaks new ground in a perverse manner - Johnson attributes the Gujarat riots of 2002 as the cause for this marginalization. </b>
Johnson cites the Banerjee report to conclude that the train coach caught fire accidentally. He passes it off as fact and tries to absolve the Muslim mob that initiated the carnage.
An official report, published four years later, in 2006, concluded that the blaze had been an accident, but at the time it was blamed on Muslim youths, who were accused of throwing petrol-bombs at the saffron-clad pilgrims.
Curiously, Johnson omits mention of the Gujarat High Court's dismissal of not just the report, but the entire panel as invalid and unconstitutional.
In an embarrassment to the Centre, the Gujarat High Court on Friday declared as "illegal" the setting up of UC Banerjee Committee to probe certain aspects of Godhra train carnage. (Indian Express, Oct 13, 2006)
Johnson gives credence to the (discredited) Banerjee report to support his conclusion that innocent Muslims were killed in large numbers in Gujarat for no fault on their part. This also effectively lays the blame on the Hindus and pushes them further, on the defensive. However, a mountain of evidence exists to the contrary. A few questions about the coach-burning, and the Banerjee investigation itself:
The synopsis [of the Banerjee report], as summarised in the media, makes no mention of the thousands of Muslims who crowded round the bogie on fire. How come?
Was the fire that occurred when the Sabarmati Express was in Godhra, known as a highly communalised town, purely coincidental?
What were the crowds of Muslims who had gathered in large numbers around the Express doing? Had they previous intimation that some bogies would soon go up in flames?
Another question: the Special State Inspector General of Police, Vadodara Range, Shri Rakesh Asthana has been quoted as asking how the Banerjee Committee, before submitting its Interim Report, had not bothered to examine the police who had been investigating the case right from the beginning. The Banerjee Committee, it would seem, had not even bothered to examine experts from the State Forensic Sciences Laboratory (FSL) who have been collecting evidence from the scene of the crime. The Banerjee Committee went public even before taking FSL evidence. Why? (Ed: Formatted<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
read more on web
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Jo Johnson's article in the Financial Times is merely one among several such etherized articles that appear regularly in the Indian mainstream media.
Johnson contends that <b>Muslim terrorism is the direct consequence of their feeling marginalized in India. This ad nauseam-refrain is neither new nor original but it breaks new ground in a perverse manner - Johnson attributes the Gujarat riots of 2002 as the cause for this marginalization. </b>
Johnson cites the Banerjee report to conclude that the train coach caught fire accidentally. He passes it off as fact and tries to absolve the Muslim mob that initiated the carnage.
An official report, published four years later, in 2006, concluded that the blaze had been an accident, but at the time it was blamed on Muslim youths, who were accused of throwing petrol-bombs at the saffron-clad pilgrims.
Curiously, Johnson omits mention of the Gujarat High Court's dismissal of not just the report, but the entire panel as invalid and unconstitutional.
In an embarrassment to the Centre, the Gujarat High Court on Friday declared as "illegal" the setting up of UC Banerjee Committee to probe certain aspects of Godhra train carnage. (Indian Express, Oct 13, 2006)
Johnson gives credence to the (discredited) Banerjee report to support his conclusion that innocent Muslims were killed in large numbers in Gujarat for no fault on their part. This also effectively lays the blame on the Hindus and pushes them further, on the defensive. However, a mountain of evidence exists to the contrary. A few questions about the coach-burning, and the Banerjee investigation itself:
The synopsis [of the Banerjee report], as summarised in the media, makes no mention of the thousands of Muslims who crowded round the bogie on fire. How come?
Was the fire that occurred when the Sabarmati Express was in Godhra, known as a highly communalised town, purely coincidental?
What were the crowds of Muslims who had gathered in large numbers around the Express doing? Had they previous intimation that some bogies would soon go up in flames?
Another question: the Special State Inspector General of Police, Vadodara Range, Shri Rakesh Asthana has been quoted as asking how the Banerjee Committee, before submitting its Interim Report, had not bothered to examine the police who had been investigating the case right from the beginning. The Banerjee Committee, it would seem, had not even bothered to examine experts from the State Forensic Sciences Laboratory (FSL) who have been collecting evidence from the scene of the crime. The Banerjee Committee went public even before taking FSL evidence. Why? (Ed: Formatted<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
read more on web