Thursday 10 October 2013

gujaratriotscom

The gujaratriots.com --> niticentral story

http://storify.com/rsaroja70/the-gujaratriots-com-niticentral-com-story





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Thursday 19 September 2013

Rajya Sabha Questions

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF  HOME AFFAIRS
RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-911
ANSWERED ON-02.08.2006
CASES OF GUJARAT RIOTS HANDED OVER TO CBI .
911 .SHRI SITARAM YECHURY




(a) the number and details of cases related to Gujarat riots, which have been handed over to the CBI;

(b) the status of those cases; and

(c) by when the investigation is expected to be concluded?
ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

(SHRI SRIPRAKASH JAISWAL)

(a) to (c): One case relating to the Gujarat riots has been handed over to the CBI. Details of the case are as under:
Limkheda Police Station (District-Dahod) Crime Register No. 59/2002, investigated by local police and tried by JMFC, Limkheda and closed accepting the `A` final report, was handed over to CBI and registered as case No.R.C.1/S/2004-Mum in the CBI SCB on 1.1.2004 under orders dated 16.12.2003 of the Hon`ble Supreme Court of India in Criminal Writ Petition No. 118/2003 and Criminal Misc. Petition No. 8850/2003. Investigation of the case has already been concluded and charge-sheet has been filed by the CBI on 19.4.2004. The case is pending trial.
---------------------------------------------------

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF  HOME AFFAIRS
RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-5209
ANSWERED ON-11.05.2005
PERSONS KILLED IN GUJARAT RIOTS .
5209 .SHRI R.K. ANAND



(a) how many people have been killed in Gujarat riots after Godhra incident and of which community;

(b) how many persons are missing, injured and rendered widows, orphaned;

(c) how much amount of compensation to each individual have been paid by Government; and

(d) whether Government published the said data of these people district-wise as recommended by the NHRC?
ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

(SHRI SRIPRAKASH JAISWAL)

(a): As per information made available by the State Government of Gujarat, 254 Hindus and 790 Muslim (including those killed in Police firing) were killed in the post Godhra riots of 2002.

(b): As per available information 223 persons have been reported missing, 2548 persons sustained injuries, 919 persons were rendered widows and 606 children were orphaned during the riots.

(c): The rates of compensation paid by the State Government of Gujarat are as under: An amount of Rs 1.5 lakhs has been paid as ex-gratia to the next of kin of each person killed.
In the case of those injured the rates of payment to each individual are as under: Rs.5,000 each to those with upto 10% disability; Rs.15,000 each to those with 10% to 30 % disability; Rs.25,000 each to those with 30% to 40% disability; Rs.50,000 each to those with more than 40% disability and permanent incapacitation.
In addition, relief has been extended by the State Government to the victims of the riots under the following heads:
i) Cash doles and assistance for house-hold kits;
ii) Food grains to Below Poverty Line families in riot affected areas;
iii) Housing Assistance;
iv) Rebuilding earning assets;
v) Rehabilitation of Small business;
vi) Assistance to Industries/shops and hotels;
vii) Interest subsidy on loans to affected units;
viii) Insurance paid to the affected; ix) Rehabilitation of orphaned children and widows; x) Integrated Child Development Scheme services to riot affected children, pregnant and lactating mothers;
xi) Widows` Pension, etc. The State Government has further informed that a total expenditure of Rs. 204.62 crores has been incurred towards relief and rehabilitation measures.

(d) : The State Government has informed that they have published the data as recommended by NHRC.
------------------------------------------------------

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF  HOME AFFAIRS
RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-2271
ANSWERED ON-25.08.2004
EXPENSES ON MEDICAL TREATMENT OF GUJARAT RIOTS VICTIMS .
2271 .SHRI PRASANTA CHATTERJEE



(a) whether Government have borne the medical expenses and/or arranged treatment of victims during the Gujarat riots; and

(b) what is the number of physically handicapped victims due to last Gujarat episode?
ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

(SHRI SRIPRAKASH JAISWAL)

(a) & (b): The information is being collected and will be laid on the Table of the House.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF  HOME AFFAIRS
RAJYA SABHA
STARRED QUESTION NO-30
ANSWERED ON-03.12.2003
COMMUNAL RIOTS IN GUJARAT
30 .SHRI K. RAHMAN KHAN
NILOTPAL BASU



(a) the number of incidents of communal riots that took place in Gujarat after Gujarat carnage;

(b) the causes responsible for the recurrence of these incidents in Gujarat; and

(c) what steps are beign taken to ensure peace and communal harmony in the State?
ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

(SHRI I.D. SWAMI)

(a)to(c): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
ANNEXURE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF  HOME AFFAIRS
RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-835
ANSWERED ON-26.02.2003
ARREST IN CONNECTION WITH GUJARAT RIOTS
835 .SHRI R.K. ANAND
SANTOSH BAGRODIA



(a) whether individuals belonging to VHP, Bajrang Dal and RSS have been arrested after the incidents of Gujarat riots after Godhra train carnage;

(b) if so, the details thereof; and

(c) the status of cases registered against them in the criminal courts?
ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

(SHRI I.D.SWAMI)

(a) to (c): A total of 4252 offences have been registered, charge sheets have been filed in different courts of law in 2014 cases and 23,777 accused have been arrested in substantive offences which include certain individuals of VHP and Bajrang Dal also. The cases are in various stages of investigation and trial.

----------------------------------------------------

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF  HOME AFFAIRS
RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-1574
ANSWERED ON-04.12.2002
INTELLIGENCE REPORTS ON COMMUNAL RIOTS IN GUJARAT
1574 .PROF. ALKA BALRAM KSHATRIYA




(a) whether it is a fact that intelligence reports of the Gujarat Government have proved that communal riots in the State have been organised by the VHP and Bajrang Dal;

(b) whether it is also a fact that top officials of intelligence department have been transferred because they also mentioned in the report that Chief Minister has provoked elements hatered spreading and delivered objectionable speeches against the minorities; and

(c) if so, the details thereof?
ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

(SHRI CH. VIDYASAGAR RAO)


(a): Under the provisions of the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952 the State Government has set up a Commission of Inquiry consisting of Justice G.T. Nanavati as Chairman and Justice K.G. Shah as Member to inquire into the `facts, circumstances and the cause of events` of incidents of burning of Sabarmati Express train and subsequent incidents of violence in the State. The role of any organization in the recent communal riots in Gujarat is also under enquiry by the Commission.

(b) & (c): As per the report received from the Government of Gujarat the transfer of Police officers including the officers of State Intelligence Branch were done in public interest.
---------------------------------------------------
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF  HOME AFFAIRS
RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-1551
ANSWERED ON-31.07.2002
GUJARAT RIOTS
1551 .SHRI LALU PRASAD
ABANI ROY



(a) whether NHRC`s final report on Gujarat violence and National Minority Commission has indicted the State Government for its failure to protect the people of Gujarat as reported in The Times of India dated 1st June, 2002;

(b) if so, whether Government have taken any action against the State Government on the basis of NHRC`s final report;

(c) if so, the details thereof; and

(d) the steps taken by Government to ensure that such violence does not recur in any part of the country in future?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

(SHRI CH. VIDYASAGAR RAO)

(a) to (c): National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in its final report, has observed that there was a failure on the part of the State Government to control the situation. The State Government has, however, not agreed with the above observation and has stated that effective steps were taken to bring the situation under control. The National Minorities Commission has only suggested various steps that should be taken by the Government of Gujarat to provide relief to those affected by the communal riots.

(d): It is the primary responsibility of the State Government to maintain public order and peace. The Government of India shares intelligence and sends advisories/alert messages to the States/UTs from time to time and also makes available Central Para Military Forces to them on specific request. A special force called the Rapid Action Force is deployed to deal exclusively with the communal tensions. Assistance is also provided to the State Governments for modernization of their policing infrastructure.
`` ------------------------
OVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF  HOME AFFAIRS
RAJYA SABHA
STARRED QUESTION NO-54
ANSWERED ON-17.07.2002
RIOTS IN GUJARAT
54 .DR. A.K. PATEL



(a) whether any Commission has been set-up to investigate into the riots in Gujarat under the Chairmanship of former Justice Shri D. S. Tewatia of Calcutta High Court;

(b) if so, the details thereof; and

(c) the report submitted by the said Commission till date?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

(SHRI CH. VIDYASAGAR RAO)

(a) to (c): The Government of Gujarat has appointed a Commission of Inquiry under the provisions of the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952 consisting of Mr. Justice G. T. Nanawati, Retired Judge of Supreme Court as Chairman and Mr. Justice K. G. Shah, Retired Judge of Gujarat High Court as member to enquire into the incident of setting on fire some coaches of the Sabarmati Express train near Godhra Railway Station on 27th February, 2002 and subsequent incidents of violence in the State in the aftermath of the Godhra incident. The enquiry is in progress.


``
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF  HOME AFFAIRS
RAJYA SABHA
STARRED QUESTION NO-253
ANSWERED ON-20.03.2002
COMMUNAL RIOTS IN GUJARAT
253 .SHRI SURESH PACHOURI
MUNAVVAR HASAN



(a) whether the communal riots in Gujarat recently have left a number of people shelterless;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) the total loss of life and property in the riots in the different parts of the country; and

(d) the steps taken by Government for their rehabilitation?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

( SHRI I.D. SWAMI )


(a)to(d): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.


STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO RAJYA SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.253 FOR ANSWER ON 20.3.2002 REGARDING COMMUNAL RIOTS IN GUJARAT


(a)&(b): As on 14.3.2002, 91243 inmates have taken shelter in 96 relief camps.

(c): 673 persons were killed and 1269 persons sustained injuries in the communal violence in Gujarat which began on 27.2.2002. Besides 5326 houses, 3751 shops, 1831 cabins and 1448 vehicles were burnt and 891 shops were damaged during the said incidents in Gujarat. However, no major riots involving huge loss of life and property have been reported from other parts of the country except some sporadic incidents in a few States, which were promptly tackled by the concerned State Governments.

(d): The following emergency relief measures were announced/taken by the Government of Gujarat:

(i) Death compensation to the next of kin of the deceased: @ Rs. One Lakh.

(ii) Injury assistance: From Rs.2000/- to Rs.50,000/- depending on percentages of disability.

(iii) Cash assistance Rs.15/- per day per person (maximum 5 persons) for 15 days.

(iv) Assistance for household kits: Rs.1250/- per family.

(v) Assistance for earning assets to hand-cart pullers, larigalla wallas etc.: Rs.10,000/-.

(vi) Housing: Rs. 5,000/- to Rs.50,000/- depending on damage suffered.

(vii) Assistance to Relief Camps:
The State Government has played pro-active role to support relief camps run by the Non Governmental Organisations and essential commodities per day per head are being supplied as per the following norms:-
Wheat Flour: 400 grams, Rice: 100 Grams, Oil, Sugar, Dal, Milk powder: @ 50 grams each. Rs.5/- per person per day for miscellaneous expenditure.
----------------------------------



Total Records :7Total Page :1
1
Q.NO.Q.TypeDateMinistryMemberSubject
FIRS REGISTERED IN CONNECTION WITH RIOTING AND KILLING AFTER GODHRA INCIDENT
VIOLENCE IN GUJARAT AFTER GODHRA INCIDENT
COMMENT OF GUJARAT GOVERNMENT ON NHRC REPORT ONGODHRA CARNAGE
MANUFACTURING AND DISTRIBUTION OF ARMS AFTERGODHRA INCIDENT
INVOLVEMENT OF PAK NATIONALS IN GODHRA CARNAGE
GODHRA INCIDENT
PROBE INTO GODHRA INCIDENT
1
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF  RAILWAYS
RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-3289
ANSWERED ON-22.08.2003
FINAL REPORT OF GODBCRA TRAIN INCIDENT .
3289 .SHRI ABU ASIM AZMI



(a) whether Government have received the final report of the Railway inquiry on the Godhra train burning incident in February, 2002;

(b) if so, the accurate figure for the loss of lives, with break-up by sex, age-group (adult or child). State of domicile and passenger status (whether listed or other-wis

(e);

(c) whether all the victims have been identified and their next-of-kin received the ex-gratia announced by Government; and

(d) if not, the reasons therefor?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI BANDARD DATTATRAYA )

(a): No, Sir. A judicial enquiry is under process by the State Government.

(b): 59 passengers died out of which 52 were identified and 7 were not identified. The break up is as under:-
(i) Loss of life Male : 21 Female : 26 Children : 05 Not identified : 07 Total : 59

(ii) Dead passengers belonging to Gujrat State-47 / Uttar Pradesh State - 05. Bodies of 7 passengers have not been identified so far, hence their state of domicile is not available.

(c) & (d): 52 bodies have been identified and ex-gratia amounting to Rs.7.80 lakhs has been paid to their next of kins. Seven dead bodies could not be identified.


GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF  RAILWAYS
RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-155
ANSWERED ON-09.07.2004
GODHRA RAIL FIRE INCIDENT .
155 .PROF. RAM DEO BHANDARY



(a) the number of persons killed in Godhra Rail Fire accident together with the names and addresses of the passengers killed;

(b) whether according to forensic report, fire had taken place from inside the Rail coach;

(c) if so, whether Government would come out with truth of Godhra incident before the country by constituting an enquiry on the basis of this report; and

(d) if so, the details thereof; and if not, the reasons therefor? ANSWER
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS


(SHRI R. VELU)


(a): 59 persons died out of which 52 were identified and
7 were not identified. A list of names and
addresses of persons killed is enclosed as Appendix.



(b): Yes, Sir. According to Forensic Science Laboratory
report fire had taken place from inside the train
coach.



(c)&(d): Government is now examining the possibility of
setting up a High Power Committee to enquire into the
various factors leading to the fire.



APPENDIX REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (A) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 155 TO BE ANSWERED IN RAJYA SABHA ON 9.7.2004 REGARDING GODHRA RAIL FIRE INCIDENT. Names and address of persons killed in Godhra Train Fire incident:
S.No Names Address


GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF  RAILWAYS
RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-577
ANSWERED ON-04.03.2005
INTERIM REPORT ON GODHRA INCIDENT .
577 .SHRI PRAMOD MAHAJAN
JIBON ROY
DHARAM PAL SABHARWAL



(a) whether it is a fact that Banerjee Committee constituted by the railway administration has submitted its interim report regarding incident of fire in the S-6 bogie of Sabarmati Express at Godhra station on 27th February, 2002 to Government; and

(b) if so, the details thereof and Government’s reaction thereon?
ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

(SHRI R. VELU)


(a) & (b): A Statement is attached.



STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) & (b) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.577 BY SHRI PRAMOD MAHAJAN, SHRI DHARAM PAL SABHARWAL AND SHRI JIBON ROY TO BE ANSWERED IN RAJYA SABHA ON 04.03.2005 REGARDING INTERIM REPORT ON GODHRA INCIDENT

(a): Yes, Sir.

(b): The observations of the Banerjee Committee report are as under :-

(i) The fire on Sabarmati Express on 27th February, 2002 cannot but be ascribed to be an accidental fire which engulfed the coir, the foam and the latex available on berths coupled with the luggage of the passengers causing thereby the smell of burning and thereafter dense smoke culminating into leaping flames and not a deliberate attempted event.

(ii) There has been a preponderance of evidence that the fire in coach No.S6 originated in the coach itself without any external input.

(iii) The question of any miscreant activity does not and cannot arise.

(iv) All is not well with Railway Safety as they should be in their approach in order to avoid any further untoward incident like the present one.

(v) There has been failure on the part of the Commission of Railway Safety and Railway Administration to conduct a statutory inquiry into this accident.

(vi) The response of Godhra Fire Brigade was not unsatisfactory.

(vii)Failure of Government Railway Police has also been adversely commented.

(viii)Role of Railway Administration has been adversely commented for :-

(a) Not making any concerted efforts to preserve clues of the incidents.

(b) Not giving due importance to this railway accident as this was considered to be a miscreant activity by Railway Administration without any inquiry.

(c) Discrepancies in record keeping.

(d) Not following up the specified practices at the time of railway accident like certification of track and coach fitness.

(e) Failure of Railway Protection Force (RPF).

(f) No individual has been held responsible for the incident.
No Action Taken Report has been prepared in view of this report being interim in nature.



Thursday 20 June 2013

The SIT Case against Zakia Petition

Against the SIT case for closure, Zakia-CJP have a voluminous petition.  My two bits sourced entirely from news-reports and articles freely available -

Indian Express news report

SIT Counsel R S Jamuar said there were four major allegations of larger conspiracy — failure to declare curfew in time, failure to make preventive arrests, deployment of Army and failure to make effective firing to control the rioting mob.
Jamuar said, "Curfew was imposed on time while 4000 people were rounded up within 72 hours after the riots broke out. Police fired more bullets than tear gas shells and that is the reason 100 people were killed."
About deployment of the Army, Jamuar told the court that accused number-one (Modi) had demanded extra forces from the Centre but it got delayed due to circumstances related to national security.
He added when the state got the nod it airlifted Army personnel to control the 2002 riots. Jamuar concluded that Zakia's complaint didn't have substance as the witnesses Zakia included were based on "hearsay" and "lies".

He also criticised Zakia for making the case political with the help of NGOs instead of keeping it as a criminal offence. Zakia's lawyer will start arguments on a daily basis from June 26 against SIT's closure report.  http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sit-concludes-arguments-against-zakias-petition/1131438/

How Curfew was or not declared & Failure to make preventive arrests

Jamuar said, "Curfew was imposed on time while 4000 people were rounded up within 72 hours after the riots broke out.

However consider the following extract from Shiv Vishvanathan's article
Violence almost summons knee-jerk the idea of curfew or Section 144. Yet [in Ahmedabad] curfew was not imposed till 1:00 p.m. on the 28th, while the murders had commenced on the 27th evening. One has to ask: Was curfew delayed to allow for the congregation of rioters to facilitate their activities? Was the delay in curfew a ‘collaborative omission giving free hand to rioters?’ Was this also ‘in compliance with the CM’s instructions in the meeting on the 27th evening?’ Ironically, in some of the least communally volatile areas as in Saurashtra, curfew was imposed by 10 p.m. Finally, one has to ask whether the deployment of police was in terms of real time intelligence provide by the special branches in riot-affected districts. The network of documents from station diaries, periodical situation reports, messages to district and state control rooms, instructions to field officers from the DGP need scrutiny. This becomes all the more imperative given the admission by the Joint CP of Ahmedabad city before the Nanavati Commission. Mr. Shivanand Jha admitted that only one Hindu and six Muslims were arrested as a part of preventive action.
*** 
The question one has to ask is: Was there a facade of nominalism about the investigation to hide neglect? Consider the background: 54 people arrested in Ahmedabad city on 28 February 2002. None of the people in the list figured in the usual roster of ‘communally-minded’, people generally detained before such disturbances. One has to then ask: Was this a mere statistical display, a logic of clerical numbers assembled to satisfy protest or stem a later inquiry? 
*** 
Visualize the situation. The violence continued the whole day. Thousands congregated as a mob, yet not one is arrested. In fact, for the following six days not a single arrest was made. Can one conclude that the police gave them an adequate chance to escape?  
To give a perspective to the claim of Mr Jamuar that 4000 were rounded up within 72 hours after the riots broke out, in Mumbai, during the same period, 8000 VHP/BD activists were rounded up. Also, Jamuar fails to give specific figures for Ahmedabad, clubbing the data with rest of Gujarat's. A comprehensive account of role of police, good and bad is here.

NHRC report  on pattern of arrests 

Pattern of arrests
 17.             In this connection, the Commission has made a careful analysis of the pattern of arrests indicated to it by the State Government in its report of 12 April 2002.  That report states that a total number of 27,780 arrests had been made, involving both crimes and as preventive detention.  The response does not, however, make clear how many arrests, preventive or otherwise, were made in the worst afflicted areas of the State within the first 72 hours of the tragedy in Godhra, nor the community-wise break-up of those arrested in those areas in the immediate aftermath of Godhra, though such data would have enabled a proper scrutiny of the charge of discrimination brought against the State Government in respect of its conduct in the critical hours immediately after the Godhra tragedy and the call for the ‘bandh’.  This lack of transparency seriously undermines the response.  The report states instead, that, in relation to various offences, 11,167 persons were arrested, of whom 3,269 belonged to the “minority” community and 7,896 to the “majority.”  As regards the 16,615 preventive arrests, it mentions that 13,804 belong to the “majority” community and 2,811 to the “minority.”  The questions that arise, however, are when and where were the arrests made, who were arrested and for how long were they kept in custody, and were those who were specifically named arrested.    The Special Representative of the Commission, Shri Nampoothiri has observed in a report to the Commission dated 24 April 2002 that “almost 90% of those arrested even in heinous offences like murder, arson, etc., have managed to get bailed out almost as soon as they were arrested.”  Reports have also appeared in the media that those who have been released on bail were given warm public welcomes by some political leaders.  This is in sharp contrast to the assertion made by the State Government in its report of 12 April 2002 that “bail applications of all accused persons are being strongly defended and rejected” (sic).

Failure to make effective firing to control the rioting mob

Police fired more bullets than tear gas shells and that is the reason 100 people were killed."

Consider the city of Ahmedabad. On 28th Feb 2002, 40 were killed in police firing, 36 of them muslims. They were fleeing from the mob violence and their names can be found in the Citizen's Tribunal report and they have been sourced from hospitals. It will be interesting to know the details of each and every death in the police firing. The 4 non muslims who were killed in police firing in Ahmedabad on 28th met their end in the following way --
According to the three accused, the police not only gave them a free hand, but also exhorted the rioters to kill Muslims. Mangilal Jain said that the police inspector in-charge of Meghaninagar police station, KG Erda told the rioters that they had three to four hours to carry out killings. TEHELKA found that the police inspector had given this time since extra forces were expected to be in Ahmedabad that evening.

Jain said some in the police kept away, indicating to the rioters that they were to do whatever they wished in those few hours. This further fuelled the mob’s frenzy all over Ahmedabad and led to the deaths of many more Muslims.

Raju also told TEHELKA that police personnel deployed in the area not only stood back but signalled to the rioters to go for the kill. Erda arrived to “rescue” the survivors after the massacre was almost over. At this point, relates Chawal, the rioters approached Erda and told him he was not doing the right thing as the survivors could testify against them. So Erda came up with a heinous plan — as the van carrying the survivors drew away from Gulbarg, the rioters were to pelt stones at it so the constable on the vehicle could claim to have been scared off. He would flee and the mob could then torch it. But the plan could not be executed because of the timely intervention of a Muslim inspector called Pathan, Chawal said.
PI Pathan fired into the mob which resulted in four deaths.  

Deployment of Army

Jamuar told the court that accused number-one (Modi) had demanded extra forces from the Centre but it got delayed due to circumstances related to national security.

What did the then president Mr K R Narayanan have to say about the deployment of the army?
There was governmental and administrative support for the communal riots in Gujarat. I gave several letters to Prime Minister Vajpayee in this regard on this issue. I met him personally and talked to him directly. But Vajpayee did not do anything effective.
I requested him to send the army to Gujarat and suppress the riots. The Centre had the Constitutional responsibility and powers to send the military if the state governments asked. The military was sent, but they were not given powers to shoot. If the military was given powers to shoot at the perpetrators of violence, recurrence of tragedies in Gujarat could have been avoided.
However, both the state and central government did not do so. Had the military been given powers to shoot, the carnage in Gujarat could have been avoided to a great extent. I feel there was a conspiracy involving the state and central governments behind the Gujarat riots.
A not very complimentary picture emerges from the following news report & an extract from an article -
Soldiers 'held back to allow Hindus revenge'
By Rahul Bedi in Ahmedabad
12:01AM GMT 04 Mar 2002


TROOPS and police appeared to have most of Gujarat state under control yesterday after almost 500 people had died in India's worst Hindu-Muslim bloodshed in a decade.
Intelligence officials admitted, however, that there had been a deliberate delay by federal and state governments in deploying the army to give Hindu militants a free hand after a Muslim mob  killed 58 Hindus on a train.
 The air force had 13 transport aircraft fuelled and ready at Jodhpur in neighbouring Rajasthan state to ferry troops to Ahmedabad, early on Thursday evening, when the rioting was at its height.
"But for an inexplicable reason, even though it was apparent that the state police were proving incapable, 1,000 troops were flown out only the next morning," said a senior military officer.
 On arriving in Ahmedabad, scene of the worst violence, the soldiers were not provided with transport, information on communally sensitive areas or guides.
"When the army was eventually deployed on Friday evening it was not taken to the trouble spots, but merely asked to display itself in areas from which the Muslims had already fled," a security officer said. 
"It was a calculated decision by the state's Hindu nationalist government." 
Intelligence officials admitted that a "systems failure", prompted by politicians, allowed the rioting to continue. They said some police connived and, at times, even helped Hindu mobs. 
Narinder Modi, Gujarat's chief minister, said yesterday: "Every action has an equal and opposite reaction." His officials conceded that this was a "cynical justification" of four days of rioting. Mr Modi, who belongs to the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party that heads the federal coalition, added that Gujarat's 50 million people had shown "remarkable restraint under grave provocation", implying that the violence could have been worse. 
A curfew was in place last night in sensitive parts of Ahmedabad, but an air of normality was returning. However, Muslim survivors of grisly massacres and the unchecked 30-hour orgy of violence and arson, were bemused. 
They said the police simply stood by, or in some cases even encouraged the rioters as they went on the rampage, burning entire families to death in their homes. "The police actively supported the rioters, almost as if they were accompanying them," Sakina Inayat Sajid, who lost six of her family and whose husband is missing, said from her hospital bed. The few policemen she pleaded with for help in Shehajpuri Patia told her to "go and die elsewhere". But there was no escape. All exit points had been surrounded by mobs armed with swords, iron rods, acid and paraffin. 
"I do not know how I made it out alive," said Mehboob Sheikh, a lorry driver, who lost all nine family members, including his two children. The killings ended when the first troops arrived."But by then it was too late," said Shabana Abdul Sayeed at the local civil hospital. "There was nothing left to destroy or burn." 
The roots of the violence lie in the decade-old campaign by Hindus to build a temple to their god Lord Ram on the site of a mosque at Ayodhya. The 16th century mosque was razed by Hindus in 1992, believing the spot to be Ram's exact birth place. This led to countrywide riots in which more than 2,000 died. The Hindus burned in a train last week were returning from Ayodhya. 
Under instructions from the federal administration, Ayodhya has been sealed off. Atal Behari Vajpayee, the prime minister, who is confronting his worst political crisis since coming to power four years ago, has met World Hindu Council leaders and asked them to drop, or at least postpone their plans in the interests of communal harmony. 
The Foreign Office said last night that it had no further information on Britons caught up in the rioting other than that Mohammed Aswat Nallabhai, a man from Batley, West Yorks, had been killed. One of Mr Nallabhai's relatives was injured and two others are missing.
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Now some extracts from Shiv Visvanathan's article 
 More particularly, was there a delay in requisitioning army and central paramilitary forces so that one could give a free hand to anti-Muslim rioters?
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We discover that Major General [Zameeruddin Shah], the area commander, observed that misleading information was conveyed to army units. As a result, they landed in peaceful areas while rioters went unchecked. To avoid this, the army later responded directly to public calls of distress ignoring the local police in the later period of the riots. Incidentally, {Zameeruddin] is the brother of the famous actor, Nasiruddin Shah. Witnesses feel that the assumption or the cloak of immaculate innocence around top officers has to be challenged. Individuals like Ashok Narayan, ACS, and DGP K. Chakravarty have to be interrogated. To pretend they are part of a silent film is no longer acceptable. Truth telling has to be a public act open to public scrutiny. 
Needless to say, the area commander  Maj Gen Zameeruddin Shah was not examined by SIT