Timeline Gujarat 2002

[Bang Galore]

And when did anyone say that Modi was responsible for murder? He was responsible for planning murderous riots, for keeping the police away from suppression of those riots, and for suppressing evidence after the riots. Those are not death penalty offences.

I'm not sure it helps to take this extreme position, no matter what view one personally holds. There is no evidence of any involvement in planning the riots and no real, hard, clear evidence of Modi actually suggesting that the rioters be given a free hand(The SIT suggests that even if Mr.Modi had said it in a closed room, no offense is made out let alone one that is prosecutable) Also difficult to prove suppression of evidence by Mr. Modi directly.

This kind of position only leads to an absolute dismissal of such a stand by even reasonable people who simple see this as a witch-hunting exercise. Modi's past will always be an albatross around his neck but his years of running a good administration will make up for some of it. I'm aware of your position on governance claims but the proof of the pudding will have to be in the eating. He has been elected 3 times in a row & while one can dismiss the first as being drawn out of the polarised situation after the riots, it would be churlish to still be arguing it.

 

[Joe Shearer]

BTW have they found the call records?

Read the whole ghastly story for yourself. You will weep.

http://www.firstpost.com/politics/gujarat-police-records-nail-modi-govts-claims-on-riots-702916.html

The ghosts of the Gujarat riots of 2002 are proving hard for Chief Minister Narendra Modi to exorcise. Just as his campaign to inject himself onto the national platform, with a very visible campaign to showcase his claims to good governance was picking up momentum, along comes fresh evidence that establishes that the riots were not as spontaneous as Modi and the BJP have made them out to be and that the police force in the State didn’t act promptly enough despite being made aware that a communal conflagration was imminent in February 2002.

In a protest petition filed before an Ahmedabad court on Monday, Zakia Jaffri, widow of former Congress MP Ehsaan Jaffri, who was murdered by a mob in Gulberg Society on 28 February 2002, has challenged the ‘clean chit’ provided by the Special Investigation Team to the Gujarat government in the riots cases.

The annexures that form part of Zakia Jaffri’s petition, which Headlines Today reported on on Monday, make for sensational reading, and clearly contest the Gujarat government’s – and Modi’s – claims that the riots were a spontaneous eruption of violence in response to the Godhra train burning on 27 February 2002.

Along with her petition, Zakia Jaffri filed some 3,500 pages of Police Control Room wireless messages and an additional 4,000 pages of the State Intelligence agency’s reports. These documents were made available to her by a very reluctant SIT under orders of the Supreme Court in February 2012.

Curiously, there is a back story to the sudden appearance of these documents that points to yet more shadow play behind the riots investigation. The SIT had in its closure report said that it had asked the Gujarat government for the police wireless messages , but had been told that they were probably destroyed. However, when the Supreme Court pulled up the SIT claiming that there were discrepancies between its findings and its conclusions, these police wireless messages and intelligence reports mysteriously surfaced out of nowhere.

And, even more curiously, as the Headlines Today report points out, the reports turned up in the hands of PC Pande, who had served as Ahmedabad Police Commissioner during the time of the riots, but had subsequently retired. Precisely how this important bit of evidence turned up in the hands of a retired bureaucrat hasn’t been sufficiently explained.

In any case, these wireless messages and intelligence clearly establish that within hours of the horrific burning of kar saveks on board the Sabarmati Express at Godhra, the police control rooms in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar were bombarded with field reports from police officials across the State warning of a communal mobilization campaign by the VHP and the Bajang Dal and the potential for a communal conflagration. All through the day (27 February 2002) and through the night –when the bodies of the kar sevaks were brought to Ahmedabad and taken in funeral processions across the state – the police officials on the ground kept sounding warnings.

Likewise, the State Intelligence Bureau too received alarming reports of provocative, hate-mongering speeches by VHP and Bajrang Dal leaders and real-time accounts of violence, including at Sola Hospital in Ahmedabad, where the kar sevaks’ bodies were first brought.

In some cases, these reports called for police reinforcement in order to deal with the situation and flagged the need to make preventive detentions and impose curfew. Yet, the State Home Department did not act on this advice – and in that sense allowed the riots to intensify.

As RB Shreekumar, who served as DGP of the State police in 2002, told the Headlines Today panel discussion, the documents establish that far from being “spontaneous”, the riots were “conceived, designed, planned, organised and perpetrated.” And, strikingly, where the police officers on the ground acted to impose curfew and make preventive detentions, not a single death occurred. “The riots succeeded only in those areas where the police acted as abettors and facilitators and enablers.”

Mukul Sinha, an Ahmedabad High Court advocate, who has taken up cases on behalf of 2002 riot victims, pointed to the fact that the Nanavati Commission had recorded that the then President KR Narayanan had directed the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister to summon the Army as soon as riots broke out, but no action had been taken.

“I personally believe,” he told the panel discussion, “that everything was worked out for 48 hours: they wanted the mob to run amok.” It is “impossible to deny” that “people from high places were behind the riots.”

The new documents also call into question the readiness with which the SIT gave a clean chit to the Gujarat government, and bought too readily into its claim that the police wireless messages and intelligence bureau reports had been destroyed. As Shreekumar pointed out, there was a fit case for the SIT to have taken action against Pande for withholding evidence from a Supreme Court-appointed commission.

The latest sensational revelations also point to one of the immutable laws of public office: if there are documents that have the capacity to embarrass political powers and expose conspiracies, they will come out into the public domain sooner or later.

The fact that the Modi government is still grappling with the ghost of the 2002 riots – even 11 years later – is sobering testimony of that.

 

[jbond197]

Speak for yourself.

On each and every occasion, at each and every opportunity, I have raised my voice for justice to be done to the victims of the Sikh riots, and I have done so for years now. The fact is that a strong and dedicated team exists pursuing the Gujarat matter, and there is no such team pursuing justice for the 1984 killings.

Let me be clear on it - It was not about you, Joe. It is about the whole setup/section of society/political parties which/who turns blind eye for one crime and turns extra vigilant on other.

To me, this is a reflection of the growth of civil society between 1984 and 2002. We have been evolving as a nation, otherwise, what the central government used to do in the 50s and the 60s would make your hair stand on end.

But the cases of 1984 riots and other riots are not closed yet. To the mockery of Justice, the eye-witnesses in the riots were all forced out of India and to this day they fear stepping foot in India. I am surprised the evolving civil society failed to make notice of that. My guess then is that our society is evolving on as required basis or rather should I say - on what suit them today basis!!

Don't ever put me in the camp of those lousy Congress camp-followers who smear Modi but close ranks in defence of their own.

I was not talking about you, Sir.

I didn't laugh it off as a joke. That was a serious comment. Please find out what is required for the CBI to be brought into an investigation.

You haven't done your homework, and that is really irritating.

I am not as knowledgeable as you Sir but as younger to you, I have my rights to ask questions and you have the rights to correct me, if I am wrong!!

Do you seriously want to know? And are you saying that you don't know? Please answer that in explicit terms.

How would I know? I was not in Ahmadabad or even in Gujarat when the riots happen. I will believe it if the court of law holds that position. Please correct me if this is proven in court already because as of today I am not aware of it.

 

[Vinod2070]

I see it as the unrelenting effort by morally outraged people to bring mass murderers to book. without their efforts, the official efforts would have run out of steam long ago. It is sad that you call it 'an industry', instead of saluting the few individuals conducting this one-sided struggle.

You do realise that a murder is not justified by the fact that there are no subsequent murders?

Is that seriously going to be the policy of the Indian state? If we cannot control a crime, or criminals, we allow them their head, so that the victims shut up once and for all?

Isn't it strange that you should be saying this, when I have been shouting from the rooftops that Pakistanis are a bunch of cold-blooded bastards for not coming to the aid of those of us fighting the Modi-gang? I wish that the Pakistanis would join us in refuting the specious arguments put up, but they don't. This present is an exception.

Very true. How I wish that we did not have to hide our faces from the world.

These are my own views, and I don't expect you to subscribe to them.

If you think that "the unrelenting effort by morally outraged people to bring mass murderers to book" are really driven by "moral outrage" and not by more mundane considerations, you are welcome to see it that way. I see a very selective application of that "moral outrage".

Where was this "moral outrage" during far worse riots within Gujarat in Congress "secular" government and even at the likes of Owaisi openly promoting genocide of Hindus if only Police gives him 30 mins (Its another matter that the same people decry the so called "Police inaction" during Gujarat for 3 days!)?

without their efforts, the official efforts would have run out of steam long ago

I am not so sure that a bunch of self styled"morally outraged" people are driving our legal system and not the LEAs.

Again, Gujarat was one riot among many that have happened in India. It was as unfortunate as any other. Why is this one eternally remembered and not all the other ones, even in Gujarat (because it seems to be special) when they were bigger and went on longer and had a more ineffective response.

I will tell you. It has nothing to do with "moral outrage". It is to do with petty politicking and agendas.

 

[Vinod2070]

Let's see one example of this duplicity in action.

In a recent interview with me, film script writer Salim Khan made an interesting comment: “Does anyone remember who the chief minister of Maharashtra was during Mumbai riots which were no less deadly than the Gujarat riots of 2002? Does anyone recall the name of the chief minister of UP during Malliana and Meerut riots or Bihar CM when the Bhagalpur or Jamshedpur riots under Congress regimes took place? Do we hear the names of earlier chief ministers of Gujarat under whose charge hundreds of riots took place in post-Independence India? Some of these riots were far more deadly than the 2002 outburst. The state used to explode into violence every second month? Does anyone remember who was in-charge of Delhi’s security when the 1984 massacre of Sikhs took place in the capital of India How come Narendra Modi has been singled out as Devil Incarnate as if he personally carried out all the killings during the riots of 2002?”

Why just distant riots, does anyone remember the fate of hundreds of thousands of Bodos and Muslims who were uprooted from their villages in July 2012 because their homes were torched and destroyed? As of 8 August 2012, over 400,000 people had taken shelter in 270 relief camps, after being displaced from almost 400 villages.The Assam chief minister delayed deployment of the Army by 4 days even though large number of Army units are stationed right there Assam. Thousands are still living under sub human conditions in refugee camps. Why are those riots already forgotten?

Manushi

Quite selective this "moral outrage" is, one has to say.

Actually, if one were to read the whole article, many eyes will open.

That is if one wants to open them in the first place.

Now it is no longer about the issue for most of the morally outraged brigade, it is about one man and one man only.

 

[Joe Shearer]

If you think that "the unrelenting effort by morally outraged people to bring mass murderers to book" are really driven by "moral outrage" and not by more mundane considerations, you are welcome to see it that way. I see a very selective application of that "moral outrage".

Where was this "moral outrage" during far worse riots within Gujarat in Congress "secular" government and even at the likes of Owaisi openly promoting genocide of Hindus if only Police gives him 30 mins (Its another matter that the same people decry the so called "Police inaction" during Gujarat for 3 days!)?



I am not so sure that a bunch of self styled"morally outraged" people are driving our legal system and not the LEAs.

Again, Gujarat was one riot among many that have happened in India. It was as unfortunate as any other. Why is this one eternally remembered and not all the other ones, even in Gujarat (because it seems to be special) when they were bigger and went on longer and had a more ineffective response.

I will tell you. It has nothing to do with "moral outrage". It is to do with petty politicking and agendas.

Not so.

I am surprised, not at your reaction, but at the repeated failure of people like you to recognise the very different nature of what took place under Narendra Modi in 2002.

You mentioned riots in Gujarat under the Congress regime. The Congress regime, foul as it might have been, did not encourage one section of the population to slaughter the other. It did not offer covert support to the assaulting faction. It did not cover up the actions of the assaulting faction. These are the ways in which the Modi government failed to maintain its constitutional duty towards the citizens of Gujarat, specifically, the Muslim citizens.

You talked about Owaisi openly promoting genocide of Hindus. Do you seriously fail to recognise the difference between someone who talks about killing others, and those who kill others? And do you fail to see that Owaisi was brought to book?

 

[indushek]

I really don't know. The Sikh riots were a thousand times worse. What happened was a permanent black mark on our country. It is really frustrating that the perpetrators, whom everybody knows, Tytler, H. K. L Bhagat, and the bastard who was Sanjay Gandhi's motor mechanic pal, were not punished, and looks like being about to get away with it all.

Maybe some of us are so hell bent on punishing the indirectly guilty of the Gujarat riots because of their burning anger about the Sikh riots. It means that being unable to do anything about those, we tend to react with all the pent-up fury about this one.

Problem is Joe this growing up will benefit Modi for sure in a way it has already to certain extent, and as UPA II goes down more and more down the quagmire of corruption he will arise as a stronger candidate.

The choice over this person is a damn fool and prince which is stomach turning to many and i am one of them. A party with over 100 years of existence can't find strong leader other than the family!!!! really a sorry turn of events for this country.

The media which could have played a positive role has become sorry to say a prostitute of one party.

 

[Vinod2070]

Not so.

I am surprised, not at your reaction, but at the repeated failure of people like you to recognise the very different nature of what took place under Narendra Modi in 2002.

You mentioned riots in Gujarat under the Congress regime. The Congress regime, foul as it might have been, did not encourage one section of the population to slaughter the other. It did not offer covert support to the assaulting faction. It did not cover up the actions of the assaulting faction. These are the ways in which the Modi government failed to maintain its constitutional duty towards the citizens of Gujarat, specifically, the Muslim citizens.

You talked about Owaisi openly promoting genocide of Hindus. Do you seriously fail to recognise the difference between someone who talks about killing others, and those who kill others? And do you fail to see that Owaisi was brought to book?

It is factually wrong to say that "The Congress regime, foul as it might have been, did not encourage one section of the population to slaughter the other" and the other comments you made.

In fact congressmen were fully involved in the Gujarat riots as well, including the attack on Ehsan Jafri. Just that that is given a pass by the morally outraged brigade. That is why the moral outrage is so suspect. Let's take one of the most prominent of "the few individuals conducting this one-sided struggle".

Rais Khan Pathan, who was the main ground level person Teesta Setalvad used till 2007 to collect all the information about the riots and mobilize victims told me in a video recorded interview that he had given numerous photographs to Teesta Setalvad of rioting mobs during that period. He says, they clearly showed faces of known party workers and leaders of the Congress Party along with VHP/ Bajrang Dal and BJP cadres. He also alleges that Teesta never mentions or show pictures of Muslim mobs attacking Hindu homes and business establishments. He claims that when he began pointing out to Teesta and Co that they were presenting one sided picture of the riots, that they studiously avoided talking of attacks on Hindus, the losses they suffered, the thousands that were rendered homeless and sought shelter in relief camps, she let lose a propaganda campaign that he had been bought over by the VHP and finally threw him out of the organization without as much as giving him notice or chance to explain himself. He alleges that Teesta has never released those pictures which implicate Congressmen. Those particular photographs have simply disappeared. She has refused to give him copies of pictures he sent her from ground zero. Rais Khan also told me that Teesta got false affidavits signed on behalf of riot victims. That is why many of them have openly distanced themselves from her.

I can give many instances but I don't think I need to. I would urge you to read the link with an open mind and see if that challenges some of what is repeated endlessly.

Not to say that this riot was not shameful. It was as shameful as any before and the countless after that have happened. The people talking about "effective response" don't bother to worry about it in other instances, at least not to the same degree.

Owaisi is a ******** and they have a proven record of massacres already in their name. He has gotten away with barely a scratch.

 

[Dillinger]

@Joe Shearer Sir, that is the thing. As @indushek pointed out, for all our strong reservations and misgivings, Modi projects himself stronger and stronger as UPA-2 goes through one scandal to another- its become a repetitive theme. If the NDA does come to power with Modi as its helm then one would lay greater blame on the UPA for it than anyone else. How am I or anyone to chose between a party which is projecting a lack-wit like Rahul Gandhi and any other party?

 

[Joe Shearer]

Problem is Joe this growing up will benefit Modi for sure in a way it has already to certain extent, and as UPA II goes down more and more down the quagmire of corruption he will arise as a stronger candidate.

True, and can you think of a worse way to select a leader?

The choice over this person is a damn fool and prince which is stomach turning to many and i am one of them. A party with over 100 years of existence can't find strong leader other than the family!!!! really a sorry turn of events for this country.

To be honest, I am wholly unable to get into discussions about this person; he is so dull and lack-lustre that it is boring to discuss him. I find nothing of interest to talk about. And to think that this goop is a grandson of Feroze Gandhi!

The media which could have played a positive role has become sorry to say a prostitute of one party.

The media hates a villain. Period. I agree that there is a lot about the Indian media that needs correction, but on this, our views coincide.

 

[Joe Shearer]

It is factually wrong to say that "The Congress regime, foul as it might have been, did not encourage one section of the population to slaughter the other" and the other comments you made.

In fact congressmen were fully involved in the Gujarat riots as well, including the attack on Ehsan Jafri. Just that that is given a pass by the morally outraged brigade. That is why the moral outrage is so suspect. Let's take one of the most prominent of "the few individuals conducting this one-sided struggle".

You will have noticed that I am treading on egg-shells discussing this with you.

You are wrong again, sadly. Individual Congressmen behaving like beasts and the Congress Party encouraging such a pogrom are two different things.

About the extract, is it your conclusion that Teesta Setalvad is (a) a Congress party worker; (b) a Hinduphobic person; (c) a BJP hater; (d) an Islamophile; (e) in it for the fame and publicity?

Why, @Vinod2070, why?

I can give many instances but I don't think I need to. I would urge you to read the link with an open mind and see if that challenges some of what is repeated endlessly.

Not to say that this riot was not shameful. It was as shameful as any before and the countless after that have happened. The people talking about "effective response" don't bother to worry about it in other instances, at least not to the same degree.

Owaisi is a ******** and they have a proven record of massacres already in their name. He has gotten away with barely a scratch.

Massacres? In Hyderabad? I am truly surprised to hear this. Where and when? You are not referring to the original Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen of the Nizam's period, I hope?

Can you expand on that remark?

@Joe Shearer Sir, that is the thing. As @indushek pointed out, for all our strong reservations and misgivings, Modi projects himself stronger and stronger as UPA-2 goes through one scandal to another- its become a repetitive theme. If the NDA does come to power with Modi as its helm then one would lay greater blame on the UPA for it than anyone else. How am I or anyone to chose between a party which is projecting a lack-wit like Rahul Gandhi and any other party?

I think that he is proving himself stronger and stronger with

(i) the rank and file of the BJP and now the VHP (they were opposed to him earlier, and Togadia and he were not on talking terms. Ashok Singhal recently broke the ice), because they were in flat despair at their increasingly worse prospects;
(ii) businessmen, who have always valued quick decision-making and a corruption-free regime, and an absence of any bleeding heart liberal ideas about the rights of workers;
(iii) Internet Hindus, because they worship strength;
(iv) Nervous liberals, because they lack an alternative.

I don't think they will win elections on their own, again, without external support.

 

[doublemaster]

Exclusive: Headlines Today probe reveals Gujarat riots were not spontaneous and sudden : Buzztop-National, News - India Today
Here is the time line: Evidence which sit had but not considered. Here is the time line. Despite all this police did not even impose curfew! His own ministers arrested. Police were involved and caught. Even if u say that he is not involved. His government members involed. His police forces did not work.


This is not the first riot in India. There were riots and loss of life for muslims in other congress ruled states also. But you dont see them blamming congress like how they blame modi. why? Even though cricize congress/police for failure to act.
It is VHP Bajrangadal which is part of BJP which provoked riot. BJP ministers directly involved in riots. High level police officers involved.
This riot clearly befitted BJP. they took the advantage out of it disolved parliament year before. BJP i remember losing by elections in gujarat before this riot.


February 27, 2002
Time: 8:38 pm
State Intelligence Bureau Message No: Page No. 188 (Annexure III, File XVIII)
VHP general secreatary Dilip Trivedi & VHP joint secretaries Jaideep Patel & Kaushik Mehta issue a statement.
VHP declares Gujarat bandh to protest killing of kar sevaks.
Statement says Muslims pre-planned Godhra attack.
Innocent ladies were molested and compartments were set on fire and Ramsevaks were burnt alive.
Through out the day on 27th February the SIB control room received messages of provocative sloganeering and mobilisation by the VHP.
February 27, 2002
Time: Not Known
State Intelligence Bureau Message No: Page No. 345, Order No. 24 (Annexure III File XIX)
Sender: D.O, Ahmedabad
Recipient: Intelligence Office, Virangam (Ahmedabad)
75 VHP & Bajrang Dal members gathered at Virangam Town Chali & Golwada area.
Situation in the area very tense.
The PCR messages warned about the tension that was spreading from the moment sabarmati express (the same train that was attacked by Muslim mobs at Godhra and later after detaching the burnt bogies made its way to Ahmedabad) arrived at Ahmedabad station.
February 27, 2002
Time: 6:10 pm
State Intelligence Bureau Message: No. 531 Page No. 19 (Annexure III, File XVIII (D-160)
Sabarmati Express arrived at Ahmedabad station from Godhra at 4:30 pm.
Karsevaks armed with rods & sticks, shouting slogans 'khoon ka badla khoon'.
At 10:12 pm, Police Inspector of CID, Intelligence in Bhavnagar sent a fax to Inspector General, Gujarat State Intelligence Bureau in Gandhi Nagar saying that Sadhu Samaj president Gopal Nand and local VHP leaders exhorted crowds at Junagadh to retaliate. The message said that the VHP leaders delivered hate speeches and called on all Hindus to unite.
February 27, 2002
Time: 10:12 pm
State Intelligence Bureau Fax Message: 311/02 Page No.: D-1/ HA/Jaher Sabha/Junagadh
Sender: CID, Bhavnagar
Recipient: IG, Gujarat & Intelligence Bureau, Gandhi Nagar
Sadhu Samaj president Gopal Nand gave provocative speech at Junagadh Kadva Chowk between 7:30 pm-9 pm.
Gopal Nand questioned lack of response from Hindus even 12 hours after burning of train.
Gopal Nand questioned Muslim patriotism to India and incited mobs to attack them.
By the afternoon of the 27th, the riots had begun.
February 27, 2002
Time 17:45
State Intelligence Bureau Fax Message No 273 File XIX Annexure III
Sender: B M Mohit Anand Centre
Sabarmati Express reached Anand Railway Station at 1500 hrs
Karsevaks from the train stabbed 4 Muslims present at the station.
One victim named Abdul Rashid aged 65 years, resident of Anand, died.
Remaining were hospitalised at Anand government hospital.
Reports of violent attacks by karsevaks came from across the state. A VHP mob was reported as swelling at Vadagam village in Modasa that was to become another epicentre of violence. There were desperate SOS messages seeking reinforcements. Mobs were on rampage through the night, setting ablaze houses and vehicles.
February 27, 2002
Time: 11:59 pm
State Intelligence Bureau Fax Message: Com/HM/550/ Out No. 398
Sender: ACP, Gandhinagar Region
Recipient: IG, Gujarat & Intelligence Bureau, Gandhi Nagar
50 kar sevaks on special bus from Ahmedabad reached Modasa, Vadagam village at 6:30 pm.
500-strong mob received kar sevaks.
Karsevaks told mobs about attack on Sabarmati Express.
Crowds swelled to thousands by 9:30 pm.
Police presence insufficient to maintain order.
10 shops owned by Muslims & several vehicles set ablaze by mobs.
Despite these warnings there was no clampdown by the Gujarat government on the mobilisation being carried out by the VHP leadership and neither were VHP and Bajrang Dal members taken under preventive detention.
The Speical Investigation Team in its report accepted that the Modi government supported the bandh called by the VHP.
Page 134 of SIT closure report: "Shri Vijay Badheka, Under Secretary to Home Department has stated before the SIT that both Gujarat bandh on 28.02.02 and Bharat bandh on 01.03.02 were supported by the BJP."
The bandh allowed the VHP cadre a free run even as the SIB kept sending signals of impending riots and sought preventive action.
February 28, 2002
Time: 9am-10am
State Intelligence Bureau Message No: 73/02 Page 365 (Annexure III File XXI (D-166)
Sender: ACP (Intelligence) Surat

VHP, BJP leaders gave provocative speeches at Sardar Chowk, Vapi Town.
VHP's Dinesh Behri, Bajrang Dal's Acharya Brahmbatt, BJP's Jawahar Desai & RSS member Vinod Chowdhary present Speakers exhorted crowds to take revenge for Godhra.
When the Ahmedabad police commissioner P.C. Pande and State DGP K. Chakravarty were questioned by the SIT, they were not confronted with these specific SIB reports. P.C. Pande was not asked why curfew was not imposed in Ahmedabad city on the 27th afternoon itself, particularly in the face of such specific intelligence inputs.
Pande told SIT on page 7 of his statement recorded on 24.03.2010: "The circumstances did not exist on the 27.02.02 or even on 28.02.02 to warrant the imposition of curfew and any hasty decision would have led to panic in the city. Even otherwise with limited forces available imposition of curfew becomes a serious problem and large scale breach becomes common."
Pande and Chakravarty were also not asked why VHP and Bajrang Dal leaders were not put under preventive arrest even as they were threatening violence.
But the SIT has not explained what these specific measures were. General and vague claims made by Gujarat State Officials that all possible efforts were made to control the riots have been accepted by the SIT.
The State Intelligence Bureau repeatedly pressed the panic button, sending SOS' to the home department about the possibility of riots. Bodies of kar sevaks in public display and funeral processions by mobs…proved to be the trigger. But records show the VHP and its cadres succeeded in stoking mass hysteria.
30 minutes past midnight on the 28th of February 2002, the state intelligence bureau received a fax giving a specific warning about possibility of riots with bodies being brought to Ahmedabad. Then VHP state unit president Jaideep Patel was already on his way escorting the 54 bodies from Godhra to Ahmedabad.
February 28, 2002
Time: 12:30 am
State Intelligence Bureau Fax No. 525
Bodies will be brought to Kalupur Railway station, Ahmedabad.
Dead bodies will be carried in funeral processions VHP gave a bandh call.
High possibility of riots in Ahmedabad. Take preventive action.
February 28, 2002.
Time: Not Known
State Intelligence Bureau report to Home Secretary and all Police Commissioner, all SPs
VHP has given a call for "Gujarat Bandh".

Appropriate vigilance be exercised.

The motorcade carrying bodies finally reached Sola Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad at 3:34 AM. By then there was a already a mob made up of VHP and RSS members outside Sola Hospital.
The PCR Van positioned at Sola Civil Hospital sent a message to City Police Control Room situated at Shaibaug. The distance between Hospital and Control Room was 11 kilometres.
February 28, 2002
Time: 4:00 am
Page No. 5790 (Annexure IV, File XIV)

Mob of 3000 RSS members gathered at Sola Hospital.
February 28, 2002
Time: 7:14 am
PCR wireless message (Sola Hospital)
Page No. 5796 (Annexure IV, File XIV)
Mob assembled at Sola Hospital.
The crowds were getting restless. Soon violence sparked off.
February 28, 2002
Time: 7:17 am
PCR wireless message (Sola Hospital)
Page No. 5797 (Annexure IV, File XIV)
Mob of 500 people holding up traffic.
At 8:10 there is a message from the Control Room saying that 3 SRP Companies have been sent to Sola Hospital for extra bandobast.
February 28, 2002
Time: 11:55 am
PCR wireless message: Page No 5894(Annexure IV, File XIV)
Mob set vehicle on fire, arson on highway.
February 28, 2002
Time: 11.55 am
PCR message
State Intelligence Bureau: Page No.6162 (Annexure IV File XV)
Riots have started at Sola Hospital & near High Court where bodies were brought.
February 28, 2002
Time: Not known

PCR message (Sola Hospital)
State Intelligence Bureau: Page No.?6172
Sola Hospital staff surrounded by 500-strong mob Please provide security at hospital urgently.
These revelations show how mobs were allowed to congregate at the hospital to take out funeral processions. Though violence had erupted, curfew was still not clamped.
Pande claimed in his statement before the SIT that he visited the Hospital at 10 am and found everything to be normal.
"I went to Sola Civil Hosptal around 10:00 and found that doctors were under pressure to complete the documentation wheras relatives were in a hurry to take the bodies. However, I didn't find anything alarming and as such returned around 11:00 am."
Pande also claimed there were no funeral processions, a claim accepted by the SIT. But the PCR messages show that there were not only processions but also riots at the hospital, nailing Pande's lies.
February 28, 2002
Time: 11:58 am
PCR message (Sola Hospital)
State Intelligence Bureau: Page No. 5907 & 5925(Annexure IV File XIV)
Funeral procession of 10 bodies taken out from Ramol Jantanagar to Hatkeshwar crematorium 6,000 people accompanied procession.
As funeral processions wound through the city, mobs ran amok at Gulbarg Society, Naroda Patiya and Naroda Gaam in Ahmedabad.
February 28, 2002
Time: Not known
PCR message (Khedbrahma, Sabarkantha) Com/538
State Intelligence Bureau: Page No. 258 (Annexure III File XIX)
Funeral procession allowed at Khedbrahma town in Sabarkantha district
Situation tense, 2 Muslims stabbed at Khedbrahma
February 28, 2002
Time: Not known
PCR message (Khedbrahma, Sabarkantha)
State Intelligence Bureau: Page No. 262 (Annexure III File XIX)
150 Bajrang Dal members on way to Khedbrahma.
February 28, 2002
Time: 3:32 pm
PCR message (Khedbrahma, Sabarkantha)

State Intelligence Bureau: Page No. 254 (Annexure III file XIX) Com/574

Funeral procession organised for Godhra train victim Babubhai Patel in Sabarkantha.
Special Investigation Team in its closure report on pages 59 to 64 had concluded there were no funeral processions and gave a clean-chit to the Gujarat government on this count.
PCR messages detailing incidence of violence in Ahmedabad clearly warned about a brewing unrest. Rioting was reported from Naroda and Meghani Nagar where Gulberg Society is located. The PCR messages of violence in Ahmedabad are contained in Annexure IV File XIV. Here are some samples of the several wireless messages sent by policemen on the ground.
Page No. 5798, 5803, 5804
Date: February 28, 2002
Time: 12:30 am
PCR Message: Factory burnt at Ambikanagar on February 27
Area: Odhav
FIR No.80/02
Page No,: 5746
Date: February 28, 2002
Time: 1:10 am
PCR Message: Between 2:30-3:00 pm on Feb 27, mob stoned bus, vandalized shop
Area: Bapunagar
FIR No.: 64/02
Page No.: 5768
Date: February 28, 2002
Time: 2:38 am
PCR Message: Mob torched buses & rickshaws, damaged public property on Feb 27 at 5:15 pm
Area: Odhav
FIR No.:78/02
Page No.: 341, Order No. 534
Date: February 27, 2002
Time: 8:25pm
State Intelligence Bureau Message: Man succumbs to stab injuries on February 27 at 8:25 pm
Area: Meghani Nagar
FIR No.: 65/02
Page No.: 341, Order No. 534
Date: February 27, 2002
Time: Not Known
State Intelligence Bureau Message: Man succumbs to injuries on Feb 27 at 7:45 pm at Saralaben Hospital.
Area: Meghani Nagar
FIR No.: 65/02
Page No.: 347, Order No. 8535
Date: February 27, 2002
Time: 8:30 pm
State Intelligence Bureau Message: Man critically injured after attack at Ahmedabad railway station at 5 pm.
Area: Ahmedabad
FIR No: Not Known
Page No: 348, Order 541
Date: February 27, 2002
Time: 9:30pm
State Intelligence Bureau Message: Juhapura resident attacked at V.F Hospital.
Area: Ahmedabad
FIR No: 116
Page No.: 5807 & 5808
Date: February 28, 2002
Time: 4:28 am
PCR Message: One critically injured near Kathwada Road, Naroda, on February 27 at 7:30 pm.
Area: Naroda
FIR No.: 97/02
Page No.: 5805 & 5806
Date: February 28, 2002
Time: 4:20 am
State Intelligence Bureau Message: One critically injured near Law Garden on February 27 at 8:15 pm.
Area: Ellisbridge
FIR No: 116/02
Page No.: 5801
Date: February 28, 2002
Time: 3:50 am
State Intelligence Bureau Message: One critically injured in mob attack near Mahalaxmi Crossroad, Paldi on Feb 27 at 8:30 pm.
Area: Ellisbridge
FIR No.: 114/02
Inspite of all of this, the then Ahmedabad Police Commissioner told the SIT that he didn't find the "circumstances on the 27th and 28th fit for curfew."
PCR and SIB reports show that there were regular inputs of VHP and Bajrang Dal led mobs swelling at Naroda and Gulberg Society.
Pande admitted before the SIT that at both these places curfew was declared only after 12:50 pm ...by then the mob had already swelled to between 10 and 15 thousand people in number. It is no wonder that the curfew that was finally imposed remained only on paper - it had no effect on the ground.
Hundred and fifty men, women and children were burnt and hacked to death at Naroda and Gulberg society in the four hours between 2 and 6 PM on February 28.
Police Headquarters at Shahibaug was only 2 to 3 kilometers from Gulberg Society and around 6 kilometers from Naroda Patiya.
Pande admitted before the SIT that through out the day he didn't move out of his office and visited Naroda Patiya and Gulberg only late in the evening...by that time the massacre was over and done with.
SIB messages show that there were three alerts about the impending massacre at Gulberg.
Date: 28.02.02
Time: 12:15
Sender: Police Inspector CJ Bharwad To: State SIB Control Room
Muslims reside in Gulberg Society.
Mob is surrounding the place.

Strict watch should be kept there.
Date: 28.02.02
Time: 14:50
Sender: Police Inspector CJ Bharwad To: State SIB Control Room
Mob of 3000 rioters has surrounded Gulberg Society, take immediate action.
Date: 28.02.02
Time: 17:00
Sender: Police Inspector CJ Bharwad To: State SIB Control Room
Mob attacked the society from all sides Ehsan Jaffri and women and children burnt alive.
Houses are ablaze. Mob is looting from homes.
In his defence Pande said in his statement: "On 28.2.2002 requests were received from different police stations seeking additional force and SRP and whatever forces were available with me the same were dispatched. However, I found that no feedback had been received by any one of them. This led me to presumption that additional forces reached in time and they were able to control the situation."
SIT accepted Pande's defence and gave him and the Gujarat Administration a clean chit.
The state government told the SIT that the 2002 riots were a spontaneous reaction to the Godhra tragedy, but documentary evidence tells a different story.
Eleven years after the after the horrific incidents as Narendra Modi aspires for the prime minister's chair, Headlines Today has tried to throw fresh light on why his ascension remains so contentious.


Read more at: Exclusive: Headlines Today probe reveals Gujarat riots were not spontaneous and sudden : Buzztop-National, News - India Today

 

[Dillinger]

You will have noticed that I am treading on egg-shells discussing this with you.

You are wrong again, sadly. Individual Congressmen behaving like beasts and the Congress Party encouraging such a pogrom are two different things.

About the extract, is it your conclusion that Teesta Setalvad is (a) a Congress party worker; (b) a Hinduphobic person; (c) a BJP hater; (d) an Islamophile; (e) in it for the fame and publicity?

Why, @Vinod2070, why?




Massacres? In Hyderabad? I am truly surprised to hear this. Where and when? You are not referring to the original Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen of the Nizam's period, I hope?

Can you expand on that remark?



I think that he is proving himself stronger and stronger with

(i) the rank and file of the BJP and now the VHP (they were opposed to him earlier, and Togadia and he were not on talking terms. Ashok Singhal recently broke the ice), because they were in flat despair at their increasingly worse prospects;
(ii) businessmen, who have always valued quick decision-making and a corruption-free regime, and an absence of any bleeding heart liberal ideas about the rights of workers;
(iii) Internet Hindus, because they worship strength;
(iv) Nervous liberals, because they lack an alternative.

I don't think they will win elections on their own, again, without external support.

Here is the real question though. Congress with all its accumulated wisdom seems to just not understand what sort of an image they are projecting currently. People have duly ranked it as one of the most corrupt governments we have ever had and they seem to just grin and shirk- surely they realize how damaging that is AND on top of that they shamelessly go forth with their dynastic idea of Rahul Gandhi being a prospective PM candidate. I despise the right wing but how can I ever support RG?

 

[Shinigami]

Justice will only be served when Modi the mass murdering rapist is awarded the death penalty and hanged upside down for crimes against humanity.

do they teach physics in pakistan?

 

[Nitin Tomer]

do they teach physics in pakistan?

let me requote he will be hanged by his b***s