Centre for Research on Direct Democracy, University of Zurich, Switzerland in collaboration with other partners including the Department of Political Science, University of Kerala has launched an online research project of studying Kerala State Assembly Election 2011. This is based on Voting Advice Application (VVA) to explore the ideological profile of party supporters.
Voting Aid Application (VAA) is an Internet application that helps voters to find a party that stands closest to the voters' preferences. We have implemented our VAA during major elections in Brazil, Greece, Peru among others.
Visit the web and test your preference if you are en eligible voter of Kerala in the forthcoming Assembly election
http://www.keralaelections2011.org/home
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Saturday, March 05, 2011
Advani and Modi - the real culprits escaping the law By:Asghar Ali Engineer
Advani and Modi - the real culprits escaping the law
By Asghar Ali Engineer,
More than 100 innocent persons were arrested after burning of S-6 in Godhra on 27th February 2002 which in turn followed demolition of Babri Masjid on 6th December 1992. The man mainly responsible for the former was Mr. L.K.Advani who, to fulfill his ambition for power raised the slogan ‘mandir wahin banayenge’ and played with the religious sentiments of common Hindus and our secular state looked the other way. The man responsible for the later was Narendra Modi, who exploited burning of S-6 in Godhra to retain his power which otherwise he was sure to loose. And both these worthies of BJP brought utter shame to our secular tradition and secular philosophy.
As a result of this conspiracy by these two men thousands died, lakhs uprooted from their hearths and homes and many more lost everything they had and yet both are not only unpunished but are enjoying power (Advani, though could not become Prime Minister which was his ambition but became Home Minister and deputy Prime Minister under Atal Bihari Vajpayeeji and is now a prominent opposition leader which also is a sort of power).
Narender Modi and L K Advani
Mr. Advani very promptly issues a statement that he has been vindicated the moment lower court pronounces some people guilty arrested by his or his Party’s Government even before higher court’s judgments often release them or declare them not guilty. The moment Mr. Jeelani was held guilty by the lower court in Parliament attack case, he did not hesitate to issue this statement even though he was Home Minister at the Centre. No one holding such responsible position should rush to issue such statement when the lower court has pronounced the judgment. The highest court i.e. the Supreme Court found Prof. Jeelani ‘not guilty’ and released him.
Again after the ‘Godhra Conspiracy Case’ judgment the Advani-speak was the same. He was delighted that 31 people were pronounced ‘guilty’ by the lower court although 63 were released and especially Husain Umerjee who was arrested as the ‘main conspirator’ was found not guilty by the Court. The whole conspiracy theory falls to the ground if the chief conspirator himself is found innocent. Who then plotted the conspiracy? But that was none of Advani’s concern. At least 31 have been found guilty. And it is out of question that he (Advaniji) will wait for higher courts to critically examine the judgment of the lower court.
Mr.Advani does this not because he is hasty by nature. He does it on purpose. He knows his guilt in raising emotionally surcharged issue of Ramjanambhoomi temple and getting it demolished in his august presence on 6th December, 1992 and wants to hide his guilt by pronouncing the victims themselves as guilty. Unfortunately this is the whole tragedy. Besides thousands who died due to the controversy Mr. Advani raised and lakhs who were uprooted and became refugees in their own country, hundreds suffered due to imprisonment for years.
In the Godhra case alone more than 100 persons were arrested under the charge of conspiracy some of whom died and 63, who spent 9 years in jail, were released by the court. Who will compensate them for precious loss of these years in prison? The Police in Modi Government arbitrarily picked up people and put them under POTA. I cannot forget the cries of a woman in public hearing in Hyderabad whose three sons were arrested in the so called Godhra conspiracy case and who has been released by the court. She was crying why POTA has taken away my sons, please tell POTA my sons are innocent. She swooned while crying. Obviously she did not know what the POTA was and thought it is name of some person. Her husband could not bear the tragedy and passed away after 4 years of his sons’ arrest. Every body in the audience was crying and I too could not hold up my tears when the woman was crying. Who can compensate her and her three sons for this loss?
What is more matter of concern is that while innocent people who have suffered so much already including those whose near and dear ones were burnt alive in Sabarmati Express those who are really guilty are enjoying power. Is this our secular democracy that those who incite religious sentiments enjoy power and those who sweat and toil for their daily existence loose their lives or suffer imprisonment for years? Can it fit into any human rights norms, let alone our secular political philosophy?
And what is worse Mr. L.K.Advani is not even being tried for demolition of Babri Masjid but for making provocative speech near Babri Masjid. That case was also withdrawn and now CBI has again applied for reviving the case. The CBI was as much pliant to the NDA Government as the BJP never tires of accusing the Congress of. It was under Home Ministership of Mr. Advani that such cases against him were withdrawn by the CBI.
In the first place Mr. Advani should not have been made Home Minister, much less becoming Deputy Prime Minister when he was being tried in the court of law by CBI which works under the home ministry. But anything can happen in democratic India. And still BJP has temerity of accusing the Congress of misusing CBI. This writer has nothing to do with the Congress and the Congress cannot be said to be above board at all. I am only pointing out double standards of the BJP.
Mr. Narendra Modi, less said the better. It is important to ask in his case what is good governance? To kill 2000 innocent people and rape scores of women, including pregnant women and to win power by inciting religious sentiment and to polarize people on religious grounds? For TATAs and Ambanis and other big industrialists it may amount to good governance but for common people it amounts to hell.
The Gujarat carnage, whatever Mr. Modi now does, cannot be forgotten and will go down in history as occurrence of greatest shame for secular India. Mr. Advani, who fights election from Gujarat, keeps on praising Modi on every possible occasion but it only adds to the gravity and criminality of the matter.
Even SIT (Special Investigation Team) appointed by the Supreme Court, though could not give clean chit to Mr. Modi but wriggled out by saying there is not enough evidence to try him. The SIT report published in Tehelka is damaging enough. If the SIT had proceeded further on that basis it could have surely found evidence to try Mr.Modi. Without Modi’s complicity riots could not have lasted even for 24 hours, let alone three months.
The cases of Bihar under Lalu Prasad and West Bengal under the Left Government clearly show, if any proof is needed, that no communal riot can last more than 24 hours without the state complicity. Can then Narendra Modi be exonerated of his complicity in riots? In no way. And SIT report and other investigative reports clearly indict him beyond any doubt. If his dark spot on the fair name of secularism is to be washed away the really guilty must be held accountable in any case.
Technicalities should not become an excuse to exonerate these people who have ruined the lives of thousands of people for ever. If these people can enjoy power by accusing innocent people of ‘conspiracy without any solid ground, can really guilty be not tried on very sound ground. Let us hope the Supreme Court will issue further directives to SIT or any other agencies to collect proper evidence against the guilty men of Gujarat. Most of the police high officers who did what the Government of Gujarat wanted them to do should also not be allowed to escape and must be held responsible.
These high officials cannot get away by saying they carried out orders of the Government. Their first duty is towards the Constitution of India and no unconstitutional orders can be followed. My experience in last forty five years of my work for communal harmony shows that communal violence cannot stop in this country unless the guilty people are given exemplary punishment. It is no use small fish being shown the stick and big fish enjoys all the benefits of inciting communal violence.
Let us all hope that one day it will happen and certainly so if the civil society shows proper awareness. It is fragmented civil society which allows such benefits of provoking communal sentiments by few politicians. Gujarat then certainly cannot repeat.
By Asghar Ali Engineer,
More than 100 innocent persons were arrested after burning of S-6 in Godhra on 27th February 2002 which in turn followed demolition of Babri Masjid on 6th December 1992. The man mainly responsible for the former was Mr. L.K.Advani who, to fulfill his ambition for power raised the slogan ‘mandir wahin banayenge’ and played with the religious sentiments of common Hindus and our secular state looked the other way. The man responsible for the later was Narendra Modi, who exploited burning of S-6 in Godhra to retain his power which otherwise he was sure to loose. And both these worthies of BJP brought utter shame to our secular tradition and secular philosophy.
As a result of this conspiracy by these two men thousands died, lakhs uprooted from their hearths and homes and many more lost everything they had and yet both are not only unpunished but are enjoying power (Advani, though could not become Prime Minister which was his ambition but became Home Minister and deputy Prime Minister under Atal Bihari Vajpayeeji and is now a prominent opposition leader which also is a sort of power).
Narender Modi and L K Advani
Mr. Advani very promptly issues a statement that he has been vindicated the moment lower court pronounces some people guilty arrested by his or his Party’s Government even before higher court’s judgments often release them or declare them not guilty. The moment Mr. Jeelani was held guilty by the lower court in Parliament attack case, he did not hesitate to issue this statement even though he was Home Minister at the Centre. No one holding such responsible position should rush to issue such statement when the lower court has pronounced the judgment. The highest court i.e. the Supreme Court found Prof. Jeelani ‘not guilty’ and released him.
Again after the ‘Godhra Conspiracy Case’ judgment the Advani-speak was the same. He was delighted that 31 people were pronounced ‘guilty’ by the lower court although 63 were released and especially Husain Umerjee who was arrested as the ‘main conspirator’ was found not guilty by the Court. The whole conspiracy theory falls to the ground if the chief conspirator himself is found innocent. Who then plotted the conspiracy? But that was none of Advani’s concern. At least 31 have been found guilty. And it is out of question that he (Advaniji) will wait for higher courts to critically examine the judgment of the lower court.
Mr.Advani does this not because he is hasty by nature. He does it on purpose. He knows his guilt in raising emotionally surcharged issue of Ramjanambhoomi temple and getting it demolished in his august presence on 6th December, 1992 and wants to hide his guilt by pronouncing the victims themselves as guilty. Unfortunately this is the whole tragedy. Besides thousands who died due to the controversy Mr. Advani raised and lakhs who were uprooted and became refugees in their own country, hundreds suffered due to imprisonment for years.
In the Godhra case alone more than 100 persons were arrested under the charge of conspiracy some of whom died and 63, who spent 9 years in jail, were released by the court. Who will compensate them for precious loss of these years in prison? The Police in Modi Government arbitrarily picked up people and put them under POTA. I cannot forget the cries of a woman in public hearing in Hyderabad whose three sons were arrested in the so called Godhra conspiracy case and who has been released by the court. She was crying why POTA has taken away my sons, please tell POTA my sons are innocent. She swooned while crying. Obviously she did not know what the POTA was and thought it is name of some person. Her husband could not bear the tragedy and passed away after 4 years of his sons’ arrest. Every body in the audience was crying and I too could not hold up my tears when the woman was crying. Who can compensate her and her three sons for this loss?
What is more matter of concern is that while innocent people who have suffered so much already including those whose near and dear ones were burnt alive in Sabarmati Express those who are really guilty are enjoying power. Is this our secular democracy that those who incite religious sentiments enjoy power and those who sweat and toil for their daily existence loose their lives or suffer imprisonment for years? Can it fit into any human rights norms, let alone our secular political philosophy?
And what is worse Mr. L.K.Advani is not even being tried for demolition of Babri Masjid but for making provocative speech near Babri Masjid. That case was also withdrawn and now CBI has again applied for reviving the case. The CBI was as much pliant to the NDA Government as the BJP never tires of accusing the Congress of. It was under Home Ministership of Mr. Advani that such cases against him were withdrawn by the CBI.
In the first place Mr. Advani should not have been made Home Minister, much less becoming Deputy Prime Minister when he was being tried in the court of law by CBI which works under the home ministry. But anything can happen in democratic India. And still BJP has temerity of accusing the Congress of misusing CBI. This writer has nothing to do with the Congress and the Congress cannot be said to be above board at all. I am only pointing out double standards of the BJP.
Mr. Narendra Modi, less said the better. It is important to ask in his case what is good governance? To kill 2000 innocent people and rape scores of women, including pregnant women and to win power by inciting religious sentiment and to polarize people on religious grounds? For TATAs and Ambanis and other big industrialists it may amount to good governance but for common people it amounts to hell.
The Gujarat carnage, whatever Mr. Modi now does, cannot be forgotten and will go down in history as occurrence of greatest shame for secular India. Mr. Advani, who fights election from Gujarat, keeps on praising Modi on every possible occasion but it only adds to the gravity and criminality of the matter.
Even SIT (Special Investigation Team) appointed by the Supreme Court, though could not give clean chit to Mr. Modi but wriggled out by saying there is not enough evidence to try him. The SIT report published in Tehelka is damaging enough. If the SIT had proceeded further on that basis it could have surely found evidence to try Mr.Modi. Without Modi’s complicity riots could not have lasted even for 24 hours, let alone three months.
The cases of Bihar under Lalu Prasad and West Bengal under the Left Government clearly show, if any proof is needed, that no communal riot can last more than 24 hours without the state complicity. Can then Narendra Modi be exonerated of his complicity in riots? In no way. And SIT report and other investigative reports clearly indict him beyond any doubt. If his dark spot on the fair name of secularism is to be washed away the really guilty must be held accountable in any case.
Technicalities should not become an excuse to exonerate these people who have ruined the lives of thousands of people for ever. If these people can enjoy power by accusing innocent people of ‘conspiracy without any solid ground, can really guilty be not tried on very sound ground. Let us hope the Supreme Court will issue further directives to SIT or any other agencies to collect proper evidence against the guilty men of Gujarat. Most of the police high officers who did what the Government of Gujarat wanted them to do should also not be allowed to escape and must be held responsible.
These high officials cannot get away by saying they carried out orders of the Government. Their first duty is towards the Constitution of India and no unconstitutional orders can be followed. My experience in last forty five years of my work for communal harmony shows that communal violence cannot stop in this country unless the guilty people are given exemplary punishment. It is no use small fish being shown the stick and big fish enjoys all the benefits of inciting communal violence.
Let us all hope that one day it will happen and certainly so if the civil society shows proper awareness. It is fragmented civil society which allows such benefits of provoking communal sentiments by few politicians. Gujarat then certainly cannot repeat.
Thursday, March 03, 2011
Godhra Verdict: Whither Justice? Need for a CBI Investigation : Ram Puniyani
Godhra Verdict: Whither Justice?
Need for a CBI Investigation
Ram Puniyani
On 22rd February 2011, the session’s court gave its verdict on Godhra train burning of Sabarmati Express. It accepted the Gujarat state’s theory that the local Muslims had hatched a conspiracy to burn S-6 Coach of Sabaramati Express. At the same time of the 94 people being tried for this crime 63 were exonerated of the crime and 31 were held to be the guilty of planning to burn the Kar Sevaks. This conspiracy theory was initially put forward by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who within half hour of the burning of the train came to this conclusion. He had gone on to say that the conspiracy has been hatched by international terrorism, in collusion with the local Muslims through Pakistan’s ISI. At that time the Godhra collector Jayanti Ravi had ruled out the conspiracy theory.
In such ghastly Railway accidents it is mandatory to investigate them but the Railway Ministry sat quiet, as the then Raliway Minister Niteesh Kumar was part of BJP led NDA Government. This conspiracy theory was given wide currency and was used as a sort of justification for the post Godhra anti Muslim pogrom. The NDA Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee went on to say, Gujarat happened because Godhra took place. UP Chief Minister Mayawati, who was then allying with BJP, campaigned for Modi and in response to the question about Gujarat carnage, said that there was Godhra also! Later with change of Government Lalu Prasad Yadav who became Railways minister in UPA Government, initiated the much delayed obligation to investigate every major railway accident, and instituted Bannerjee Commission. This Commission opined that there is no evidence of a conspiracy by local Muslims.
To prove that it was a conspiracy the Gujarat police investigated the case in a manner in which many witnesses were made to confess of selling 140 liters petrol, carrying the same, cutting open the vestibule between S6 and S7, pouring petrol in the S6 coach and then burning it by throwing the fire balls into the train. The present judgment accepts the conspiracy theory but finds no evidence at all against the culprit-in-Chief, the chief conspirator as per the Gujarat Government, Haji Umarji and also no evidence against other major accused! The whole judgment seems to fall flat on this ground.
The mainstay of conspiracy theory has been the selling of loose petrol, throwing burning fire balls into the train, for all this there is no eye witness, and even those who initially confessed to having sold petrol did not stand the scrutiny and one of them said that he was paid Rs 50000, like the other person who is saying that they sold loose petrol, by Noel Parmar the Chief investigating officer. As such there have been many loose ends in the conspiracy theory. The point that Muslims wanted to take revenge by burning Kar Sevaks does not stand the scrutiny of logic due to multiple reasons. To begin with the Muslims and also the state officials did not know that Sabarmati Express is carrying Kar Sevaks. The only people who knew that Kar Sevaks are travelling in the train were VHP people. Secondly; the train that day was late by close to five hours; normally it comes to Godhra in the midnight. In case of planned conspiracy from outside it is difficult to plan for such circumstances. Thirdly; as vestibule was being cut open, what was being done by the Railway protection force? Cutting-open the vestibule and entering from that is not an easy job. Fourthly, if windows and doors were closed how can burning fireballs enter the train? It was initially propagated that train was stopped by Muslims, but investigations show that the first stoppage of train was due to chain pulling by kar sevaks and the second due to technical failure. There is a general impression that train was locked from outside. The very simple fact that train coach cannot be locked from outside was forgotten while propagating this falsehood.
So as the matters stand there are enough grounds to doubt the theory that it was a conspiracy by Muslims. Another dimension to the whole incident has been added by the latest issue of Tehelka (March 5, 2011). Ashsih Khetan in this path breaking investigation (http://www.tehelka.com/story_main48.asp?filename=Ne050311CoverStory.asp) shows that there is no substance at all in the theory that it was a conspiracy by Muslims. In a meticulously argued expose he shows that this whole theory is not only fallacious, it distracts attention from the truth of another conspiracy which was going on. As per him it was a conspiracy yes, but not by Muslims. He points out that:
* It’s important to recall that, in its 2007 sting investigation (The Truth about Gujarat 2002), TEHELKA had exposed that the nine BJP men who were cited as eyewitnesses were, in fact, not even present at the scene of crime. They had been asked to give false testimonies by the police to further the Modi government’s communal and political agenda, and they had gone along to “serve the cause of Hindutva”.
* Ajay Baria, a Hindu vendor, forced into the plot; saw it all, Judge Patel has relied hugely on Baria’s account. But why would Muslim conspirators pick a Hindu man at the last minute to help load the petrol and burn the train? TEHELKA tried to track him but failed. His mother said he had been coerced into becoming a police witness and lived under constant police surveillance.
* Two petrol pump attendants who claim they sold 140 liters of fuel to some Muslims on 26 Feb, Ranjitsinh and Pratapsinh Patel had first told the police that they had not sold any loose petrol that crucial night. In a shocking turnaround, six months later, they changed their version. However, TEHELKA caught Ranjitsinh admitting on camera that he and Pratap had been bribed Rs. 50,000 by police officer Noel Parmar to do that. He also tutored them to identify particular Muslims in court as being the buyers
* Jabir Bahera, a petty criminal, first named Maulvi Umarji as a mastermind. Bahera claimed it was Umarji who picked coach S-6 as the target, but also said Umarji was not present at any conspiracy meetings. He later retracted everything
* Sikandar Siddique, another petty criminal, had said Maulvi Punjabi had incited the mob. But Punjabi was not even in the country that day
Khetan’s path-breaking investigation makes it clear that the real conspiracy is not from the side of Muslims. Truth is many a times stranger than fiction. We have been made to believe from last many years that it is Muslims who are responsible for Malegaon, Samjhauta, Ajmer and many such blasts. Those writers and social activists who doubted this police-Hindutva version of the cause of terror were totally ignored by the investigating authorities and by the big media. Their investigations did show the involvement of Hindutva elements. These writers and social activists were criticized and intimidated for being anti Hindu and anti nationals. Now as the matters stand today, thanks to Hemant Karkare’s investigations and later Swami Aseemanand’s confessions, truth is that in all these cases of acts of terror, Hindutva groups were involved. Now by piecing together the observations from the one of Godhra Collector Jayanti Ravi to the Sting operations by Tehelka Khetan points out “That there was a conspiracy afoot in Gujarat those years is beyond doubt. But as this story shows, it was a conspiracy of a different kind. It was a conspiracy designed to rent the fabric of this country: a conspiracy by State machinery to blacken one community’s name. And declare them the enemy.”
In this case the nature of shoddy, biased investigation done by police is very obvious. We do need an impartial investigation; a CBI inquiry into the whole thing is called for. We are living in strange times. The sectarianism, the politics of religious identity has overtaken the better of us. What is aggressively propagated is far from truth, and the truth remains submerged in the din of hysteria created by politics in the name of religion. Be it terrorism, be it communal violence, we need to invoke our humane, rational faculties, honesty and professionalism, overcome our biases, investigate the acts of crime properly and punish the guilty, irrespective of their religion. So many innocents have lost their lives, 59 Kar Sevaks, over 2000 innocent Muslims! We do need to reject the politics of communalism and try to follow the path of justice, the path of peace and communal amity as shown by the greatest Gujarati-Indian of all the times, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.
--
Issues in Secular Politics
I March 2011
-
www.pluralindia.com
response only to ram.puniyani@gmail.com
Need for a CBI Investigation
Ram Puniyani
On 22rd February 2011, the session’s court gave its verdict on Godhra train burning of Sabarmati Express. It accepted the Gujarat state’s theory that the local Muslims had hatched a conspiracy to burn S-6 Coach of Sabaramati Express. At the same time of the 94 people being tried for this crime 63 were exonerated of the crime and 31 were held to be the guilty of planning to burn the Kar Sevaks. This conspiracy theory was initially put forward by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who within half hour of the burning of the train came to this conclusion. He had gone on to say that the conspiracy has been hatched by international terrorism, in collusion with the local Muslims through Pakistan’s ISI. At that time the Godhra collector Jayanti Ravi had ruled out the conspiracy theory.
In such ghastly Railway accidents it is mandatory to investigate them but the Railway Ministry sat quiet, as the then Raliway Minister Niteesh Kumar was part of BJP led NDA Government. This conspiracy theory was given wide currency and was used as a sort of justification for the post Godhra anti Muslim pogrom. The NDA Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee went on to say, Gujarat happened because Godhra took place. UP Chief Minister Mayawati, who was then allying with BJP, campaigned for Modi and in response to the question about Gujarat carnage, said that there was Godhra also! Later with change of Government Lalu Prasad Yadav who became Railways minister in UPA Government, initiated the much delayed obligation to investigate every major railway accident, and instituted Bannerjee Commission. This Commission opined that there is no evidence of a conspiracy by local Muslims.
To prove that it was a conspiracy the Gujarat police investigated the case in a manner in which many witnesses were made to confess of selling 140 liters petrol, carrying the same, cutting open the vestibule between S6 and S7, pouring petrol in the S6 coach and then burning it by throwing the fire balls into the train. The present judgment accepts the conspiracy theory but finds no evidence at all against the culprit-in-Chief, the chief conspirator as per the Gujarat Government, Haji Umarji and also no evidence against other major accused! The whole judgment seems to fall flat on this ground.
The mainstay of conspiracy theory has been the selling of loose petrol, throwing burning fire balls into the train, for all this there is no eye witness, and even those who initially confessed to having sold petrol did not stand the scrutiny and one of them said that he was paid Rs 50000, like the other person who is saying that they sold loose petrol, by Noel Parmar the Chief investigating officer. As such there have been many loose ends in the conspiracy theory. The point that Muslims wanted to take revenge by burning Kar Sevaks does not stand the scrutiny of logic due to multiple reasons. To begin with the Muslims and also the state officials did not know that Sabarmati Express is carrying Kar Sevaks. The only people who knew that Kar Sevaks are travelling in the train were VHP people. Secondly; the train that day was late by close to five hours; normally it comes to Godhra in the midnight. In case of planned conspiracy from outside it is difficult to plan for such circumstances. Thirdly; as vestibule was being cut open, what was being done by the Railway protection force? Cutting-open the vestibule and entering from that is not an easy job. Fourthly, if windows and doors were closed how can burning fireballs enter the train? It was initially propagated that train was stopped by Muslims, but investigations show that the first stoppage of train was due to chain pulling by kar sevaks and the second due to technical failure. There is a general impression that train was locked from outside. The very simple fact that train coach cannot be locked from outside was forgotten while propagating this falsehood.
So as the matters stand there are enough grounds to doubt the theory that it was a conspiracy by Muslims. Another dimension to the whole incident has been added by the latest issue of Tehelka (March 5, 2011). Ashsih Khetan in this path breaking investigation (http://www.tehelka.com/story_main48.asp?filename=Ne050311CoverStory.asp) shows that there is no substance at all in the theory that it was a conspiracy by Muslims. In a meticulously argued expose he shows that this whole theory is not only fallacious, it distracts attention from the truth of another conspiracy which was going on. As per him it was a conspiracy yes, but not by Muslims. He points out that:
* It’s important to recall that, in its 2007 sting investigation (The Truth about Gujarat 2002), TEHELKA had exposed that the nine BJP men who were cited as eyewitnesses were, in fact, not even present at the scene of crime. They had been asked to give false testimonies by the police to further the Modi government’s communal and political agenda, and they had gone along to “serve the cause of Hindutva”.
* Ajay Baria, a Hindu vendor, forced into the plot; saw it all, Judge Patel has relied hugely on Baria’s account. But why would Muslim conspirators pick a Hindu man at the last minute to help load the petrol and burn the train? TEHELKA tried to track him but failed. His mother said he had been coerced into becoming a police witness and lived under constant police surveillance.
* Two petrol pump attendants who claim they sold 140 liters of fuel to some Muslims on 26 Feb, Ranjitsinh and Pratapsinh Patel had first told the police that they had not sold any loose petrol that crucial night. In a shocking turnaround, six months later, they changed their version. However, TEHELKA caught Ranjitsinh admitting on camera that he and Pratap had been bribed Rs. 50,000 by police officer Noel Parmar to do that. He also tutored them to identify particular Muslims in court as being the buyers
* Jabir Bahera, a petty criminal, first named Maulvi Umarji as a mastermind. Bahera claimed it was Umarji who picked coach S-6 as the target, but also said Umarji was not present at any conspiracy meetings. He later retracted everything
* Sikandar Siddique, another petty criminal, had said Maulvi Punjabi had incited the mob. But Punjabi was not even in the country that day
Khetan’s path-breaking investigation makes it clear that the real conspiracy is not from the side of Muslims. Truth is many a times stranger than fiction. We have been made to believe from last many years that it is Muslims who are responsible for Malegaon, Samjhauta, Ajmer and many such blasts. Those writers and social activists who doubted this police-Hindutva version of the cause of terror were totally ignored by the investigating authorities and by the big media. Their investigations did show the involvement of Hindutva elements. These writers and social activists were criticized and intimidated for being anti Hindu and anti nationals. Now as the matters stand today, thanks to Hemant Karkare’s investigations and later Swami Aseemanand’s confessions, truth is that in all these cases of acts of terror, Hindutva groups were involved. Now by piecing together the observations from the one of Godhra Collector Jayanti Ravi to the Sting operations by Tehelka Khetan points out “That there was a conspiracy afoot in Gujarat those years is beyond doubt. But as this story shows, it was a conspiracy of a different kind. It was a conspiracy designed to rent the fabric of this country: a conspiracy by State machinery to blacken one community’s name. And declare them the enemy.”
In this case the nature of shoddy, biased investigation done by police is very obvious. We do need an impartial investigation; a CBI inquiry into the whole thing is called for. We are living in strange times. The sectarianism, the politics of religious identity has overtaken the better of us. What is aggressively propagated is far from truth, and the truth remains submerged in the din of hysteria created by politics in the name of religion. Be it terrorism, be it communal violence, we need to invoke our humane, rational faculties, honesty and professionalism, overcome our biases, investigate the acts of crime properly and punish the guilty, irrespective of their religion. So many innocents have lost their lives, 59 Kar Sevaks, over 2000 innocent Muslims! We do need to reject the politics of communalism and try to follow the path of justice, the path of peace and communal amity as shown by the greatest Gujarati-Indian of all the times, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.
--
Issues in Secular Politics
I March 2011
-
www.pluralindia.com
response only to ram.puniyani@gmail.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)