Religious Faith In Coma...

By: Hittu Saluja ‘G’ is the letter for the land of ‘G’andhi, ‘G’odhra, ‘G’ujarat and the ‘G’rief. Every year we observe all the ‘G’ anniversaries so ardently that we have actually forgotten their real significance. We remember that a great man called MK Gandhi was assassinated on a particular day but forget the reason for his sacrifice. We remember Godhra carnage and Gujarat riots’ tragedies but fail to learn the lessons of religious tolerance. Amidst ceremonial celebrations and observance, we don’t realize that every year ‘past’ meets the ‘present’ just for the sake of a better ‘future’. Instead we get this ephemeral sense of triumph- Thank God the anniversary of the riots went peacefully without any disturbance this time! The same thing happened with Godhra, the name that takes us back to the burnt bodies lying in a train coach. This was one of the worst communal clashes that blotted not just a state or a nation but also questioned the entire existence of ‘Faith’. The Godhra Tragedy On 27th Feb 2002, 58 karsevaks including 15 women and 20 children were burnt alive in the S-6 compartment of the Sabarmati Express at Godhra station in Gujarat allegedly by some fanatic Muslim mischief makers. Karsevaks were returning from “Chetavani Yatra” in support of the construction of Ram mandir in Ayodhya at the disputed site of Ramjanmabhoomi Babri Masjid. Godhra became the main reason of the impending disaster for being communally sensitive to the extent that it became “mini-Pakistan”. Godhra had a history of communal disturbance taking shape of riots in 1965 and 1980 along with moderate disturbances in 1948, 1953 and 1985. Godhra probe revelations There are more questions than answers that one could find after conducting various incessant investigations at different levels. The truth is buried somewhere under the burden of numerous theories and stories and the actual account of the tragic incident is still a mystery. One probe report confirms altercation between Hindu karsevaks and Muslim vendors that led to the violent incident. The train was stopped and came under the attack at Signal Falia near Godhra station by a Muslim mob. It is believed that the atmosphere was already charged as a result of karsevaks’ slogans in support of the temple movement in Ayodhya. There’s the rumour of the abduction of a Muslim woman by karsevaks which spurred the communally charged Muslims who pelted stones on the train followed by the throwing of petrol bombs and then setting the train on fire. This account has several loopholes as according to railway records the Sabarmati Express pulled into Godhra at 7: 43 a.m. and left the station at 7:45 a.m. At 7:48 a.m., the chain was pulled three times. This means that within these three minutes people at Signal Falia gathered in large number well equipped with stones, petrol and kerosene bombs. Moreover, there should have been prior information that the train would indeed stop at Signal Falia, and not at the station itself. Investigations led by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Gujarat Police state that it was a planned conspiracy rather than a spontaneous reaction. Conspiracy theory The conspiracy theory of the investigation team reveals that there was a well orchestrated plan to torch the train with the help of six people who cut open the passage and entered the coach, opened the doors of the compartment and poured petrol before jumping out followed by throwing of burning rags into the compartments through windows. Banerjee Committee conclusions under cloud Banerjee Committee was led by former Supreme Court Judge U C Banerjee, comprising of a fire expert, a technical expert and mechanical expert aimed to find out what had actually happened inside the coach on that day. The committee formed under the Railways Act, is claimed to have conducted an on the spot inquiry and a thorough investigation of the charred S-6 coach. The committee was appointed by the Union Cabinet at the behest of the Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav to conduct a high-level departmental probe into the cause of fire. The report suggested the fire was the result of an accident that was caused out of cooking being carried within the carriage and ruled out the possibility of it having erupted out of any external attack. The committee negated “the inflammable liquid theory”, “petrol theory” and the “miscreant theory”. But the report was not supported by any concrete reasons for calling the Godhra an “accidental fire”. Post-Godhra violence The fateful day led to more gruesome incidents of communal violence for days to come. Vishwa Hindu Parishad called for a peaceful statewide bandh on 28th February 2002. The state government supported the bandh. The so-called peaceful bandh call soon got coloured into a religiously charged protest against Muslims instigating them to commit serious acts of violence. The first attack reportedly started at Ahmedabad, where Hindus began throwing stones at Muslims and also burnt and looted Muslim homes. The first target was believed to be Gulbarg Society, a Muslim housing complex and soon it spread to the entire state. The violence continued unabated targeting minorities in particular. It took the form of serious communal riots bringing 33 towns of the state of Gujarat under curfew with notorious incidents of Naroda Patia, Gulbarg Society in Ahmedabad and Best Bakery in Baroda. According to Human Rights Watch as many as 65 Muslims were killed at Naroda with shameless incidents of sexual assaults against women by miscreants. Ex-Congress MP Iqbal Ehsaan Jaffery was reportedly burnt to death. Another incident of Best Bakery claimed 14 lives including those of women and children who were burnt alive. Mayhem against women Women and children were the most vulnerable who were marred by every possible physical and mental assault. There are reports of widespread accounts of callous and insensitive acts of violence against them. Unabashed acts of rape, physical assault and harassment particularly targeting the minority community made it all the more heinous. According to an NGO, “Sexual violence was being used as a strategy for terrorising women belonging to minority community in the state.” This is how scoundrels targeted the soft targets bending to the lowest possible level.