Some people have decided to pillory one man for their vested interests. And completely dwarfed by the treatment the Pakistanis gave the East Bengali Hindus in 1971, where the death toll was at least a million, the immense majority of them Hindus, with even the Bengali Muslims killed for anti-Hindu reasons (Sanskritic language and script, non-Muslim dress habits, non-Islamic linguistic nationalism, secularism). Elst, Koenraad. Voices from Narendra Modi’s Gujarat, Manushi Publications, Delhi 2014. This should be kept in mind when assessing the Hindu loss of self-control after the Godhra massacre. This should be viewed as a crime committed against humanity...remind all the political leaders in India that it is not only the minorities who enjoy rights under the Constitution. Those who criticise me for that statement, never mention that within months of Godhra, there was an Islamic terrorist group attack on Akshardham and yet my Gujarat remained peaceful. Some of these riots were far more deadly than the 2002 outburst. The train, which had stopped at Godhra station, was set on fire, causing the death … Hindus started with pelting of stones on Muslim houses in Naroda Patia area. Does anyone remember who the chief minister of Maharashtra was during Mumbai riots which were no less deadly than the Gujarat riots of 2002? Voices from Narendra Modi’s Gujarat, Manushi Publications, Delhi 2014. Muslims also retaliated with stones. On 27 February 2002, the Godhra train burning incident initiated a series of riots in Gujarat. He even compared the Godhra riots with the. Modi, Muslims and media: Voices from Narendra Modi's Gujarat. They burnt houses of 35 Hindu families.... Yusuf Ajmeri with a 1000 strong mob and with swords and guptis in their hands rushed to Hindu locality shouting "Kill Hindus, Allah is with us". Then I fainted.’”. The victims included 15 children, including some toddlers and some old people of above 65. His position was taken over by Justice Akshay H Mehta. The determination of the mob to cause mass killings is evident from the account of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) B.R. The Indian Express, dated 7th May 2002, also written by Palak Nandi: “With no relief, they turn to religious places for shelter Palak Nandi. The charge that the CM forced the relief camps to close while the victims were not ready to go back is baseless. When measured just by numbers what happened to the Sikhs in 1984 was twice as bad. Justice Tewatia Committee report. NDTV, the most steadfast mouthpiece of the Congress Party, played a key role in creating a distorted discourse on Godhra carnage because of the prestige it then carried. We read all over about a “genocide of Muslims”. ‘Did you forgive Rajiv Gandhi for what happened in 1984?’ I knew even as I asked the question that I would get the usual reply. This incident was used to organize large scale massacres of Muslims across the state. A group of Muslims dragged him into the gali near their masjid. A lady was sitting with him with a tape recorder tutoring this Muslim from Karnataka to say, “I am so angry at the riots that I am going to become a terrorist.” Teesta has a real perverse streak in her. also at. If something bad happens anywhere, it is natural to be sad.". (p.287). Hindus had often refused to be provoked into taking their anger out on their Muslim neighbours, e.g. The riots broke out on the evening of February 2 and continued for 2-3 months across the state. People started using them to garner massive funds from within India and abroad. But from day one of its appointment, the Congress Party and its allied NGOs attacked the Commission and questioned the integrity of the appointed judge. Godhra train fire: Lawyers slam Nanavati report Pointed out contradictions in the conclusion of the Nanavati report on the 2002 Godhra train burning case, the lawyers are saying that the commission was a pure political eyewash. Do we hear the names of earlier chief ministers of Gujarat under whose charge hundreds of riots took place in post-Independence India? It is not as though a crime is a crime only if it is committed against the minorities and not so if it is committed against the majority community. The blame for the train fire was directly placed on Muslims of Godhra by the government of Gujarat. Koenraad Elst: Religious Cleansing of Hindus, 2004, in: Elst, K. The Problem with Secularism (2007).