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Gujarat court acquits 118 post-Godhra riot accused

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godhra riots

Nadiad: A sessions court here in Kheda district today acquitted 118 people arrested for violence during a post-Godhra riot in 2002.

The accused, from both Hindu and Muslim communities, were acquitted by Additional Sessions Judge N T Solanki as the police failed to provide any substantial evidence.

As in other parts of Gujarat, this riot broke out in Nadiad town after the Godhra train burning incident of February 27, 2002.

As many as 118 people from both the communities were arrested for stone-pelting, rioting and torching of shops, houses and vehicles.

All of them subsequently got bail.

The accused had submitted to the court during the trial that there was no hostility between Hindus and Muslims in the town and both communities were living in harmony at present.

(PTI)

Shiv Sena reacts to Modi’s Dadri remark; says ‘we respect him for Godhra’

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Mumbai: Just hours after the Prime Minister termed the Dadri lynching incident and cancellation of Ghulam Ali’s concert in Mumbai as ‘unfortunate’, its alliance partner in Maharashtra-Shiv Sena has retaliated that the statements have come from the ‘Prime Minister’ and not ‘dear Modiji’.

Senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut reacting to Modi’s comments raked up the 2002 Gujarat riots and said, “PM Modi got worldwide recognition because of Godhra and Ahmedabad incidents and we also respect him because of that, but if he has made such comments on Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri and Ghulam Ali then it is unfortunate.”

Shiv Sena had earlier forced the cancellation of Pakistan ghazal singer Ghulam Ali’s concert in Mumbai. Columnist Sudheendra Kulkarni was also attacked with black paint by Shiv Sena activists protesting former Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri’s book launch on Monday.

Earlier, in the day Modi while speaking to a newspaper had stressed that the BJP was opposed to pseudo-secularism.

On his party’s stand (on such incidents), Modi said, “The BJP never supported such kind of incidents. The opposition is raising the bogey of communalism against the BJP bringing those incidents but are they themselves not doing politics of polarisation”.

He said, “Such debate has taken place in the past. The BJP always opposed pseudo-secularism. Now again this debate is taking place in the face of unfortunate social malaise”.

“This debate can be resolved through dialogue and discussion,” he said.

Modi claimed that this a was merely vote bank politics and those parties resorting to such propaganda did not want the development of minorities.

(Agencies)

Gujarat court acquits 70 accused from 2002 riots case

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Ahmedabad: A local court in Banaskantha district, north Gujarat on Friday acquitted all the 70 people accused in a riot case at Sesan Nava village of Deodar taluka in which 14 persons from minority community including women were killed in the aftermath of post Godhra riots.

The additional sessions judge VK Pujara acquitted all the accused while stating that the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond doubt. He said that following the unfortunate incident of burning of Sabarmati Express train at Godhra railway station a group of Hindus attacked the people from minority community. The court has said that there is no direct evidence suggesting the involvement of the accused persons.

According to defense lawyer BK Joshi who appeared for nine accused, there were 190 witnesses in the case and most of them turned hostile during the proceedings. He said that over the years nine persons died while eight persons were lodged in jail since 2002 following their arrest.

On March 3, 2002 a mob of around 5000 people had gheroed the Muslim locality of Sasan Nava village. The mob laced with sharp weapons went to killing and looting spree till the police arrived at the scene, more than a dozen persons had been killed, with dozens of houses set on fire. In the police firing two persons from the mob were killed killed.

Publice prosecutor BV Thakor said that 12 supplementary chargesheets had been filed during the investigation in which 190 witnesses gave their statements. However, most of them turn hostile and nobody named the accused and their role. The court didn’t appreciate the evidence that we had placed.

(Agencies)

Nanavati Commission: Another hoax on people of India!

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Photo: AFP

Photo: AFP

by Fr. Cedric Prakash

Finally, on November 18, 2014, exactly 12 years 8 months and 12 days after it was first constituted by the Gujarat Government on March 6,h 2002 to probe the burning of the Godhra train and the subsequent carnage which broke out in several parts of Gujarat, the Commission headed by GT Nanavati (a former judge of the Supreme Court of India) submitted its report to the current Chief Minister of Gujarat, Anandiben Patel.

It was originally known as the KG Shah Commission but it was later reconstituted to include Justice Nanavati, after several civil rights groups and individuals protested over the closeness that Justice Shah had with Narendra Modi. Justice Shah died in 2008; and Justice Akshay H. Mehta (who granted bail to Babu Bajrangi in the Naroda Patiya case) was appointed on April 5, 2008 to be a member of this Commission.

The content of this more than 2000-page report has not yet been made public but if one goes by the grapevine and what seems to be “leaked out” to sections of the media, then one can very easily conclude the following: that those really responsible for the law and order in the State have been given a ‘clean chit’; that the burning of S-6 Coach of the Sabarmati Express on February 27, 2002, just outside the Godhra railway station was a ‘meticulously planned act of conspiracy’ (this was already said in the Commission’s interim report in 2008); and finally the only people who seemed to be ‘responsible’ for not preventing or controlling the violence are some lower rung policemen and some apparently anti-social elements.

The Commission which has claimed to have looked into 4,160 cases of violence in Gujarat between February 27th and May 31st 2002 also states that it has gone through 46,000 affidavits submitted by over 4,000 victims of the violence that paralysed Gujarat and continues to be one of the darkest and bloodiest chapters of independent India. It was given 24 extensions (of almost six months each) before it submitted its report.

Till July 2012, the Commission ran up an expenditure bill of more than Rs 5.00 crore with an additional miscellaneous expense of Rs 1.62 crore. It has been past two-and-a-half years since; so the final cost of this Commission (including the disguised expenditure) will surely run to a mind-boggling amount and all at the cost of the state exchequer (a Gujarati newspaper puts a conservative cost of Rs.9.00 crore).

Several concerned citizens like the late Mukul Sinha of Jan Sangharsh Manch, Sanjiv Bhatt and others have tried their level best to bring the Commission – any thinking citizen will know – on track and ensure that truth prevails and that the victim-survivors are given justice. The Commission has been full of inconsistencies, lapses and loopholes. Sinha, who cross-examined several witnesses, has consistently demanded that Modi, who was the Chief Minister of Gujarat at that time, had to be interrogated, too. Why the Commission took the pains to deny this request from Sinha and several others does not leave much room for doubt!

Even though the Commission has submitted its report, many for the victim-survivors (and several others who have accompanied them) are the Gujarat Carnage of 2002 is not a closed chapter. The relentless pursuit for truth and justice will continue until those who presided over this carnage are brought to book. Only then, will they truly be able to sing our motto emblazoned on our national emblem “satyameva jayate” (truth alone triumphs!)

Fr. Cedric Prakash is the Director of Prashant, the Ahmedabad-based Jesuit Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace.

Nanavati Commission submits final report on 2002 Gujarat riots

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Photo: AFP

Photo: AFP

Ahmedabad: After 12 years and 24 extensions, the two-member Nanavati-Mehta Commission of Enquiry submitted its much-awaited final report on the 2002 Godhra train carnage and the subsequent communal riots, here Tuesday.

The commission, consisting of retired Supreme Court judge Justice G.T. Nanavati and retired high court judge Justice Akshay Mehta, submitted the report to Chief Minister Anandiben Patel at her residence Tuesday afternoon.

The last extension of the commission’s term had ended Oct 31.

The contents and recommendations of the final report by the Commission are not yet known.

The report delved into the burning alive of 59 passengers in the ill-fated S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express near Godhra station Feb 27, 2002, followed by communal riots in many parts of the west Indian border state – killing 1169 people – ranked among the worst in the country’s post-Independence history.

The then Chief Minister Narendra Modi – now India’s Prime Minister – had appointed a one-man commission of retired Justice K.G. Shah, March 6 that year to probe the train carnage and the communal riots.

Later, it was made a two-member commission with Justice Nanavati as its chairman; retired Justice Mehta was appointed to the commission after the demise of retired Justice Shah in 2008.

The Gujarat government Aug 5, 2005, modified the commission’s Terms of Reference whereby it was empowered to probe the role of Modi and other ministers and officials into the two incidents.

In Sep 2008, the commission submitted its 168-page first report on the train incident in which 59 Kar Sevaks were burnt to death in S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express near Godhra.

In that report, the Commission had termed the incident as “a pre-planned conspiracy involving some individuals”, and “a premeditated crime and not an accident.”

It had also concluded that there was “absolutely no evidence to show that either Narendra Modi, the then CM of Gujarat, and/or any other minister/s in his council of ministers, or police officers had played any role in the Godhra incident, or that there was any lapse on their part in the matter of providing protection, relief and rehabilitation to the victims of communal riots or in the matter of not complying with the recommendations and directions give by the National Human Rights Commission.”

Over the years, the Commission received nearly 46,500 documents, affidavits and statements of officials and members of the public, and it carried out a spot visit of the burnt train coach as part of its enquiry.

(IANS)

"Stop All Communalism" an unequivocal call-out on Kandhamal Solidarity Day from Bangalore

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Kandhamal Solidarity Day Bangalore

– Jagadish G Chandra

Bangalore these days is purging itself its long held image, that it is a city that is impervious to what happens around the world. The gathering on 25th August ’14 to remember the Communal Carnage of 2007 & 2008 in Odisha’s Kandhamal district is any indication, then the ordinary working people citizens of this city are surely shrugging off their old habits.

Unlike the old times when activists struggled to organise solidarity protest actions for various people’s causes, both pertaining to India and other countries, now there is a marked change for the better in the numbers participating in such events. While the mammoth gathering of 17th July event in support of the Palestinians may remain a benchmark for an event for a long time to come, but the willing participation of the people on 25th August to express solidarity to the Victims of Communal Violence in Kandhamal, from a cross section of classes, castes, religion, gender and nationality instils a ray of hope for the struggles ahead.

It is no exaggeration to admit that we in Peoples’ Solidarity Concerns-Bangalore & New Socialist Alternative (CWI-India) have had protests with pathetic numbers, sometimes not going beyond the count of fingers in one’s hands. But it was a welcome change for the organisers to be received by dozens of young female participants from Mount Carmel College who had gathered well ahead of the start time on 25th August.

While the number might not have been more than 120 or so, but it was the quality of participation that was unique. One notable and commendable fact was that it surely did not turn out to be a protest event just by Christians because during Kandhamal violence Dalith Christians and Adivasis were the main targets. As mentioned earlier young & elderly from all religious backgrounds were there.

Speaker after speaker spoke on the issue of growing intolerance orchestrated by the Right Wing Hinduthva forces around the country, and how the majoritarianism and communal-ism is creeping into the administration, police & courts, which is increasingly eroding the values of non-partisan, secular ethos that were envisaged in the Constitution of India.

Among the speakers were, Rev. Prasad, Fr. Ambrose Pinto,(Pricipal, St. Aloysius College) , Raj Bharth Patta (SCMI), Debapriya (Student,Mount Carmel), Cynthia Stephen (Social Policy Researcher), Azharuddin Khan Chikmagalur (Political Science Researcher), Balaji Shanmughavel ( May17 movement), Manohar Ranganathan (Human Rights Activist) , Vishwanath (New Socialist Alternative & Dudiyora Horaata), Rini Ralte (United Theological College). Jagadish G Chandra, the convenor of Peoplers’ Solidarity Concerns-Bangalore conducted the event and Narasimha Murthy, Bangalore’s dedicated Human Rights Defender gave the Vote of Thanks.

Both Ambrose Pinto and Raj Bharath Patta, reiterated their unequivocal stand that All Communal Attacks must be stopped, and the democratic and progressive forces in this country must actively campaign for secular values in the society.Vishwanath of New Socialist Alternative/ದುಡಿಯೋರ ಹೋರಾಟ, in his emotional self brought the issue of Kambalapalli carnage and questioned to say

” ಹಾಗಾದರೆ ನಾವು ದಲಿತರು ಈ ಕೋರ್ಟ್ ತೀರ್ಪನ್ನ ಏನು ಅಂತಾ ಅರ್ಥ ಮಾಡಿಕೊಳ್ಳೋಣ? ಕಂಬಾಲಪಲ್ಲಿಯಲ್ಲಿ 14 ವರುಷಗಳ ಹಿಂದೆ ಆ ಅಮಾನುಶ ಪೈಶಾಚಿಕ ಕೃತ್ಯ ನಡೆಯಲೇಇಲ್ಲವಾ? ನನ್ನ 7 ಅಣ್ಣ-ತಮ್ಮಂದಿರು ದಲಿತರು ಸುಟ್ಟು ಕರಕಲು ಆಗಲಿಲ್ಲವಾ? ಈ ದೇಶದಲ್ಲಿ ದಲಿತರಿಗೆ ಮಾತ್ರ ಈರೀತಿ “ನ್ಯಾಯನಾ”, ಅನ್ಯಾಯ ನಮಗೆ ಫುಲ್ಲೀ ರಿಸರ್ವಡಾ? ಇದಾ ದಲಿತರಿಗೆ ಸಿಕ್ಕಿರೋ ಡೆಮಾಕ್ರಸಿ?”

(In that case how should we the Dalits in this country understand the court’s judgement on Kambaalapalli massacre? Should we think the ghastly & demonic carnage never happened in Kambaalapalli? That my 7 Dalit brothers were never burnt alive? Is it the case that in this country only Daliths get this type of “justice”? Or is it that injustice is fully reserved for Daliths? Is this the Democracy that Daliths get?-Vishwanath)

The main speaker at the event was Meena Kandasamy;Poet, Author and Political Activist who specially travelled from Chennai to participate and express her solidarity to the victims of Kandhamal Violence, Meena emphasised on the need to unite our forces to thwart all the attempts to gang up against the vulnerable and the marginalised in the society.

She was rightly scathing in her speech about the present government at the centre led by BJP’s Modi and said that ” We have to remember Kandhamal and Godhra and all the atrocities of communal violence that have taken place. Corporate mainstream media does a complete whitewashing, for instance not even a single newspaper of the day carried any info about Kandhamal and what happened there six years ago. It was the same corporate media that whitewashed Modi and made him this Prime Minister in waiting, and he won. It was the same media that made people forget about Godhra 2002 when they went to the polling booth. So it is important that we remember all the atrocities that have been committed and keep reminding them to ourselves and the public at large.”

Meena very indignantly said “Kandhamal is also a question that we need to revisit today in the relevance of the politics of Hindutva and its present agenda. The entire argument about Love Jihad that has hit the headlines today is not very different from the politics of hate behind Kandhamal. There is a certain Hindutva neurosis and hatred and paranoia about the demographic question. There is an angst that Muslim population is increasing, that’s the reason for rumour of love jihad. We know that such rumours can be very threatening if we look at what happened in Kandhamal. Both are about the Hindu insecurity against conversions. The idea that Christian population was increasing due to conversion caused the destruction of 300 churches and the displacement of thousands of Dalit and Adivasis and Christian people”

In concluding her excellent speech the author of Gypsy Goddess said “Kandhamal is also a story about the question of justice, she quoted Teesta Setalvad, the renowned human rights defender, who says that only 2 of 27 murder trials had any conclusion,that only 3000 of the over 11,300 named in 800 FIRs were brought to trial. Giving a feminist perspective Meena said, how Kandhamal has to be seen as a feminist issue, about how the rapes of women were covered up, how the bodies of gang-raped victims were burned. So this communal violence and its effect on women has to be condemned.

Meena Kandasamy was emphatic in saying that Kandhamal, is a story that recurs all through Indian history. Whether it is Kilvenmani, Bathani Tola, Laxmanpur Bathe, or the recent Kambalapalli judgement, the ruling class, the upper caste, the majority of right wing Hindus who commit the atrocity are allowed to go scot free. We should force the judiciary to stay true.

As the convenor of Peoples’ Solidarity Concerns-Bangalore from New Socialist Alternative, I am immensely grateful and personally thank all those men, women, young and elderly, believers (of various faiths) & non-believers, Human Rights Defenders who gathered to say “No More Kandhamals, Not Here-Not Anywhere”

People United can never be defeated
Solidarity for ever

Jagadish G Chandra is a political & human rights activist based in Bangalore. He is the convenor of Peoples’ Solidarity Concerns-Bangalore from New Socialist Alternative.

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