New Delhi, Nov 22: A citizen's tribunal that has indicted Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi for the post-Godhra communal violence today demanded his arrest and prosecution saying the largescale violence was directly related to his decision to "carry Godhra to the whole state instead of containing the issue therein".
Releasing its 500-page report into the carnage in Gujarat here, the tribunal of eminent citizens headed by former Supreme Court judge V R Krishna Iyer also demanded the arrest of Ashok Singhal and Praveen Togadia, a ban on VHP, Bajrang Dal and enactment of a law to deal with genocides. Accusing Gujarat chief minister of "indulging in widespread hate propoganda" after the Godhra incident", the members alleged "what could have been confined to Godhra and Godhra alone was taken to all of Gujarat. He used all means for that. All that followed was directly a result of it".
The tribunal said what happened in Gujarat was a "genocide and not a communal riot as generally perceived".

"In communal riot, communities are at war with each other while in this case, 94 per cent of those killed were Muslims".



"The centre must bring in a new legislation to implement the Genocide Convention which India has signed and ratified to punish all those participating in the planning and execution of murder, destruction and rape during communal carnages" the report said.



Charging the police and bureaucrats with "criminal deriliction of duty during the violence", the tribunal asked the government to adopt "stringent and extensive measures to de-politicise and de-communalise" these sections.


Bureau Report