People's Democracy

 The Godhra Case

  Nalini Taneja

GIVING a new twist to the Godhra train torching case the relatives of those burnt alive in the torched train have come out against the Narendra Modi government and the VHP accusing them of using their grief for political purposes, and much more. They have demanded that the investigation into the carnage be held outside the state due to interference by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party members.

It may be remembered that this incident has been given as justification by the Hindutva forces for the genocide of Muslims that ensued the next day.

ENGINEERED CARNAGE

It was of course clear from the start and has been proved inconclusively by various citizens’ reports that the Gujarat carnage was no expression of spontaneous anger. It was engineered and led by the well organised and well entrenched Hindutva brigade and encouraged by the ruling BJP government, the Hindutva sympathisers within the state officialdom, police forces and the media --- all of which acted in a concerted and orchestrated manner, and later went on to engineer cooked up theories of spontaneous anger.

Even as questions were being raised about the Godhra incident itself that remained unanswered, for example about the manner in which the bodies were all positioned in the compartments or the actual substance used for the torching, and whether it came from inside or outside the train, this propaganda of the Sangh Parivar was relentlessly relayed all over. It succeeded in convincing a large section of the Indian people that although the massacre of Muslims that followed the Godhra incident were wrong, the Muslims had somehow brought it on themselves by taking the first step towards violence.

LITTLE CHANCE FOR JUSTICE

Even as a number of cases are being pursued in Gujarat, it has been becoming clearer by the day that the victims who are Muslims have little chance for justice as those in the judicial system who are sympathetically or organisationally linked to the Hindutva forces are being appointed as public prosecutors for the specific cases, where chances for conviction would otherwise have been high due to the public nature of the crime and availability of evidence. These public prosecutors have been crucial in giving the cases a pro- Hindutva turn. How they have achieved this is well known and has been discussed earlier in these columns.

On the other hand Muslims have been arrested right and left, and scores of them have been arrested under POTA for the Godhra case, while those responsible for the carnage that followed roam free and jubilant. Therefore at this juncture the appeal by relatives of Godhra victims who are Hindu is extremely important in exposing the stake that the BJP government has in the truth on Godhra not coming out.

While conspiracy theories are laughed at in analyses of historical events and not taken too seriously in politics, historical experience shows that for fascists it is a legitimate and common form of political strategy. Even without jumping the gun, one can clearly see the BJP hand in preventing the truth from being found out.

NO FAITH IN MODI GOVT

Some relatives of the Godhra train carnage have openly talked of being “pressured” by party and VHP workers, and have demanded shifting of the Nanavati Commission of Enquiry outside the state. They have stated that they have “no faith” in the Narendra Modi government. There is a detailed PTI report published in the Indian Express, October 6, 2003, page 6. Helped by the Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), an organisation of concerned citizens, they have had the courage to speak out. They have said that the BJP and VHP sponsored Ayodhya yatra was “politically motivated”, and that nineteen months later they were yet to receive compensation from the state government.

“The BJP had taken our family members to Ayodhya and assured of bringing them back safely. Why were they sent back without any of the BJP members accompnaying them” asked Girish Rawal, whose wife was killed in the train and whose son was stabbed in the post Godhra violence. Prakash Chodagar and Sharad Mhatre, both of whom lost their wives, alleged that they were “pressurised” by the BJP leader Jaykant Dave during inquiry by the Nanavati Commission to “keep our mouth shut” and the party functionaries themselves deposed posing as representatives of the victims’ families.

PRESSURISING THE RELATIVES

Bharatbhai Panchal, whose wife was one of 58 people who died, is quoted by another report as saying:  "Many times we are actually told to keep our mouths shut and activists or members of these organisations represent us in the inquiry commission. This is unacceptable to us. We are therefore demanding that Godhra inquiry and also other riot case inquiries be held outside of Gujarat." (Pamela Raghunath, Gulf News, October 6, 2003).  Teesta Setalvaad, the Secretary of the CJM says that "On the eve of their coming to Mumbai, attempts were made to intimidate them into changing their mind by the local leadership of the VHP and BJP."

Following the pattern of courage expressed by those who have lost their dear ones, we now have the daughter of Ashwin Rawal, a Vishwa Hindu Parishad member, murdered on April 16, 2002 in the midst of the frenzy of communal violence and tense atmosphere, speak out: "We believe the murder was committed by the very group my father belonged to."

Addressing media persons in Mumbai, the relatives of the victims have also appealed to people not to participate in the forthcoming Ayodhya Yatra organised by the BJP and the VHP on October 15. In their petition to the apex court, the relatives want a ban on future Ayodhya 'yatras', immediate transfer of the Godhra and other riot inquiries underway, adequate reparation and compensation to all victims, including those in the post Godhra burning and the investigation of source of funds and their use by the VHP and BJP received in the name of Godhra victims.

This attempt by the Godhra victims to come out of the clutches of the VHP and to speak against the Narendra Modi government and to express concern not just for themselves but also for the victims of the genocide that followed the Godhra train torching is of course an act of great courage; it is also a ray of hope in the tense atmosphere of hate created by the Hindutva forces and the state government machinery in Gujarat. It may also, yet lead to the truth coming out, despite all efforts of the BJP government to suppress it.