[sacw] SACW #2 | 21 Mar. 02

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire - Dispatch #2 | 21 March 2002
http://www.mnet.fr

* For daily news updates & citizens initiatives in post riots=20
Gujarat Check: http://www.sabrang.com

__________________________

#1. Presentation From Media Persons To The National Human Rights
Commission of India During Their Visit To Ahmedabad on March 20, 2002
#2. Gujarat govt's Operation Cover-up (Fr Cedric Prakash)
#3. The Hate Train (Peter Popham)
#4. India to monitor foreign funding of Muslim seminaries [ The funds=20
for Hindu Fundos are OK ? ]

__________________________

# 1.

PRESENTATION FROM MEDIA PERSONS TO THE NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS
COMMISSION OF INDIA DURING THEIR VISIT TO AHMEDABAD ON
MARCH 20, 2002

To,
Hon. Chairman of the Human Rights Commission,
We like to draw your kind attention to the following
facts regarding the communal carnage that caused
massive violations of human rights of both the
majority and minority communities in Gujarat from Feb.
27 to still lingering incidents of killings on March
20.

(1) To start with, we like to bring to your notice a
couple of incidents which shows how the media and some
of their representatives were made the victims of
intolerance, which in turn, was a gross violation of
the freedom of expression. Several media persons,
particularly from electronic media, were curbed and
beaten up and their camera equipment heavily damaged;
(2) Gujarat Today, a daily run by a Muslim Trust,
lost one of their branch offices, by a mob act of
arson. Their main office, place of publication, is
still under constant threat of attack;
(3) Star TV channel projecting the daily mayhem which
reflected the ground reality was barred for few hours
on a crucial day of carnage; while the Gujarati print
media which grossly violated the code of ethics laid
down by the Press Council of India, was totally
untouched;
(4) The unequivocal condemnation done by the members
of state legislative assembly and enlightened citizens
was intentionally blacked out or terribly underplayed
by the print media at the instance of the ruling
party, which added fuel to the fire;

(5) Government of Gujarat has declared a one man
commission of enquiry to investigate the entire event
at Godhra and aftermath too. But we strongly feel that
such an enquiry will have no relevance or usefulness
or any power to punish the guilty, as evidenced by
several such commissions? reports lying on the
government shelf without any action in the past;
(6) For an investigation to be fair and impartial, we
demand a CBI enquiry at the earliest to make it
action-oriented and impartial. This is because the
state government machinery is accused and the chief
minister himself and entire police department falls
under a category of accused party in the carnage;
(7) Accused of Godhra train incident and others even
more inhuman acts of killings in different parts of
the state should be handed over to CBI for
investigation, because, even according to the nation's
Home and Defence ministers, the Godhra carnage had
international ramifications (ISI connection). No local
or railway police should be allowed to investigate
those accused of Godhra and following events,
including burning of mass of people at Khokhra Ambika
Mill Chawl, Naroda Patia, Gulmarg Society causing
burning alive of the former member of parliament Ehsan
Jafri and others, in the rural areas of Mehsana,
Sabarkantha, cities of Bhavnagar, Rajkot, Vadodara,
rural Godhra, Surat and Panchmahal and other affected
districts;
(8) We like to draw your attention to the facts that
High Court premises on Sarkhej-Gandhinagar highway
were well protected by police companies on Feb. 28,
both inside the premises as well outside opposite the
court building complex, but even then, two trucks were
burnt on that road right near the doors of the HC by
rampaging mob on Feb. 28;
(9) Similarly, Judges Baungalow on Premchandnagar Road
in Ahmedabad, have enough of security arrangement and
police chowky just across the road, a well organized
mob burnt down a restaurant building. Can we not
conclude that police force was told in advance to
close their eyes wherever such so called 'retaliation'
occurred against Godhra carnage? Such an inaction was
seen everywhere for '72 hours' in the entire state;
(10) Human right violation of the constitutional
provisions (article 25-26) of freedom of religion,
was carried on here in entire state when the organized
mobs desecrated and burnt down at least 100 minority
religious places in Ahmedabad and 500 in other parts
of Gujarat and erected their own stones of gods
(riotous Hanuman- called Hulladia Hanuman) on those
shrines; how are those criminals to be punished for
such acts?
(11) India's Minority Commission was reported to have
been assured by the chief minister during its visit to
Gandhinagar that he would "rebuild those destroyed
shrines"? why not take a similar assurance to your
honour too? However, we are afraid, CM's assurance
does not carry weight here because, one famous Vali
Gujarati (respected by both the communities) Poet's
Dargah, near underground bridge at Shahibaag, was
razed to the ground and now we can see asphalt road
well laid down there, flattening the whole historic
Durgah ground! This despite, officials promising Mayor
of the city to protect the same.

In short, we urge you to take all these facts into
your account and do the needful.
(Signed) Batuk Vora, Teesta Setalwad, Mallika Sarabhai, Digant Oza,=20
Indukumar Jani and others

______

#2.

GUJARAT GOVT'S OPERATION COVER-UP

Fr Cedric Prakash=20

Dear Friends,

The Government of Gujarat has requested the ISP association of=20
Gujarat to circulate the statement written in BOLD to all ISP=20
customers on e-mail under the heading "Effective Steps taken by GoG=20
to deal with the Situation arising from the Godhra Incident & its=20
aftermath". It is shocking that the ISP Association agreed to be a=20
part of this insidious charade. As there is nothing further away from=20
the truth we have listed below a glimpse into reality.

FICTION:
* As soon as the Government knew the seriousness of the Godhra=20
incident, the Chief Minister himself rushed to the spot and directed=20
the administration to deal with the situation effectively and firmly.=20
Curfew was clamped in Godhra without loss of time and the RAF was=20
deployed in Godhra on the same day.

FACT:
*
The visit to Godhra must have had such a calming effect in=20
surrounding area that it immediately led to carnage that is being=20
compared to the worst genocide ever committed on earth.
*
What was needed was a statement to the people of Gujarat through the=20
most effective mass media - Radio, Television, Press - referring to=20
the delicacy of the situation and the firmness with which the matter=20
would be dealt with if "ANYBODY" took Law into their own hands.=20
Instead, the Chief Minister himself made inflammatory statements such=20
as
*
"Har kriya ki pratikriya hoti hai." ("Every action produces a reaction").
*
"The five crore people of Gujarat have shown remarkable restraint=20
under grave provocation."
*
The media is guilty of secular aggression and it has unleashed=20
non-violent secular violence in the country.
*
"These elements (media) make a mountain out of a molehill=8A to damage the =
state.

*
Some things that the Government did NOT do
*
40 Policemen were on "sports duty" taken away from police stations=20
and not recalled.
*
No preventive arrests on the bandh eve.
*
No attempts to gather intelligence about preparations for violence.
*
No confidence building measures or peace initiatives like inviting=20
representatives of the two communities.
*
No newspaper advertisements in the local newspapers for people to=20
maintain peace and harmony.
*
The city had 18 companies of SRP on the day of the bandh, but not all=20
forces were in position.
*
Half of the 700 strong traffic police not deployed on February 28.=20
The other half did not note down even one vehicle registration number=20
of the looters who were making merry on the streets.

FICTION:
*
Another alert message was issued the same day to all concerned=20
officers to take adequate preventive action for maintaining law and=20
order situation.

FACT:
*
It has been reported that a Minister in the State Cabinet (may be in=20
response to the above "alert message", or otherwise) was seen=20
provoking members of the majority community in areas like Paldi. He=20
offered to send bangles to those "Hindus" who did not participate in=20
the "ethnic cleansing" drive. It was a clear instruction to the=20
arsonist, looters and all the people of Gujarat that 6 p.m. was the=20
deadline time until when the Chief Minister could keep the Army away=20
and "you were free to do whatever you wanted".
*
It has also been stated that some elements from a particular=20
community were almost stuffed with alcohol right through the night=20
before the bandh and were set loose on the streets the following=20
morning, initiating and instigating violence against a specific=20
minority community.

FICTION:
* As reports of violence started coming in by 28th February=20
afternoon, the State Government immediately decided to call Army and=20
requested the Army authorities in this regard. The Chief Minister=20
announced the same decision in the Press Conference held on 28th=20
February itself.

FACT:
*
Instead of stating the truth the Chief Minister continued to state=20
that the situation was under control and Army was on stand-by. It is=20
clear that the strategy was to allow the paid mercenaries to spread=20
mayhem and break the economic backbone of the minority community=20
"BEFORE" the army came.
*
Though 12 columns of the Army (approx 600 troops) had reached=20
Ahmedabad and other sensitive areas on March 1, they were kept on=20
standby. Military Intelligence puts the blame on the State=20
Government. Reports submitted say the initial delay was due to the=20
absence of clear instructions from the Gujarat Government. (TOI,=20
Ahmedabad, 11th March, Pg 7)

FICTION:
* The Government of India immediately acceded to the demand of the=20
State Government and issued orders for shifting of two full army=20
brigades to Gujarat. The Chief Minister himself spoke to the Prime=20
Minister and the Home Minister to expedite the process.

FACT:
*
It is not clear whether the Chief Minister and his colleagues=20
actually wanted the violence to be stopped. If they did want the=20
violence to be stopped and the minority community saved, the Chief=20
Minister himself could have come on to the streets like Mr George=20
Fernandes and confronted the arsonists.
*
Even Mr George Fernandes was reportedly "unhappy with the way the=20
situation was handled by the Narendra Modi ministry and felt that the=20
state government was not cooperating with the Army"! He felt that the=20
army should have been called out earlier.

FICTION:
* The process of airlifting the army continued throughout the night=20
and the army had landed in Ahmedabad the very next day morning. The=20
army was pressed into service within 16 hours. It is pertinent to=20
note that the army formation in Ahmedabad was not available, as they=20
were deployed on the international borders.

FACT:
*
It is so strange that the Government of Gujarat wants us living in=20
Ahmedabad and in India who have access to media such as STAR NEWS and=20
the voices of brave journalists like Rajdeep Sardesai, who repeatedly=20
demonstrated live the "ABSENCE" of army on the streets and the=20
continued attacks in different parts of the cities and the villages=20
by trained murderers. All reporters were saying that the Government=20
was at least 24 hours too late in deploying the army and even after=20
that the Govt procrastinated in giving the Army the control.

FICTION:
* Major disturbances in Ahmedabad and in the State were brought under=20
complete control within 72 hours.

FACT:
*
One way in which this statement can be read is,

"Maximum Damage was done within 72 hours and trying to push it=20
further would have been suicidal for the VHP, Bajrang Dal and it=20
allies as the Army was here and it could not be mollycoddled into=20
silence like the Local Police".

The extent of planning for this heinous deed is slowly coming to=20
light with indications that the activists from the "Sangh Parivar"=20
disguised as Census Numerators" were identifying the families, assets=20
and shops of Muslim communities all across the state as early as=20
January 2002. The attacks were scheduled to erupt close to the=20
elections that were a complete disaster for the BJP. So that the BJP=20
could gain lost ground by appealing to the most basic instinct of=20
Hindus, that of survival against a seemingly ruthless enemy - the=20
Muslim. Articles describing "the Hindu victimization" were being=20
planted in national news portals and these had their impact with=20
average Middle Class Hindus feeling that maybe this attack went too=20
far, BUT it had to be done!!!

FICTION:
* The State Transport buses are back on the road and the educational=20
institutions have started functioning regularly.

FACT:
*
A picture in today's newspaper (March 18, 2002) says it all. Only=20
three passengers are utilizing the prompt resumption of services=20
stated above on one of the busiest routes.
*
The timing of the attack could not have been more disastrous for the=20
lives of hundreds of children of the minority community who were=20
scheduled to appear for the 10th and the 12th std exams in March.=20
With no clothes, no food, no water, no sanitation, and, more=20
importantly, no security of their life, the last thing on their mind=20
would be studies. Yes, some of the schools are functioning normally,=20
but without ANY Muslim child. If that is NORMAL, it gives an=20
indication of what normalcy is being strived for by this government.

FICTION:
* Shops and Establishments have returned to normalcy.

FACT:
*
Almost all Muslim owned economic activities have been razed or burnt=20
to the ground, be it a Hotel, a Laundry Shop, a Pangallah, or even a=20
larri gallah. Each of the establishments had been identified well in=20
advance, targeted and brought down with the help of LPG cylinders and=20
petrol and kerosene contributions extorted at sword point from the=20
majority community by the local hooligans.

The logistics of arranging mobs, firepower, leadership and motivation=20
to conduct this "Operation Blackdeath" can be a case-study in itself.=20
What VHP leaders are commonly stating is that the people who were=20
involved were common Hindus and it was their anger that found its way=20
on the streets. Even for a moment if we try to believe this yarn spun=20
by the Sangh Parivar, it indicates that we are living in prehistoric=20
times where to kill or be killed is more important than other=20
seemingly unimportant things such as Education, Health, Standard of=20
living, Security and aspirations for a better lifestyle. Maybe the=20
Sangh Parivar is right, we Hindus will rather have a temple in=20
Ayodhya than have better education for our children, better medical=20
facilities for our ailing parents, better economic opportunities for=20
all of us. So who was in front of the mobs goading them and pulling=20
Hindu bystanders to stain their souls? Politicians who stood to gain=20
from this? Hooligans who stood to gain from the arson? Religious=20
fanatics whose economic needs had been taken care of? Well, the=20
answer is there if we care to see it
*
Even today police officers are mute witness to the attacks on convoys=20
of Muslims wanting to get back to a semblance of normalcy.
*
Some Facts
*
Loss to Hotel Industry - Rs 200 crore (700 Hotels looted and set=20
ablaze) Source: Ahmedabad Hotel Owners Association
*
More than 900 Dawoodi Bohra shops and houses "looted at leisure" in=20
an organized manner. Source: Ahd Newsline March 12, Page1
*
Diamond Sector suffered a production loss of Rs 200 crore due to the riots.
*
Textile and Garment Industry - Rs 300 crore across 18 textile mills=20
and 200 process houses and power loom units.
*
Chemexcil - Rs 50 crore per day across Pharma, Chemicals and=20
Cosmetics Units in Ahmedabad alone
*
(Source TOI, March 10 Page 7)

FICTION:
* To curb the violence police has fired over 5,000 rounds to dispel=20
the crowds and protected the life and property of the people.

FACT:
*
The statement made above has no meaning, unless the Government of=20
Gujarat had a target of killing ALL the Muslims living in the state.=20
Yes, lives were saved but not because of the intervention of the=20
State machinery. It was due to the efforts of some of the "HUMAN=20
BEINGS" who felt that their brothers and sisters belonging to another=20
religion should be saved from the fiendish state-sponsored mobs.
*
It is also not clear who have been the targets of these 5,000 rounds.=20
If first hand accounts of bleeding survivors in the form of women and=20
children is to be believed, it was the local constabulary that dipped=20
their hands in the flowing blood and soaked themselves in anti-Muslim=20
hate waves being transmitted from the top. It would be a worthwhile=20
exercise to find out how many people who were in the mobs died of=20
bullet wounds?
*
Some Facts
*
57% (23 out of 40) of the people killed in Police Firing in Ahmedabad=20
were from the minority community.
*
41 Hindus killed in about 5,500 rounds of firing. 1% accuracy is a=20
very discouraging statistic if this happened with a REAL enemy=20
challenging the police forces.

FICTION:
* In a massive preventive action, police has arrested over 5,000 people.

FACT:
*
Why are police officers being transferred from police stations where=20
these arrests have taken place? Why are police officers with records=20
of "Criminal Negligence" handed over charge - to ensure that no more=20
"correct" arrests are made? It is so easy to hide behind statistics=20
but the truth still patrols the streets, scaring the common Muslims,=20
forcing them back behind the Lakshman rekha of the relief camp. Pray,=20
what is being done about that?
*
Another fact that is slowly emerging is the arrest of Muslim youth=20
from the age group of 18 to 30 sometimes right from the hospital bed,=20
under POTO. Has there been any attempt to disclose to the public the=20
"precautionary arrests" being made?

FICTION:
* The Government has made repeated appeals for peace and communal=20
harmony through print and electronic media.

FACT:
=B7 It is important to ask "WHEN" these appeals were made.=20
After the destruction was complete, as much as could have been done=20
it 72 hours?
*
Full page ads in local Gujarati dailies condemning the carnage and=20
banning the Bandh called by a private organization like VHP, could=20
have helped save the situation. Instead, what was seen on the streets=20
were pamphlets circulated by VHP calling for an economic ban of the=20
shops and products of the Muslim community. Was there any statement=20
made by the Government condemning such inflammatory publications?

FICTION:
* The government has announced compensation for those bereaved in the=20
Godhra incident. Financial assistance is being given to the affected=20
persons for death and injury.

FACT:
*
There has been a nation-wide outburst against the discrimination in=20
compensation so it will not be repeated here. But the intentions of=20
the Gujarat Government is suspect here - this compensation and=20
financial assistance charade may just be another opportunity for an=20
"Assessment --- Compensation" nexus. One wonders whether a physically=20
battered Muslim will want to challenge a ridiculously low assessment=20
of the state machinery and would want to engage with the people who=20
he saw attacking him a fortnight ago?

FICTION:
* The relief camps have been opened and all necessary facilities have=20
been extended to them by the local administration.

*
One look at the food material being supplied to the relief camps and=20
it makes clear the intentions of the suppliers. Dal infested with=20
insects and wheat flour that is inedible clearly indicates the=20
alacrity of the Government machinery to feed the refugees with food=20
that is unsuitable for human consumption.
*
If all necessary facilities include sanitation facilities one wonders=20
why there are repeated outbreaks of gastro-enteritis and why there is=20
only 1 toilet per 500 persons!

This response does not even attempt to touch at the heinousness of=20
the attacks and the attempt by the VHP to make statements such as,=20
"It had to be done" and their attempt to state that the planning for=20
the attacks was done on the morning of the bandh (Feb 28th) and not=20
months before as other reports suggest.

The people in the camps are getting frustrated and want also to=20
resume to their lives as best as might be possible in the=20
circumstances. But they are in the dark as to whether it is safe to=20
go back to the areas where only ash remains as a mute testimony of=20
the death of innocents. Unfortunately, they are being chased away=20
like cattle if and when they are mustering the courage to venture=20
close to their erstwhile homes.

The answer to this does not lie with the Government. It lies with you=20
and me. It is up to us to understand and realize the extent to which=20
Power can corrupt and come face to face with the truth that today the=20
Law Makers broke the law to "PUNISH" a community for crimes committed=20
600 years ago. But tomorrow it might "PUNISH" you if you are caught=20
asking them why the money trusted to them is not being spent on=20
burning issues such as Education, Health, Sanitation, Water,=20
Livelihood, Safety, Environment. Because at the basic level the=20
people in power "DO NOT CARE" for the common man. Today the=20
segmentation variable is religion but tomorrow it can be just about=20
anything.

PS: Part of the Fascist Ideology is, "Tell a lie a hundred times and=20
it becomes the truth." (Joseph Goebbels, 1939 - The Mastermind of=20
the Third Reich). Sadly, every sentence written by the Government=20
reeks of falsehood and untruth.

______

#3.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia_china/story.jsp?story=3D276349

The Independent (UK)

THE HATE TRAIN
Three weeks ago, a Muslim mob set fire to a train in western India,
killing 58. More than 700 others died in the orgy of reprisals and
counter-reprisals that followed. But the full, shocking truth about what
really happened that day is only just emerging
By Peter Popham
20 March 2002

If you want to see what happened in the town of Godhra on 27 February,
it's not difficult. Jump down from the platform of Godhra Junction station
and clamber across half a dozen tracks and take a look. The maroon
sleeping car, No S/6, has been shunted into the sidings now, away from the
view of the railway's regular customers. And it will not be back in
service any day soon.

The great heat of the fire inside has eaten away wide swirls of paint
around the windows and scorched the steel sheeting brown. Inside,
everything has been vaporised: flooring, ceiling, upholstery. Only the
bones of the car remain, the charred framework of seats and beds. Here and
there are reminders that human beings suffered in here: a few melted
flip-flops, blackened brass drinking mugs, a burst sack of rice. The
remains of the 58 who died were removed long ago.

The inferno at Godhra took place three weeks ago, but its horror shows no
signs of abating. The work of Muslims, it triggered an instant and
overwhelming backlash by Gujarat's Hindus. The people who died on the
train were Hindus on their way back home to Gujarat from the contested
temple at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, where they had been working as
"karsevaks" (religious volunteers), helping to make preparations for the
long-planned building of a huge temple dedicated to the god Ram, on the
former site of (until its demolition by Hindus 10 years ago) a large
16th-century mosque.

The struggle over the Ayodhya site is the most emotive communal dispute in
the subcontinent, and in the days that followed the burning of the train
compartment, that emotion boiled over in Gujarat. The state's Hindu
majority exploded with a murderous yet systematic ferocity such as India
has never experienced before. Fifty-eight deaths by fire in Godhra
provoked more than 700 Muslim deaths throughout the state. And even now,
when relative calm has returned, the wounds remain. Life in Gujarat will
never be the same again. Hindu and Muslim in Gujarat will never look at
each other in the same way, never share the same living spaces, or rub
shoulders at work or school or in the shops without remembering these
appalling days.

So the exact nature of what happened at Godhra has become a matter of
intense interest. Theories abound: it was the work of Pakistan's military
intelligence, the ISI, India's all-purpose bogeyman; it was the doing of
mujahedin terrorists; it was a pre-planned conspiracy by the local Muslim
community, hence the arrest of practically all the prominent Muslims in
the town. The problem is that none of these theories mesh with the
evidence.

Official investigations are in under way, but the massacre has become a
political football and it is hard to imagine any conclusions untainted by
political calculation. Fortunately, conscientious local journalists have
been hard at work. The evidence they have amassed, together with new
witness accounts obtained by The Independent, paints a clear and
persuasive picture of an avoidable tragedy.

What happened in car S/6 was the hideous finale. The story began nearly 36
hours earlier.

On the evening of Monday 25 February, at 5.30pm, several hundred karsevaks
in the temple town of Ayodhya, in Uttar Pradesh, tramped to the nearby
station of Faisabad and boarded the Sabarmati Express. They were
Gujaratis, and they were going home. Gujarat, in western India, has been
the most fruitful breeding ground in the whole country for Hindu
nationalists. And the karsevaks are Hindu nationalists in the raw: young
men with modest educations and poor prospects inflamed, thanks to clever
propaganda, with a zeal to right India's historic wrongs and repair the
Hindus' wounded pride. The organisations that find, inspire and recruit
these suggestible young men are the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal
pseudo-religious paramilitary groups committed to building the Ram temple,
creating true Hindu rule in India and putting India's 150 million Muslims
in their place.

The karsevaks from Gujarat were in Ayodhya because India's great D-Day is
fast approaching. The event, they claim, that will ring in the era of true
Hindu self-assertion is the building of a mighty temple on the supposed
site of the birth of the Hindu god Ram at Ayodhya. Until 6 December 1992,
the site was occupied by a mosque, the Babri Masjid, which they believe
was erected on the rubble of the original Ram temple. On that day, several
thousand karsevaks tore the mosque to pieces. Now the great consummation
is at hand. For years, stonemasons in Rajasthan and Ayodhya have been
carving pillars for the majestic new temple. Their work is almost
complete. As soon as it becomes politically feasible, karsevaks will begin
hauling the carved pillars to the contested site, and the construction of
the temple will begin.

The Hindu groups would be much happier, they insist, if the process went
ahead peacefully. "The construction of a grand Rama temple," they write in
a new pamphlet, "offers a unique opportunity to the Muslims for commencing
an era of enormous love and understanding between the Hindus and Muslims
of this country." All the Muslims have to do is give the new temple their
blessing.

But as this appears highly unlikely, the karsevaks have been gathering in
Ayodhya to help bring this event about in the same way they brought about
the downfall of the Babri Masjid; by force.

These were the sort of people who joined the train that Monday evening:
young men, heads wrapped in saffron headbands, happy and elated after
their stint at the holy site. Think football supporters on the move in one
of the old supporters' specials. Many were also drunk or stoned, or
equipped to get that way: flexible, tolerant Hinduism has no hard and fast
rules about such things. And they were coming back to Gujarat, the only
state in the Indian union that is still "dry". All the more reason to have
a bottle or two tucked away.

The train shuffled through the night, crossing Uttar Pradesh and emerging
into the broad, empty vistas of central India. The train was late: after a
day and a half, it was running four and a half hours behind schedule.
That's why it arrived in Godhra not at 2.55am, as scheduled, but at
7.15am. By this time, the karsevaks were much the worse for wear.

Trouble had started at Dahod station, nearly one hour and 75km up the
tracks. The train had reached Dahod around 6am, and a number of karsevaks
got out of compartment S/6 to have tea and snacks at a stall on the
platform. Already they were drunk and unruly. An argument broke out
between the Hindus and the Muslim man running the tea stall according to
one account, they refused to pay unless he chanted "Jai Shri Ram", the
chant of Lord Ram's devotees. He refused to oblige, and they started to
smash up his stall, before climbing back into the carriage. The
stallholder filed a complaint with the railway police.

At Godhra, a similar scene ensued. The karsevaks, now noisily drunk,
poured on to the platform, ordered more tea and snacks, consumed them, and
then made difficulties. Exactly what transpired between the bearded Muslim
stallholder and the travellers varies from one account to another. But all
witness accounts seen by The Independent agree that there was a row. "They
argued with the old man on purpose," one witness said, on condition of
anonymity. "They pulled his beard and beat him up... They kept repeating
the slogan 'mandir ki nirmaan karo, Babar ki aulad ko bahar karo'."
("Build the temple and throw out the Muslims...")

Suddenly the row took a dangerous new turn: the karsevaks grabbed hold of
a Muslim woman. Her identity, and how she became involved, remain
ambiguous, but four different witnesses mention this event. One says it
was the 16-year-old daughter of the abused tea-seller. She "came forward
and tried to save her father". Another mentions a woman washing clothes by
the railway line being hauled away. A third describes how a Muslim girl
wearing a burqa and taking a shortcut to school through the station
platform was pounced on and dragged into the carriage. All agree that a
Muslim woman was hauled into the carriage by the karsevaks, who slammed
the door and would not let her go. Refusing to be quoted by name, a local
policeman confirms the story.

And suddenly, what had been just an ugly little fracas, a drunken
pantomime of power and subjugation, became something far more explosive.

The karsevaks were too drunk for their own good, or they would have chosen
a different station at which to pull such a stunt. Because now the social
geography of Godhra came into play.

Godhra is unusual in Gujarat because its population is pretty well exactly
half Hindu and half Muslim. Three hours east of Ahmadabad, a market for
the dusty farms round about, Godhra has many temples and mosques, but it
has no other amenities except for a Catholic school and a Sikh restaurant.
Time was, as in most of the subcontinent, when the Hindu and Muslim
traders lived crammed in upon each other in the old town. But, in 1981,
Godhra was racked by the worst civil riots in its history. Curfew was
clamped on the place for an entire year. When it was finally lifted, the
Muslims fled the old town, building themselves crude cement villas on
wasteland behind the bazaar. Since then, the two communities have lived as
separately as possible.

Godhra station, to the regret of the Hindus, is located in an area that is
now entirely Muslim. And a huddle of Muslim-owned businesses sprang up in
shacks alongside the tracks, many of them motor-repair yards. This little
slum, known as Signal Fadia, has all the material a riot could require:
stacks of bricks, petrol, and paraffin and calor gas cylinders. But it
also had the necessary human material: a community impoverished and bitter
and surviving on the margins of criminality.

The woman seized by the karsevaks was dragged into compartment S/6, and
word of what had happened began to spread. "The girl began screaming for
help," said Ahmed, a wood dealer who was waiting for a train going the
other way. "Muslims who were travelling on the train got off. People began
pouring on to the platform to try to rescue her. I ran home I could see
trouble was brewing..."

The train moved off, and the gathering crowd began pelting the carriage
with bricks. Inside the train, someone pulled the emergency cord; the
train stopped, then moved off again; the cord was pulled again 1km out of
the station, and this time the train stopped and stayed stopped. "People
in the vicinity... started to gather near the train," says one witness.
"The mob... requested that the karsevaks return the girl. But instead of
returning the girl, they started closing their windows. This infuriated
the mob..."

The brawl had become a battle, with the karsevaks piling in with their
swords and sticks, and a crowd now said to be 1,000-strong streaming in
from the slum, bringing petrol, gas, rags anything that would burn. Their
gas cylinders broke the bars on the windows and exploded inside; the
petrol bombs flew through and set the upholstery and the people trapped
inside on fire. By the time that the police arrived in strength one hour
later, there was nothing to be saved.

Local members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad quickly sought revenge, burning
down the slum by the tracks and a mosque in the town. But that was only
the beginning.

______

#4.

[ And of course, the curent Indian govt. sees no reason to examine=20
sources of funding of the Hindu Right operations..... ]

o o o

INDIA TO MONITOR FOREIGN FUNDING OF MUSLIM SEMINARIES

>From Indo-Asian News Service

New Delhi, Mar 19 (IANS) India is to enact a law to monitor foreign funding
of madrassas, or Islamic seminaries, and how the money is used.

The new legislation would replace the existing Foreign Contribution
(Regulation) Act, which lacked adequate powers to regulate the flow and use
of foreign funds coming in for these institutions, Minister of State for
Home Vidyasagar Rao told Parliament in response to a question Tuesday.

Responding to criticism from the opposition, he said the government had not
carried out any survey on the nature of funding of the madrassas,
particularly in the border areas.

But he said madrassas were mushrooming and there were a total of 31,850
across the country, 11,453 of them along the borders with Pakistan,
Bangladesh and Nepal.

He charged that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was trying to
infiltrate the madrassas to "exploit and mislead" the students.

Rao said the government had no information about reports that the madrassas
were being financed by a Pakistani organisation based in Karachi.

--Indo-Asian News Service

--=20
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