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Godhra: 7 yrs & still going!
Posted by Manoj
on
Saturday, July 25, 2009
It's commendable that the high court of Gujarat had dismissed the petition seeking stay on chief minister Narendra Modi's investigation in connection with the 2002 post-Godhra riots case. It has been 7 years and still no commission could concretely come up with a complete 'credible' report on the Godhra incident and the riots that followed. If we consider the investigations taken up by the commissions set up earlier, the Nanavati commission gave clean chit to Narendra Modi and even 'appreciated the efforts taken up the government' post-Godhra. The Bannerjee panel, set up the Railways Minister two years later, stated in its report that the fire in the coaches of the fateful S-6 coach of the Sabarmati Express resulted out of cooking being carried within the train and ruled out involvement of any Muslim miscreants. However, this report was later declared as "uncostitutional, illegal and void" by the Gujarat HC whose judgment was based on the first-hand accounts of some of the survivors. The Special Investigation Team, set up the Gujarat police immediately after the Godhra incident, called the burning of the coaches a 'planned conspiracy' by some local Muslims. This too was rubbished later on the grounds of insufficient evidence. The final version, that is mostly accepted now, is based on the findings of Nanavati Commission which states that the altercation between the kar sevaks and the Muslim porters at the Godhra station led to a provocation of the locals, mostly Muslims. Also, false rumors of a Kar Sevak kidnapping a local Muslim girl added fire to these rumors. (See the detailed analysis: http://www.hindu.com/2005/01/23/stories/2005012303901400.htm & http://www.hinduonnet.com/2002/04/15/stories/2002041500161000.htm) And now, it was the Hindus' turn. Falling prey to mindless jingoism (radical fanaticism or whatever you may call), the Hindus & the Muslims across the state went on mass pogrom. According to an official estimate, 1044 people were killed in the violence - 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus including those killed in the Godhra train fire. Another 223 people were reported missing, 2,548 injured, 919 women widowed and 606 children orphaned. Inspite of such large scale violence, the government has been cleared of any role in the riots and its role has been 'appreciated' by the Nanavati Commission. I really wonder whether this statement in the Nanavati Commission's report is to be believed since the commission was setup by none other than Modi himself. The recent ruling by the Gujarat HC that the SIT, which was acting under the directions of Supreme Court of India, can question Modi will atleast give some hope for those waiting for justice and would also throw in some credibility to the investigations. It remains to be seen whether Modi had been escaping the noose all along and for how long he will continue to do so...