Goadhra Complete Report (India) --FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES (Pakistan Hand , Muslims of India)





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FACTS SPEAK
FOR THEMSELVES


 
GODHRA AND
AFTER
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A Field Study

by
Justice D. S. Tewatia
Dr. J.C.Batra
Dr. Krishan Singh Arya
Shri Jawahar Lal Kaul
Prof. B.K.Kuthiala

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
 
PREFACE
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
 
 
CONTENTS
 
 1. Introduction
2. Data Collection
3. Godhra incident 
4. Facts and inferences
5. Communal riots in Gujarat
6. Conclusions
7. Recommendations
 
INTRODUCTION


NEED FOR AN OBJECTIVE ANALYTICAL STUDY 
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. 
UNIPOLAR THOUGHT PROCESS 
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 today’s 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.
QUEST FOR TRUTH
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 ofpride 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.
 
FAILURE OF GOVERNING CLASS
  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. 
ALTERNATE ACTION PLAN 
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.  
INDEPENDENT PROFESSIONALS
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


 


DATA COLLECTION


VISITS INTERACTION AND DOCUMENTS
The team reached Ahmedabad on 02.04.02 in the morning by
train and visited three affected areas andsome 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. 
RELIEF CAMPS OF HINDUS AND MUSLIMS 
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.  
 


MEETING THE GOVERNOR & THE CHIEF MINISTER 
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 –
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.
 
 OBJECTIVITY IN
OBSERVATION AND ANALYSIS
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 o f 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 other’s 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.                                            
GODHRA
INCIDENT 
BURNING ALIVE OF 58 INDIAN CITIZENS TRAVELLING IN


COACH S-6 OF  SABARMATI EXPRESS
 
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  
INNOCENT PILGRIMS
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.
 
CHAIN PULLED AND VACUUM PIPE CUT
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.  
                       
FIFTY EIGHT PILGRIMS ROASTED ALIVE 
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
Pakistan’s nefarious activities against India.  
3. Hindu-Muslim riots in India would tend to adversely
affect India’s 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 Afghanistan’s
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
army’s 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 ‘jehadi’ 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 ‘istema’- religious congregations. In one of the ‘istema’,
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 ‘pilgrims’ 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.  
 


STAFF OF RAILWAY STATION GODHRA 
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.  
DISTRICT ADMINSTRATION, GODHRA 
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.
PASSENGERS TRAVELLING IN SABARMATI EXPRESS ON
27.02.02 IN COACH NO S-6
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 passengers’
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. 
PASSENGERS TRAVELLING IN SABARMATI EXPRESS ON 27.02.02
IN COACHES OTHER THAN S-6 
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.  
STAFF OF THE FIRE BRIGADE, GODHRA 
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 crew’s 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. 
OTHERS WHO WERE WITNESS TO LATER PART OF THE INCIDENT 
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.  
            
      REPORTS
IN LOCAL, REGIONAL AND DELHI MEDIA 
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.  
GODHRA INCIDENT- ANALYSED
FACTS AND INFERENCES
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. 


      
3. Information that appears to be untrue. 


      
4.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. 
 


                           
 FACTS THAT NEED
VERIFICATION 
      
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. 
 


 


                
     INFORMATION THAT APPEARS TO BE UNTRUE 
      
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.
 
     
                                SOME
MYSTERIES 
      
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 ‘istema’ - religious gatherings - at
Godhra that were attended by foreigners in large numbers.                 
 
COMMUNAL RIOTS IN GUJARAT
AFTER 27.02.02 
BOTH SPONTANEOUS AND PLANNED BUT A TRAP OF
INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM
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 1714. After independence major riots broke out on
several occasions since 1969. Jagmohan Reddy Commission of Inquiry of 1969 and
Dave Commission of Inquiry of 1985 analysed the causes and consequences of
communal tensions in great details. Serious rioting occurred in 1970 and also in
1992-93. According to official data, Gujarat witnessed 443 major communal
incidents between 1970 and 2002. Another characteristic of the communal frenzy
in Gujarat is that it has always taken a long time to return to normalcy. For
instance in Godhra itself in 1985 curfew remained imposed for about a year.
Communal disturbance in 1985 continued for more than five months from February
to July 1985.  
The Study team has not gone into the facts and figures of
the number of persons killed, injured and displaced, the loss of property
destroyed and the number of cases related to molestation of women, if any. It is
not because these facts are not important but because the team lacked the time
and resources to go into these details. However the Study Team has analysed the
situation for:  
      
1.Administrative response 
      
2.Deployment of Army 
      
3.Relief and resettlement measures 
      
4.Confidence building measures 
      
5.Socio-economic profile of the rioting mobs 
      
6.Involvement of vanvasis 
      
7.Role of media 
                              
ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSE 
Based on the information collected from official and
non-official sources at Godhra, Ahemdabad and Vadodara the Study Team is of the
considered opinion that: 
      
1.The local administration did not respond with speed to the Godhra
carnage. The police  remained a
passive spectator and hesitated to use force against the miscreants. It made no
attempt to apprehend the leaders of the mob that indulged in burning alive
innocent pilgrims returning from Ayodhya. However, the administration took
preventive measures after the VHP gave a call for Gujarat bandh in protest
against the attack on the train.
 
      
2.In Godhra, Vadodara and Ahmedabad the police tried to control the
rioting mobs but, more Often than not, failed, as the police were outnumbered-
the mobs were unexpectedly large   and
the police were inadequately armed. In certain cases, the mob carried more
lethal    weapons that the police had. 
      
3.The administration was not prepared to handle massive migration of riot
affected people of both the communities and did not have any idea of the quantum
of the relief and  rehabilitation
work required. 
      
4.Co-ordination between the administration and the NGOs was inadequate. 
      
5.Training and drills for managing communal tensions was conspicuous by
its absence in a state  that
periodically witnesses communal frenzy. 
      
6.Socio-psychological understanding of the communal divide is lacking
amongst the officials. 
      
7.The adverse comments on the transfers of officials in the media and not
so much the actual transfers demotivated the official machinery. 
      
8.At many places policemen did commendable work of protecting life and
property. 
      
9.Policemen, by and large, responded to the situation without communal
bias. 
DEPLOYMENT OF ARMY 
There has been lot of comments on the timing of the
deployment of army in various urban and rural areas in Gujarat after the
outbreak of violence. Although the team did not have enough time to go into the
question in depth, the information made available to it shows that there was no
delay on the part of the Gujarat Government in summoning and deployment of
troops. A comparison with the past is presented for a proper perspective.
      
1.By the afternoon of 28.02.02 it was clear that the communal violence
has spread widely and   the
situation had become so alarming that it was unlikely to be controlled by the
police and paramilitary forces. 
      
2.On 28.02.02 at 4.30 p.m. the Chief Minister announced at a press
conference that the State  Government
has decided to call army to assist the civil administration. 
      
3.By evening the Union Government had given instructions for the
deployment of two brigades in Gujarat. 
      
4.Defense Minister air dashed to Ahmedabad at midnight and had a meeting
with the Chief  Minister to discuss
deployment of the army 
      
5.The army had to be withdrawn from the country’s border with
Pakistan despite the fact that the troops are deployed in full strength in
eye-ball-to-eye-ball situation on Indo-Pak  
borders. 
      
6.Withdrawal of army from the border may have weakened the country’s
defensive and  offensive strategies.
      
7.Within less than 24 hours at least one brigade of Indian Army had air
landed at Ahmedabad. In a meeting at 0800hrs in which Chief Minister, Defence
Minister, army generals and civil  officers
participated the formal plan for the deployment of the army was approved.
Magistrates who must accompany the army were appointed and by 11a.m. on 01.03.02
the  actual deployment of army at
sensitive points had begun. 
      
8.The second brigade was deputed to Rajkot and Vadodara on 01.03.02 by
that night.
      
9.Columns allotted to Godhra reached there in the morning of 02.03.02. 
     
10.Army went back to barracks on 10.03.02. 
     
11.In 1969 rioting started on 18.09.69 and army was called in on
21.09.69. 
     
12.In 1985 the riots started on 15.04.85 and the army was called in on
16.04.85. 
 


RELIEF AND REHABILITATION MEASURES 
      
1.Many persons of both the communities whose houses were burnt or
destroyed fled and came  to the
nearby towns for shelter. 
      
2.Many persons who feared an attack on them also fled and gathered in
nearby towns. 
      
3.The State Government arranged for shelters called Relief Camps to
provide safe temporary shelter to the displaced persons. 
      
4.Many voluntary organizations of both the communities also opened Relief
Camps for the  displaced persons. 
      
5.The Government managed some camps while other camps were run by the
voluntary  organizations.
      
6.Most of the inhabitants in the camps remained unoccupied, leading to
idle talk and further reinforcement of views on communal basis. 
      
7.The inhabitants did not feel confident and safe to go back to their
respective habitations.
According to the State Government following is the
information about the camps: 



District




Number of Camps




Number of Inmates






Ahemdabad




44




68100






Anand




13




5200






Dahod




6




4526






Kheda




3




1441






Mahesana




6




2648






Panchmahals




7




8091






Sabarkantha




13




10938






Vadodara




11




12753






State
Total




103




113697





 
 
                           
CONFIDENCE BUILDING MEASURES


 
       
1.In affected areas deployment of police or other forces was very scanty. 
       
2.Residents of the sensitive areas were living in an environment of fear. 
       
3.The mutual mistrust between Hindu and Muslim population is on the
increase. 
       
4.Longer the stay in the camps more is the feeling of anxiety and
uncertainty. 
       
5.In affected areas, sensitive areas and relief camps there was no
publicity material appealing and  advising
for communal harmony and peaceful co-existence  
       
6.The Information and Public Relations machinery of the state did not
disseminate words of assurance  and
appeals by the Prime Minister, Chief Minister and others that are likely to have
a soothing effect on the hurt psyche of the people.  
       
7.Presence of the reports of arson in newspapers and repetition of such
reports on television affected  negatively
the process of confidence building. 
       
8.Most of the voluntary and social organizations were working on
sectarian lines and hardly worked for  creating
an environment of communal harmony.
 
       
9.Efforts of some of the officials to bring both the communities together
and arrive at a compromise  failed,
as the amount of antagonism against each other is very high. 
      
10.Rumors spread like wild fire increasing the level of anxieties. 
                                               
SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILES OF THE RIOTING MOBS 
(Based on information collected from officials and public,
no direct observation)
 
      
1.Muslim mobs predominantly included persons of lower socio-economic
strata. 
      
2.Muslim mobs included many known faces but number of persons not earlier
seen in the  locality was also very
large. 
      
3.Hindu mobs, especially during the first week of March, comprised a mix
of people belonging  to lower, lower
middle and upper middle socio-economic strata of the society. 
      
4.Involvement of upper middle class Hindus in arson and looting is a
phenomenon seen for the   first
time in the country. 
      
5.The Hindu mobs appeared to be more interested in destroying the
property of selected establishments of Muslims. It was reported that a chain of
restaurants with Hindu names and  owned
by a Muslim family was targeted because of the perception that lot of money from 
gulf countries had been invested thereby putting Hindu competitors at a
disadvantage. 
      
6.Another new phenomenon reported to the Study Team was the presence and
active         
participation of women in the mobs. 
INVOLVEMENT OF TRIBALS 
Earlier in Gujarat, tribals never got involved in the
Hindu-Muslim riots. However, their involvement in post Godhra riots added a new
dimension to the communal violence. In rural areas the vanvasis attacked the
Muslim moneylenders, shopkeepers and the forest contractors. They used their
traditional bow and arrows as also their implements used to cut the trees and
grass while attacking Muslims. They moved in groups and used coded signals for
communication. Two factors seems to have contributed to this disturbing
phenomenon:
 
      
1. A delegation of tribals told the Study team that the Muslim
moneylenders, shopkeepers and forest contractors have been exploiting the
tribals for decades. They charged exorbitant rate of interest to money loaned to
tribals. In certain cases the rate of interest is as high as 50 per 
cent per year. Having got into this never-ending vicious circle of loans,
the tribals have been reduced to the status of bounded labour. Tribals working
as servants are ill-treated by these  money
lenders who happen to be Muslims. The accumulated anger of years of exploitation 
became explosive when moneylenders sexually exploited their womenfolk.
The tribals are no longer allowed to use forest produce that has been their
sustenance for centuries. This too fuelled the feelings of anger, hatred and
revenge among them.
     
2 . Tribals have, of late, become conscious of their Hindu identity
because of the awareness campaign launched by VHP and other Hindu outfits.
Burning alive of Hindu pilgrims by a Muslim mob at Godhra provided the spark for
the fire of revenge and hatred.
It may be mentioned that these are only exploratory
postulations, scientific anthropological, economic and sociological analysis is
required to understand the changed behavior of tribals.
 


ROLE OF MEDIA 
The Study Team received a large number of complaints against
‘biased reporting’, ‘non-objective attitude’
and ‘anti Gujarat cospiracy’of Delhi Media. The team felt it
necessary to objectively observe and analyse the role of Media both regional and
English language newspapers published from metropolitan cities. It also
solicited comments about the role of media from about 500 persons with whom the
members of the team interacted. The team’s observations are: 
      
1.Local and regional papers at times seemed to be emotionally surcharged
and lost sight of  objectivity.
However, Gujrati newspapers, by and large, were factual in day to day reporting. 
      
2.The editorial pages of local and regional newspapers maintained a
balance in projecting all  viewpoints.
      
3.Newspapers published in English from Delhi invariably editorialized the
news. Direct and  indirect comments
in the news writing were so telling that the personal likes and dislikes of 
the news reporters were too obvious to be missed.
      
4.English language newspapers published from Delhi appeared to have
assumed the role of crusaders against the State Government from day one. It
coloured the entire operation of  news
gathering, feature writing and editorials.
      
5.The edit pages of English language press carried comments that clearly
indicated biases:   a).against
the State Government of Gujarat,
           
b. in favor of Congress, leftist parties and the secularist
intellectuals,
           
c. indifferent to the carnage at Godhra,
           
d. against the Hindu organizations, and
            
e. against the NDA government at the Center.
      
6.Most of the national newspapers and news channels played down the
intensity of Godhra carnage and projected it as a result of provocation by
pilgrims. Not many reporters were  deputed
to dig out facts or to do follow-up stories. This resulted in large number of
editorials and articles that projected Godhra as a reaction to provocation by
‘karsevaks’  and
riots in rest of the state as "state sponsored terrorism".
      
7.A distorted image of sectarian violence in the state was projected by
the electornic and print  media
based in Delhi.
      
8.Repeated telecasts of arson and violence contributed in spreading the
tension to unaffected areas. TV channels ignored warning from officials and kept
telecasting communal riots like  infotainment.
      
9.Coverage of Machhipiti in Vadodara is an example. One national news
channel went overboard to telecast police firing at Machhipit as if it had taken
place in Ahmedabad.
     
10.On 27.02.02 the Government of Gujarat announced a compensation of Rs.
2 lakh for the next of kin of victims of Godhra carnage. There were protests
about discrimination between Hindu and Muslim victims and the Government
announced on March 9 that all victims would 
get Rs one lakh. Yet, as late as the first week of April a Congressperson
in USA cited a report in an Indian newspaper to accuse the Government of
discriminating against minorities In the grant of compensation. The newspaper
concerned did not care to inform its readers of 
the correct situation.
 
     
11.The code of ethics prescribed by the Press Council of India was
violated by the media with impunity. It so enraged the citizens that several
concerned citizens in the disturbed areas suggested that peace could return to
the state only if some of the TV channels were closed 
for some weeks.
     
12.Media did not help to cool down the tempers. It failed to act as a
platform for a dialogue between the Hindus and Muslims on the one hand and
between the people and the establishment on the other.
The Study Team is of the considered opinion that the media
in general failed to perform as conscious and socially responsible gatekeepers
of information. It followed in the footsteps of an American journalist who said,
" My job is to report the facts. I give a damn to the consequences".
Telecasting images that spread hatred and instigated violence is unhealthy, but
their repeated telecast is lethal. The media acted as an interested party in the
confrontation, not a neutral reporter of facts. The team was alarmed at the
intensity of hostile attitude among the people of the state for Delhi press and
television news channels. This attitude was especially articulated by
delegations of intellectuals like lawyers, doctors, and businessmen. Even the
tribals complained that the media had no time to hear their tale of their agony
and was spreading canards against the Hindus.
 
CONCLUSIONS
TERRORISM NURTURED BY COMMUNAL DISHARMONY
 
The Godhra carnage and related incidents make a typical case
study of international designs and conspiracies to weaken India as an emerging
world power. Analysts and professional strategists of all ideological
inclinations converge on one forecast that India is going to be a major player
on the international scene sooner rather than later. The global community also
realizes the inevitability of India becoming an important economic and military
power. In such a situation it is but natural that nations hostile to India or
its adversaries make all out efforts to create impediments in this process.
Their strategy is to keep India engaged in communal and caste strife so that the
nation’s focus on development is defused and its endeavour to emerge
as a super-power is thwarted. It would surprise no one if Pakistan with the
tacit support of not-so-friendly neighbours and world powers hatches
conspiracies to destablise and weaken the Indian State.
A careful and in-depth analysis, if carried out with an open
mind, would throw open an action plans where terrorist activities appear to be
merging with the already existing strong antagonism between Muslims and Hindus.
Our hostile neighbour, sometimes in the guise of a friend, keeps on creating
wounds on the body polity of our nation. Creation and perpetuation of Kashmir
problem is one such example. The support to the authoritarian regimes in
Pakistan by USA and European countries speaks volumes about the super power’s
commitment, or lack of it, to democratic values. Godhra and the wide spread
communal violence in Gujarat in recent weeks is a part of this nefarious design.
The Study Team concludes:
      
1.Burning of 58 Hindu pilgrims at Godhra on 27.02.02 was an act of
international terrorism carried out with the evil objective of pushing the
country into a communal cauldron.  
      
2.The plan was to burn the entire train with more than two thousand
passengers in the wee  hours of
February 27, 2002. It was a terrorist action plan that partly failed. The
perpetrators of the terrorist acts received support from jehadi elements
operating from Godhra. These included some Congress members of the Nagarpalika.
      
1.Preparations for enacting Godhra carnage were made 
in advance.
      
2.There were no quarrels or fights between Hindus and Muslim passengers
on the train.
 
     3.There were no quarrels or fights between
the vendors and the Hindu pilgrims on the platform of Godhra Railway Station.
      
4.The intention of the mob was to put to death all the pilgrims
travelling by the Sabharmati Express.
      
5.The fire fighting system available in Godhra was weakened and its
arrival at the place of  incident
willfully delayed by the mob with the open participation of a Congress
Councillor,  Haji Balal.
      
6.The demographic changes in Godhra in recent years have made it a center
for jehadi  activities.
      
7.The Army was requisitioned and deployed in time.
      
8.The police was on many occasions overwhelmed by the rioting mobs that
were massive and   carried more
lethal weapons than the police did.
      
9.Police did not have the training and know-how to mange situations of
communal strife  witnessed in the
state in recent weeks.
 
     
10.Barring a few exceptions, the police was not found to be communally
motivated.
     
11.Frequent deployment of army for internal management weakens the
defence of our
international borders and facilitates infiltration from
across the border.
     
12. The local administration and police at Godhra did not take adequate
and prompt action even after the receipt of information about the attack on the
train by an armed mob. The local  police
was reluctant to use force against the rioting mob and made no attempt to arrest
the leaders of the gang.
     
13.The local administration and the police should have been on the alert
in view of the  demographic and
political changes taking place in the town.
       
15.The administration in Godhra, Ahmedabad and Vadodra was on the whole
sensitized to the plight of Muslim minorities in their respective areas.
However, the police failed to protect the citizens from frenzied mobs indulging
in arson, looting and killing.
         
16. The relief work was carried out by establishing relief  camps for victims of the riots. There are separate camps for
Hindus and Muslims. Refugees  are
not satisfied with the facilities available in the camps.
         
17. Riot-affected citizens belonging to both the communities are
reluctant to go back to their  homes
due to communal tension and apprehensions about violence.
         
18. Although Gujarat is a state notorious for communal riots, the
bureaucracy and the police are not trained to handle communal riots and to take
pre-emptive action to prevent sectarian  violence.
         
19. Alternate strategies to mange communal divide have not been worked
out.
         
20. Adverse media reports about role of officials affected their
performance and de-motivated them. Several officers were reluctant to take firm
action.
         
21.Gujarati language media was factual and objective. Yet its propensity
to highlight the gory  incidents in
great details heightened communal tension.
         
22.English language media, particularly the Delhi Press, is perceived by
the Gujaratis to be biased. The information disseminated by it was neither
balanced nor impartial. 
         
23.By converting half-baked news stories into major headlines, print as
well as electronic media widened the psychological hiatus between Muslims and  
Hindus. 
         
24.By disseminating half-truths and lies, the media played no mean role
in distorting  country’s
image in the World. 
         
25. The credibility of the media – both electronic and print
– is at dangerously  low
ebb in Gujarat. 
The sectarian violence in Gujarat that began in Godhra on
27.02.02 can be divided into four phases:
      
1.The first phase was Godhra incident which was planned and executed by a
combination of external and internal jehadi forces. It lasted for less than an
hour. 
      
2.The second phase was the reaction of Godhra where Hindu pilgrims were
roasted alive in the train. The backlash was very intense for 3-4 days. However,
sporadic incidents continued for   several
weeks.
     
3. The third phase began on 15.03.02 after a Muslim mob attacked a Hindu
procession Chanting Ram dhun. Extensive media coverage of this attack provoked
yet another  round of communal riots
that lasted for 4/5 days. 
4. Sectarian violence continues even more than a month after
Godhra. This fourth phase of violence has no provocation or justification other
than to sustain the "Remove Modi" campaign. It is the constitutional
duty of the State Government to protect citizens and maintain law and order. It
is also in the partisan interest of the ruling party in the state to put an end
to the communal violence as its continuity in office depends on how soon and how
effectively it combats violence. It is, therefore, hard to reject Chief
Minister’s contention that the Congress party that has a vested
interest in getting him sacked is perpetuating the communal violence by
provoking stray incidents.
 
Thus the Study Team concludes:
 
         
26.Communal violence in Gujarat has become politicized, and instead of
treating it as human tragedy it is being used to  get political mileage by political parties. 
         
27.Loaded statements made by political leaders propounding  their action plans increases the hiatus between Muslims and
Hindus. 
         
28.Continued communal violence in Gujarat has tarnished the image of the
country in  international field
thereby reducing its status and bargaining power. Western countries jealous of
India’s growing clout in the international community have used the
riots to interfere  in our internal
affairs. The Centre has taken some steps to stem the rot but the role of the  
opposition is negative. It is encouraging Muslim outfits to involve
foreign powers in their  "oust
Mody" campaign. 
29.On the world canvass today strong indicators are visible
that point to a concerted effort by jehadi forces to slow down ever-increasing
importance of India in the world   affairs. 
30.There are also concerted efforts to disintegrate India,
Politically as well as emotionally. 
31.There are elements within the country that help and
collaborate with the forces inimical to India. 
32.The governing class in India is ignorant or willfully
blind to the threat perceptions posed by the jehadi forces.                                        
 
RECOMMENDATIONS
ALTERNATE PLAN OF THOUGHT AND ACTION
 India cannot escape taking the responsibility of
failure to manage the relationship between Hindus and Muslims just by pleading
that the problem was inherited from the colonial rulers and the Muslim invaders.
Fifty-five years is a long enough period to resolve the issue. Unfortunately, no
serious effort has been made to bring Hindus and Muslims closer. On the other
hand, certain parties for partisan considerations have exploited the hiatus
between the two communities. External agencies fuel the fire of hatred but they
succeed only because there are weaknesses within the country. International
designs find a ready response from within the civil society as there is a
fertile ground for separatist tendencies to grow. 
Traditional methods of conflict resolution having failed,
new systems need to be employed to convert communal mistrust into national
affection and brotherhood. New approaches are required to convert the weaknesses
into strength. A minority as large as the second largest Muslim country should
not feel alienated nor should the majority community be made to feel that the
minorities were appeased at its cost. The amount of time, energy, effort and
other resources that the country spends for managing the communal conflicts and
failing again and again, if gets diverted to the process of growth and
development, India can become a land of plenty and prosperity. But the old
problems must be seen from new angles and unorthodox measures taken.
The intelligentsia will have to come up with new yet
realistic principles and theories of social systems that are based on ground
realities. They must stop romanticizing the miseries of the nation. The
bureaucracy have to devise action plans that show results within their lifetimes
and ce ase to giveextensions to the problem solving systems. The politicians
have to look for alternate means of winning elections and stop treating citizens
as mere voters to be used only as pawns in the hands of politicians. 
The nation must accept that Hindus and Muslims have no
options but to live together. There are only two options. One, to live in amity
and the other to live in mutual hostility. Saner elements in the two communities
would prefer the first option. Every action and situation that carries the
potential of disturbing the mutual amity have to be identified and weeded out.
The problem is complex and multifaceted and solution is bound to be difficult
and elusive. But the country has a large storehouse of brains that can find
solutions to still harder problems. New faces have to be entrusted this job. So
a different set of persons who look at the problems from new angles and propose
a mix of curative and preventive measures is the need of the hour. 
In view of the enormity of the cancerous problem of communal
conflicts and the field experience of recent happenings in Gujarat the Study
Team proposes to recommend 
            
a.long term measures 
           
b.short term measures and 
          
c. immediate steps to be taken 
 


LONG TERM MEASURES 


              
1. Following groups be constituted to study the problems of communal
conflicts in the  country: 
            
c.Diagnostic Team: to investigate the genesis of the process of communal
conflict and   identify key
problem areas 
           
d.Curative Team: to determine the solutions for the problems identified
by the diagnostic  team 
            
e.Preemptive Action Team: to prepare action plans so that existing
tensions do not flare  up and also
to ensure that no new conflict situations arise. 
The teams should comprise of social scientists, conflict
managers, jurists and media persons. 
2. Participation in the acts of communal violence should be
treated as a crime of as serious nature as an act of terrorism. In no case,
communal violence should be allowed to become a lucrative vocation.  
3. Deployment of army for internal law and order should be
confined to the situation of internal emergency. The enemies of the country
should not be allowed to use communal violence as a strategy for withdrawal of
army from the border. 
4. In the states, police forces on the lines of rapid action
force be created for deployment during riots and natural disasters. 
5. Election laws need to be amended so that the politicians
are not able to use caste or religion for nurturing votes banks. Once the
politicians are aware that vote banks based on caste or religion would not serve
their purpose, a major portion of the communal problem will disappear.  
6. A citizens standing committee be constituted to keep a
watch on the communal situation so that if and when communal tension in any part
of the country tends to increase the administration is warned to take preventive
measures. Such committees need to be constituted at State, District, Block and
Village levels. 
 SHORT TERM
MEASURES 
7. Several laws and orders passed by the successive
governments have remained on paper only. Two such laws are directly related with
maintenance of communal peace: 
            
a.The order to ban the use of loud speakers in religious  places as
well as in processions. 
          
 b.the law to regulate the sale of property by the members of one
community to the other in communally sensitive areas.
              
It is recommended that the above orders should be implemented and
i