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Ex-DGP of Gujarat demands state government to release 2002 riot report

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RB-Sreekumar

by Darshan Desai

Gandhinagar: Former Gujarat Police chief R.B. Sreekumar, who had locked horns with then chief minister Narendra Modi over the 2002 riots, has asked the Anandiben Patel government to make public the inquiry commission report on the violence.

The report was submitted by retired Supreme Court judge G.T. Nanavati and former Gujarat High Court judge Akshay Mehta, 12 years after it concluded the inquiry with 25 extensions.

The Modi government had on March 6, 2002 appointed justices Nanavati and Mehta to look into the February 27 Sabarmati Express train burning that left 59 people dead and the subsequent riots that killed 1,169 people in the state.

The commission submitted the final report to Chief Minister Anandiben Patel last year soon after she took over the reins of Gujarat from Modi after he became the prime minister.

In a letter to the chief Minister, Sreekumar, who as additional director-general of police (intelligence) reported that Modi’s comments after the riots could prove incendiary in an already communally surcharged atmosphere, said he found it “painful” that no legislator in the state had shown any hurry to ensure an early public release of the commission’s report.

Sreekumar’s letter dated November 18, a copy of which is with IANS, asserts that this was an “obvious instance of breach of legislature’s privilege by the executive wing of the government”.

He pointed out that the Commissions of Enquiry Act, 1952, stipulates that a probe report should be laid before the house of the people or, as the case may be, the legislative assembly … together with a memorandum of the action taken thereon, within six months of the submission of the report.

The commission submitted its report on November 14, 2014, after getting 25 extensions.

Sreekumar had submitted “nine affidavits to the commission, four while in service and five after my superannuation on February 28, 2007 (in all 498 pages), relevant to the terms of reference to the commission”.

He was cross examined by the commission on August 31, 2004 and September 30, 2011.

He pointed out that during the protracted communal clashes in 2002 (February 27 to May 31), “most gruesome mass killings and destruction of property” took place, including of historic religio-cultural monuments of the 15th century in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Anand, Godhra, Sabarkantha, Kheda, Mehsana, Banaskantha and Dahod districts.

“Significantly, while the anti-Sikh riots in 1984 affected the whole of Delhi city, in Gujarat … ghastly high voltage manslaughter was reported from 11 districts only”, he said.

“The commission must have probed into the enabling factors and ambience responsible for varying degree of violence in different geographical segments of the state.

“The public, riot victim-survivors, human rights activists, state government functionaries in criminal justice system, sociologists, criminologists, jurists and so on would be naturally anxious and keen to comprehensively study the commission’s wisdom in this aspect and related matters of riots,” Sreekumar said.

The commission was tasked by the government “to recommend suitable measures to prevent recurrence of such incidents (Godhra train fire incident and subsequent riots) in future” and would surely have provided “suitable suggestions” to be “incorporated in the edifice of regulatory architecture of the rule of law in Gujarat”.

Even today, he said, hundreds of riot victim survivors are not in a position to return to their pre-riot habitats for want of resources and other reasons, beyond their control and capacity.

This is one reason why the commission’s recommendations “on relief, reconciliation, rehabilitation and re-settlement will be helpful to the sufferers to emerge out of current state of poverty and privation”.

He said: “The state government’s intransigence in non-publication of the commission report would debilitate and erode the stamina and vigour of democracy and its institutions in Gujarat.”

(IANS)

SC rejects plea of sacked IPS officer Bhatt for SIT probe

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Sanjiv Bhatt

New Delhi: The Supreme Court today dismissed the plea of sacked Gujarat cadre IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt seeking a court-monitored SIT probe in relation to the two FIRs lodged against him for allegedly forcing his subordinate to file an affidavit in a 2002 riots case and hacking email of a law officer.

The bench comprising Chief Justice H L Dattu and Justice Arun Mishra also said the trial in these two cases be conducted “expeditiously.”

Bhatt, who had earlier sought a CBI inquiry into the two FIR, later changed his prayer and sought a court-monitored SIT probe on the ground that now the persons against whom he has certain grievances, are now running the government at Centre.

The former IPS officer had also sought impleadment of BJP president Amit Shah, the then MoS Home in the state government and RSS functionary S Gurumurthy as parties in his petition which was also rejected.

The IPS officer, dismissed from service on August 18 this year, had filed the petitions in the apex court in 2011 against the lodging of FIRs against him by the Gujarat Police.

On September 23, the apex court had reserved its verdict after Gujarat government had rubbished the claim of Bhatt that he was present at a meeting to discuss law and order situation during the 2002 communal violence at residence of the then Chief Minister.

Senior advocate Indira Jaising and lawyer Prashant Bhushan, appearing for Bhatt, had alleged collusion among top state government functionaries, the then Additional Advocate General, the then minister of state for home and some lawyers for the accused and sought court-monitored SIT probe into Bhatt’s claims.

Jaising had argued that a SIT probe, instead of seeking CBI investigation, was needed to inquire into the “collusion of the highest order” as the then Chief Minister is now the Prime Minister and the then AAG is now the Additional Solicitor General of India.

Senior advocate L Nageshwar Rao, appearing for then Additional Advocate General Tushar Mehta, had alleged that Bhatt was trying to revive whatever happened since 2002.

Earlier, the counsel for Bhatt had also alleged that he was victimised and targeted by the state government, whose strategy was to shoot the messenger for his bold speaking on the handling of law and order situation during the 2002 riots.

One of the Bhatt’s petitions pertains to an FIR lodged by Gujarat Police-constable K D Panth in Ahmedabad alleging that Bhatt had pressurised him to sign an affidavit testifying that the IPS officer had participated in a high-level meeting after the Godhra carnage.

In another FIR, he has been accused of allegedly hacking then state’s Additional Advocate General Tushar Mehta’s e-mail account.

The apex court had earlier stayed criminal proceedings against the officer.

Bhatt in his plea had also sought fresh investigation against him in all cases with a plea for direction to Internet service providers to preserve all data he has put in the applications.

(Agencies)

Suspended Gujarat IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt sacked

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Sanjiv Bhatt

Ahmedabad: Suspended IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who had taken on the Gujarat government headed by Narendra Modi over the 2002 post-Godhra riots, was on Wednesday sacked on the ground of “unauthorized absence” from service, an action which he said came after a “sham inquiry”.

“Yes, it is true that my services have been terminated. This was expected. They have been conducting a completely ex-parte inquiry. I got the letter (sack order) from them (the home ministry),” Bhatt told PTI this evening.

Gujarat chief secretary G R Aloria confirmed the development. “Services of Sanjiv Bhatt have been terminated,” he said.

Bhatt said he was sacked on the basis of “a sham inquiry” with regard to his “unauthorized absence” from service when he had come to Ahmedabad to depose before the SIT probing the 2002 riots.

“They (government) have been conducting a sham inquiry … an ex-parte inquiry about unauthorized absence from duty,” Bhatt said.

When asked if he will challenge his sacking, Bhatt said he did not want to impose himself on the government.

“A lot can be done (against the move) but whether it is worth challenging … government does not want me, why should I be so keen that I want to remain in this,” Bhatt said.

“I had joined the police with a passion, now it seems the country and this government does not need me. So whatever has happened is good. I cannot impose myself on the government.”

Bhatt, a 1988 batch IPS officer, was under suspension since 2011 for unauthorized absence from service.

He had alleged in an affidavit in the Supreme Court that Narendra Modi, then the chief minister, instructed the top police officers to allow the Hindus “to vent out their anger” after the train-burning incident at Godhra in February 2002.

Bhatt had claimed that he had attended a meeting in this regard on February 27, 2002 at Modi’s residence in Gandhinagar.

Recently, the Gujarat government issued a show-cause notice to Bhatt over a video purportedly showing him with a woman. It sought his explanation for allegedly having extra-marital relationship; Bhatt denied that the man in the video was him.

(Agencies)

Saluting Courage: Memorial for Vasant Rajab

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Vasant Rajab

Gujarat violence (2002) was horrific. In this, after the burning of train in Godhra in which 58 innocents died, the same tragedy was made the pretext to launch the massive violence in which over one thousand people perished. In the aftermath of that I got many occasions to visit different parts of Gujarat and also to come to know about two legendary youth who had laid down their life to protect the people when the communal violence was going on in Ahmadabad in July 1946. These two young men, Vasant Rao Hegishte and Rajab Ali Lakhani, close friends and workers of Congress Seva Dal, came to the streets to stop the killings. Vasant Rao trying to protect Muslims and Rajab Ali stood firm to save the Hindus. Both were done to death by the mobs.

The activists in Gujarat started celebrating 1st July as the day of communal harmony. Recognizing this fact government in Gujarat has raised a memorial in their memory, Bandhutva Smarak (Brotherhood Memorial). In the news of coverage of this program what struck me was that while Vasant Rao’s relatives were present for the program, the relatives of Rajab Ali were not there.

The acts of violence continued in the country after 1946 with increasing intensity. Relatives of Rajab Ali were targeted in the subsequent violence to the extent that first they started concealing their relationship with Rajab Ali, then started assuming Hindu names and finally some of them not only adopted Hindu religion, but also migrated to Canada and US! The person who stood for the amity of religious communities must not have envisaged that while he stood for such noble values, his own kin will be subject of attack by the divisive elements. This also reflects the trajectory of events where in India the Hindu-Muslim violence led to the condition where Muslims started feeling insecure. This in turn led ghettoisation. Today the percentage of religious minorities as the victim of communal violence is number of times more than their percentage in population. The ministry of Home affairs data of 1991, quoted by researches show that while Muslims were 12 odd percent in population then, they formed over 80% as the victims of communal violence.

In the aftermath of Gujarat violence one also saw that while a large number of prominent Hindus and Muslims were part of peace efforts, at the level also activists of both communities came forward for peace efforts. Today with the new Government in power the number of communal incidents has gone up by 25% right in just one year. The overall direction of the intercommunity relations is on trial and the fate of peace maker Rajab Ali’s kin is a sad reminder of the state of affairs.

Communal violence, violence in the name of religion, has been the cancerous phenomenon, which came into being with the colonial policies of British, policy of ‘divide and rule’. They introduced communal historiography where the religion of king became the central marker of his rule and his major policies related to taxation were down played. Kingdoms’ central focus of power and wealth was substituted by ‘religious identity’ and this was picked up by communal organizations. These communal organizations remained aloof from freedom movement and did their best in spreading hate against the ‘other’ religious community. Communal clashes began and there by a ‘social common sense’, which looks down on the other community; became the norm. The prevalence of myths, stereotypes, biases against minorities came in handy for the practitioners of communal politics in instigating the violence. The conclusions of investigation of communal violence and lately Yale University study tells us that, the areas where the violence takes place, the instigating communal organization becomes electorally strong and that’s what we are witnessing in India today. Climbing the ladder of violence the communal organizations come to the seat of power.

With increasing violence many a leaders voiced their concern for peace and amity. Gandhi and his close associates were the main force for promoting amity, Hindu Muslim Unity being the central credo of Gandhi’s politics. Notwithstanding that; violence went on rising in intensity and people like Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi went to the extent of laying down their lives to quell the riots, to save the innocents’, that’s what the victims of communal violence are.

Today we are in a phase where the violence has changed its form; from the massive bloody phenomenon to sub-radar actions where the minorities get intimidated on some issue of mosque or a church or eating beef or some other social practice. The major goal of communal forces is to polarize the communities along the religious lines.

What would a Gandhi have done in such a scenario? Many an experiments in peace have been floated, Mohalla Committees (Area level intercommunity committee), Shanti Sena (Peace Army), Awareness programs about need for harmony, interfaith dialogues, intercommunity celebration of religious festivals, promotion of films on harmony, Kabir Festivals have been popular amongst others. Social activists have also focused on getting justice for the victims of violence and promoting people to come together for programs cutting across religious lines. How to undo the ghettoization, how to create an awareness for amity overcoming negative perceptions does remain a challenge today, greater than ever before. The issue needs to be addressed to ensure that the likes of Rajab Ali’s kin do not have to hide or change their identity.

Vajpayee called Gujarat riots a ‘mistake’: ex-RAW chief A S Dulat

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Atal Bihari Vajpayee

New Delhi: Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had expressed his discontent over the 2002 Gujarat riots and called it “our mistake”, according to former RAW Chief A S Dulat.

Dulat said this while recalling a meeting with Vajpayee.

In an interview to Karan Thapar on his India Today TV programme telecast tonight, Dulat briefly mentioned about his last meeting with the former Prime Minister during which the BJP stalwart reflected about the 2002 Gujarat riots and said, “woh humare se galti hui hai(it was our mistake).”

Dulat, who headed the external spy agency Research and Analysis Wing till 2000 before he was appointed as Special Advisor in Vajpayee’s PMO on Kashmir issue, said Vajpayee always believed that the post-Godhra riots in 2002 was a “mistake” and the grief was “clearly visible” on his face.

The handling of the Gujarat riots when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the chief minister has been at the centre of a controversy.

(PTI)

Protesters at Vancouver mark endnote for Modi's visit

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Vancouver_Protest-Modi

Vancouver: Slogan-shouting and placard-waving protesters greeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday at Canada’s oldest gurdwara in Vancouver and a temple, the only sore points during a three-nation tour which resulted in ground-breaking agreements across several vital sectors.

The protests outside the Ross Street gurdwara and also the Laxminarayan temple in Surrey saw people from different communities raising issues ranging from secularism to the 2002 Gujarat riots.

The 500-odd protestors, some armed with bullhorns, claimed to represent various Indian religious groups, and held up placards relating to the 2002 Gujarat riots, which took place when Modi was the chief minister of the state.

Slogans like “Modi, Go Back” rent the air though the protest was peaceful amidst heavy police deployment and road blocks.

Some among the protesters were objecting to the presence of Canadian PM Stephen Harper for a new anti-terror law that gives sweeping powers to the police and security agencies.

Modi prayed at the gurdwara and also remembered the 1914 Komagata Maru incident when Canada did not let in hundreds of Sikhs, a community acknowledged as a major contributor to the country’s economy today.

“The Sikh community has worked hard and has earned the respect of the people of Canada. India is respected in Canada and this is due to your efforts. Wherever we are, let us do things that bring pride to our nation,” Modi said while addressing devotees at the Khalsa Diwan gurdwara.

Later, Modi and Harper were gifted Sikh ceremonial swords by the gurdwara committee.

“This is a very significant visit. Modi is the third Indian prime minister to come here, after Jawaharlal Nehru in 1949 and Indira Gandhi in 1973,” Khalsa Diwan society president Sohan Singh Deo said.

Modi’s trip to Canada is the first bilateral visit by an Indian prime minister in 42 years.

Later, the two leaders went to the Laxminarayan temple, where the number of the protestors grew as Surrey has a sizable South Asian population.

The protests evoked sharp response from supporters of Modi who chanted “Modi, Modi” while waving flags of India and Canada.

The Prime Minister also prayed at the temple, with the priest applying tika on his forehead.

“I bring greetings from 1.2 billion Indians to the 1.2 million Indians living in Canada. In India, the Supreme Court gave a superb definition for Hinduism: they said that it is not a religion but a way of life: how to live in synchrony with nature,” the Prime Minister said.

The official Twitter account of the Prime Minister’s Office said he also bowed in remembrance to the 1914 Komagata Maru incident, where hundreds of Sikh passengers were not allowed to alight on Canadian soil due to their Asian origin.

The Komagata Maru was a Japanese steamship, which was sailing from Hong Kong to Vancouver with 376 passengers from Punjab on board, a majority of whom were Sikhs. Only 24 were admitted to Canada, while the rest were forced to return to India.

Modi wrapped up his engagements in Canada with a state banquet hosted by the Canadian Prime Minister.

Talking business

Earlier, top executives at Canada’s largest banks, insurers and pension funds sounded bullish over investing in India after meeting Modi who held a roundtable with the heads of major Canadian financial institutions in Toronto.

Modi said he understood the need for consistency in regulation and that India has learnt from its past missteps.

The message resonated with Canadian business heads, some of whose firms have already lined up, or raised funds to invest in India.

“It’s great to see a leader who’s focused on reducing red tape, reducing roadblocks, and encouraging development,” said Dean Connor, chief executive of insurer Sun Life Financial Inc that has had a presence in India for over 15 years.

Connor, noting that Modi clearly expressed that his government would not pursue retrospective application of tax rules, which has been a problematic issue for investors in the past.

Scotiabank CEO Brian Porter felt India had “great growth potential” and have been “encouraged by the significant reforms Prime Minister Modi has achieved less than one year after taking office.”

(Agencies)

SC extends bail to Teesta Setalvad, her husband

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teesta-javed

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday extended interim bail granted to advocate-activist Teesta Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand, while referring to the larger bench the questions of personal liberty and custodial interrogation.

An apex court bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra referred to the larger bench the issue whether non-cooperation in an investigation would entitle Gujarat Police to press for custodial interrogation of Teesta Setalvad.

She has been accused of alleged misuse of funds collected by NGO Sabrang Trust for setting up a museum in Gulberg Society that witnessed carnage during 2002 Gujarat riots.

The apex court on February 19 restrained Gujarat Police from arresting the activist and her husband.

The apex court bench headed by Justice Misra said the larger bench will decide the issue of anticipatory bail in relation to personal liberty, rule of law, societal interest vis-a-vis the allegations of non-cooperation in the investigation.

(IANS)

RTI query on Gujarat riots stonewalled again by PMO

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modi

New Delhi: The Prime Minister’s Office has suppressed the right to information by once again refusing to release details of the correspondence during the Gujarat riots between then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and then Chief Minister Narendra Modi, citing “third party objections.”

RTI activist Subhash Agarwal wrote to the PMO in December 2013 seeking complete copies of correspondence between Mr. Vajpayee and Mr. Modi between February 27, 2002, the day the Sabarmati Express was set on fire in Godhra, and April 30, 2002, by when the worst of the post-Godhra riots was over.

After first refusing to give the information, a decision overturned in appeal, the PMO replied to Mr. Agarwal in April 2014 that it was seeking consent of third parties.

(Agencies)

HRD panel to probe funds 'misuse' by Teesta NGO

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teesta-javed

New Delhi: The HRD Ministry has set up a committee to probe alleged misappropriation of funds received under the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan by an NGO run by activist Teesta Setalvad, who is facing heat along with her husband in a separate case of embezzlement.

The three-member committee is to be headed by Supreme Court lawyer Abhijit Bhattacharjee and comprise Gujarat Central University Vice Chancellor SA Bari and senior HR Ministry official Gaya Prasad as its members.

The panel will look into allegations against the NGO Sabrang Trust based on a complaint received by the ministry about “mis-utilisation” of funds by it, officials in the HRD Ministry said, confirming the setting up of the committee.

The two members of the committee, however, said they were yet to receive any communication in this regard.

Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand are also involved in the Gulbarg society embezzlement case.

Supreme Court recently directed Gujarat Police not to arrest the duo in the case while asking them to cooperate in the probe.

The case pertains to funds for a museum in Ahmedabad’s Gulbarg Society, which was devastated in the 2002 riots.

Meanwhile, sources in the ministry said that Setalvad could also be dropped from the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), which is being reconstituted after NDA government came to power.

CABE is the highest decision-making body on education in the country.

(PTI)

Indian-American Muslims demand justice for Gujarat victims on 13th anniversary

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riots-india

by Kaleem Kawaja

On the occasion of the 13th anniversary of the massacre of over one-thousand Muslims in Gujarat on February 27, 2002, the Washington DC based Indian-American Muslim NGO, Association of Indian Muslims of America (AIMA) has issued an appeal to India’s President and Prime Minister to help expedite criminal cases against the culprits responsible for the massacre.

AIMA reminded the two top political heads of the Indian government that 13 long years after the well organized brutal attack by some sectarian organizations on a large number of innocent Muslim men, women and children in Ahmedabad and other cities in central Gujarat, only very few of the hundreds of culprits have been sentenced to jail. The Gujarat state government legal authorities are continuing to delay criminal proceedings in courts of law against the many culprits despite clear instructions by the Supreme Court of India.

In the years since the violence, in several instances the Gujarat state government legal authorities have destroyed critical evidence against the culprits, who in various instances were ministers, senior police officials and officials of the Gujarat government. The enquiries conducted by the enquiry commissions appointed by Gujarat government were a sham and committed many irregularities.

Several reputed Indian and International human rights organizations including the United Nations Human Rights body have made categorical statements asking the Indian government and courts to speed up the cases against the culprits. Yet the courts in Gujarat state are either dropping the cases claiming that there is not sufficient evidence, or are causing extreme delays.

Speaking on behalf of the many families of the victims of the February 2002 Gujarat massacre, AIMA also made an appeal to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India to take steps to correct the malafides and corruption in the lower level justice system in Gujarat that is continuing to prevent bringing the many culprits to justice in the above sectarian violence.

Kaleem Kawaja is the Executive Director of Association of Indian Muslims of America.

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