May 3rd, 2002:
Headlines:
· Oppn puts govt on mat in RS
for inaction in Gujarat ( Times Of India )
· BJP licks its Gujarat wounds
as allies bicker ( Times Of India )
·
Gujarat violence is
patriots' reaction to Godhra: Mathur ( www.rediff.com
)
· Cops admit killing more Muslims ( Hindustan
Times )
· The Rajya Sabha motion on Gujarat (
Times Of India )
· Riot victims point accusing
finger but cops look away ( Express India )
· Rajya Sabha to resume debate on
Gujarat ( Times Of India )
·
Modi dares
critics to remove him ( Times Of India )
·
Where there’s a
will, there’s a way ( Times Of India )
Oppn
puts govt on mat in RS for inaction in Gujarat
PTI [ THURSDAY, MAY 02,
2002 4:23:15 PM ]
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_id=8668675
NEW DELHI: The Opposition has said in
the Rajya Sabha that the entire
country
was "disillusioned" with the government's inaction in curbing
violence
that threatened the unity and integrity of the country.
Though
the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister of Gujarat took oath
under
the provisions of the Constitution to run Governments without
any
discrimination, "it was unfortunate that the faith expressed by
the
country was breached and shattered to pieces", Congress leader
Arjun
Singh alleged in the Upper House on Thursday.
Initiating
a discussion on the Gujarat issue under rule 170 which
entails
voting, he said the BJP claimed it was a party with a
difference
but its government in Gujarat had failed to maintain
communal
harmony.
The
entire nation was disillusioned with the government, the Congress
leader
alleged.
The
incidents in Gujarat were against the very principles of the
Constitution
which reaffirmed certain values and it was the
responsibility
of the state to protect these values, he said. The
people's
disappointment with the BJP was evident from the results of
the
recent assembly polls.
BJP
members took strong exception when Singh referred to the writings
of
RSS ideologue guru Golwalkar that the country had to learn from
the
Nazi movement, saying the member should confine himself to
Gujarat.
Referring
to the suggestions made by National Human Rights Commission
(NHRC)
after its visit to Gujarat, Singh demanded explanation of what
the
government had done to implement them.
Copyright
© 2002 Times Internet Limited
BJP
licks its Gujarat wounds as allies bicker
TIMES
NEWS NETWORK [ THURSDAY, MAY 02, 2002 12:18:06 AM ]
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Articleshow.asp?art_id=8602073
NEW
DELHI: Gujarat violence has clearly singed the NDA and left the
BJP's
credibility in tatters. The exit of the Lok Janshakti and the
National
Conference from the NDA government, the abstentions by two
Janata
Dal-United MPs, the walkout of Telugu Desam Party from the
House,
and the uniformly anti-BJP rhetoric by other NDA allies —
barring
the Shiv Sena — point to the weakening of the NDA and the
immediate
negative impact in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Jammu and
Kashmir.
Shaken
by the the party's moral — if not political — isolation, BJP
leaders
admitted on Wednesday that though they did not see it that
way,
the public perception was that Narendra Modi was a ``political
liability''.
But with the opposition taking a strident position, the
BJP
simply could not drop him at this stage as it would be seen as an
action
taken under pressure.
Simultaneously,
they dismissed the desertion of the four-member
Ramvilas
Paswan-led LJS as ``inconsequential'' as they had secured a
far
bigger dalit prize in Uttar Pradesh, the Bahujan Samaj Party. The
exit
of the five-member NC was ``expected''.
The
walkout by the TDP, however, hit the governmemt hard, forcing it
to
take a lenient view of the ``lapse''. A senior Cabinet minister
said:
``We understand Chandrababu Naidu's difficulties because he has
the
Congress to deal with in Andhra Pradesh. Besides, his
parliamentary
party split three ways on Gujarat, and this was the
only
way out for him. The government will next week again offer the
speakership
to the TDP.''
A
BJP national executive member said: ``The TDP was never a part of
the
NDA — it was extending us outside issue-based support. We had
requested
the TDP to give us a Lok Sabha Speaker, not the other way
round.
The TDP's abstention cannot be compared with that of the NC,
which
was in the government and morally bound to vote with the
government
or quit.''
The
real reason behind these differing yardsticks, a BJP functionary
said,
was the party's electoral calculations for AP and J&K.
Copyright
© 2002 Times Internet Limited
Gujarat
violence is patriots'
reaction to Godhra:
Mathur
Onkar
Singh in New Delhi
rediff.com,
Friday
May 03, 2002.
http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/may/03train.htm
Senior
Bharatiya Janata Party leader J P Mathur on
Friday
termed the violence in Gujarat as patriots'
reaction
to the Godhra carnage and slammed the media
for
classifying the trouble in the state as riots.
"I
do not know why the people and the media has been
calling
the violence in Gujarat riots. These are not
riots,
but the reaction of nationalist forces to the
Godhra
carnage," he said.
He
blamed the "so called secular elements" for
strengthening
the hands of anti-national forces by
trying
to put nationalist forces on the defensive.
"The
so called secular leaders like I K Gujaral,
Chandershekhar,
Sonia Gandhi, Mulayam Singh Yadav are
also
in league with the anti-national forces. Whenever
nationalist
forces come out to challenge the
anti-national
elements, these people come to the
rescue
of Muslims," Mathur said.
He
welcomed the Union government's move to send K P S
Gill
to Gujarat as security advisor to Chief Minister
Narendra
Modi.
"The
image of the man alone would be a strong signal
to
the anti-nationalists to flee the state," he added.
Copyright
2002 rediff.com. All rights reserved
Cops
admit killing more Muslims
Vinay
Menon
(Ahmedabad,
May 2)
Hindustan
Times.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/nonfram/030502/detNAT07.asp
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gujarat
Police has finally admitted that it killed
more
Muslims than Hindus in its ostensible attempts to
stop
what was clearly targeted Hindu violence against
Muslims.
Of the 184 people who died in police firing
since
the violence began, 104 are Muslims, says a
report
drafted by Gujarat Police.
The
statistic substantiates the allegation of riot
victims
from virtually every part of the state that
not
only did the local police not do anything to stop
the
Hindu mobs; they actually turned their guns on the
helpless
Muslim victims.
At
some places in the state though, this trend - of
more
Muslims falling to police bullets than Hindus -
was
reversed. In both Bhavnagar and Banaskantha
districts,
five Hindus died in police firing on
rioters.
No Muslim was killed in Banaskantha, only one
died
in Bhavnagar. Superintendents of police of both
districts
were removed.
The
numbers of Muslim and Hindu deaths in police
firing,
despite having been worked out by the Gujarat
government,
have so far not been released. Coming out
with
the truth would only inflame the situation, it is
feared.
The
government, however, has been keen to draw
attention
to the first 72 hours of violence during
which
it claims more Hindus were killed in police
firing.
Said the state home minister Gordhan Zadaphia:
"I
have data with me that shows more Hindus were
killed
in police firing till March 3, but it cannot be
disclosed."
Zadaphia
was probably referring to data showing 69
Hindu
deaths as compared to 55 Muslim deaths statewide
till
March 3. A closer look, however, reveals that in
Ahmedabad,
the numbers of deaths for both Hindus and
Muslims
stood head to head at 26. Four of these 26
Hindus
were killed by the RAF.
Copyright
2002 Hindustan Times. All Rights Reserved.
The
Rajya Sabha motion on Gujarat
[
THURSDAY, MAY 02, 2002 12:26:32 PM ]
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_id=8652235\
This House expresses its deep sense of anguish at the
persistence of
violence
in Gujarat for over six weeks leading to loss of lives of a
large
number of persons, destruction of property worth crores of
rupees,
and urges the Centre to intervene effectively under Article
355
of the Constitution to protect the lives and properties of
citizens
and to provide effective relief and rehabilitation to the
victims
of violence.
Copyright
© 2002 Times Internet Limited
Riot
victims point accusing finger but cops look away
ExpressIndia,
Stavan
Desai
Friday
May 03, 2002.
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=16484
Ahmedabad,
May 2: IT’S like a slap in the face of riot
victims.
Despite victims of the Naroda-Patiya and
Gulbarg
Society massacres having named the accused in
their
complaints, they continue to remain scot-free.
The
riot victims had, in their statements, named more
than
a dozen people, even describing what they look
like
and what they do. But the city police have till
now
arrested only two people. One arrest each has been
made
in the Naroda-Patiya and Gulbarg Society case:
Ganpat
Somaji Chhara and Kailash Dhobi respectively.
The
rest — in spite of having a pile of complaints
against
them — remain free. Mukesh Mochi, whose name
figures
prominently in Gulbarg Society FIR is yet to
be
arrested. Other prominent people whom the residents
of
Naroda-Patiya named include Bipin Umedbhai Panchal
alias
Automobilewala, Manoj Sindhi alias Videowala,
Suresh
Chara alias Langda and Babu alias Garagewala.
The
fact that the persons whom they named are still
free
has angered residents of Chamanpura. ‘‘After I
gave
the names of the people whom I had identified in
the
mob, I was asked not to enter the area by other
residents,’’
says Saira Saiyeed, who used to stay in
house
number 9 of Gulbarg Society.
Saira
has named Bharat Mochi, Kapil and Mukesh Mochi
in
her statement. Saira fears that Mukesh will never
be
arrested as his brother Ashok Mochi, a constable at
Meghaninagar
police station, is the driver of Police
Inspector
(PI) N D Parmar, second PI of the police
station.
Incidently, Mukesh also figures in the list
of
11 accused named in the FIR registered by then
Senior
PI of Meghaninagar police station K G Erda.
Dilawar
Sheikh, who lost his 19-year-old son in the
attack,
has named Kailash Dhobi, Kapil alias Munna and
Dharmesh
— all locals — in his statement. ‘‘They burnt
my
son alive. How can I forget their faces?’’ he asks.
Sheikh
used to stay in the chawl opposite Gulbarg
Society.
Kailash Dhobi, who has been arrested, is at
present
in judicial custody. Similarly, Rashidabanu
named
six, including Mukesh, Kapil and Kailash, in her
statement.
‘‘They were part of the mob and I have told
the
police about them. Still they are free,’’ she
says.
ACP
(B-Division) P N Barot, former investigating
officer
of the cases, says, ‘‘They are right in their
own
way. But the investigation is not complete yet.
And
now with some of the cases being transfered to the
Crime
Branch, everything will be streamlined. All I
can
say is injustice will not be done.’’
Barot
passes the buck on to the ‘‘lack of time’’ to
investigate
thoroughly as he also had other
responsibilities.
‘‘Why so much on stress on arrests?
I
believe investigation is more important and that is
being
done,’’ he adds.
Hussain
Ali Hasid Ali Pathan, a resident of
Naroda-Patiya,
has in his statement named Bipin and
Suresh
Chara among six others. ‘‘At about 10 am, a mob
armed
with swords, trishuls, iron pipes, etc came and
started
shouting provocative slogans. Some of them
were
even carrying pistols,’’ Pathan’s statement says.
One
person of Pathan’s family was killed and property
worth
Rs 1.9 lakh was destroyed in the attack.
Another
resident, Harun Mohammed Shiekh, who lost
three
members of his family, has in his statement
named
Manoj Sindhi, Suresh Langda, Babu and nine
others.
Fatimabibi Nijam Mehboob Sheikh, whose
property
worth approximately Rs 1 lakh was destroed,
also
named Suresh Langda and Guddu Chara among others.
‘‘The
mob also desecrated a mosque. I could identify
these
people and so I named them. Why would I accuse
someone
who is innocent?’’ she asks.
Copyright
2002 ExpressIndia. All rights reserved.
Rajya
Sabha to resume debate on Gujarat
TIMES NEWS NETWORK [
FRIDAY, MAY 03, 2002 8:18:31 AM]
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Articleshow.asp?art_id=8735440
NEW
DELHI: The Rajya Sabha will resume its discussion on Gujarat on
Friday.
The House was adjourned at midnight after 12 hours of heated
discussion.
On
Thursday, the BJP bowed to the Opposition's numerical superiority
in
the Upper House and declared that it was ready to accept and pass
its
motion on Gujarat ``unanimously''.
The
resolution expresses the Rajya Sabha's deep sense of anguish at
the
persistence of violence in Gujarat for over six weeks and ``urges
the
Central government to intervene effectively under Article 355 of
the
Constitution to protect the lives and properties of the
citizens''.
Though
BJP leaders tried to put a positive spin on their change of
tack
— claiming that they had bowled a ``googly'' — constitutional
experts
note that by supporting a resolution invoking Article 355,
the
Centre has conceded the key Opposition demand that the government
of
Gujarat has failed to run the administration in ``accordance with
the
provisions of the Constitution''.
The
Vajpayee government's turnaround also prompted Opposition MPs to
accuse
the BJP of wasting legislative time. ``What prompted the
government
to hold up proceedings for seven days, if this had been
the
government's position?'' asked Nilotpal Basu of the CPM
immediately
after Leader of the House Jaswant Singh suggested he was
prepared
to back the resolution.
Disagreeing
with the government's sudden appeal for unanimity, the
entire
Opposition sought a CBI inquiry into the incidents of
violence,
including Godhra, and also a commission of inquiry by a
sitting
judge of the Supreme Court as recommended by the NHRC.
Arjun
Singh (Congress) moved the motion, pointing out that the
Constitution
has become irrelevant as those who have taken oaths to
protect
it have failed to do so. Going into the ideological
background
of communal hatred, Arjun Singh quoted RSS ideologue M S
Golwalkar's
praise for the Nazis.
In
a none too subtle allusion to the ethnic origins of Congress
leader
Sonia Gandhi, Jaswant Singh asked Arjun Singh why he did not
refer
to Italy or Mussolini, since he had referred to events in
Germany.
On
the motion itself, Jaswant Singh said: ``The government shares the
sentiments
in totality. There is no difference with the phraseology
of
the motion. We are all naked in the bathroom, so there is no point
in
the slinging of charges. We accept the motion with the reference
to
Article 355 of the Constitution (that entails the Centre's
intervention).
The home minister has already taken action and will
take
more action. Let us pass this motion with unanimity.''
Copyright
© 2002 Times Internet Limited
Modi
dares critics to remove him
TIMES NEWS NETWORK [
THURSDAY, MAY 02, 2002 3:54:00 AM ]
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_id=8617067
AHMEDABAD:
Hours after being targeted in the Lok Sabha both by the
opposition
and the NDA allies, a defiant Gujarat chief minister
Narendra
Modi on Wednesday dared his opponents to have him removed.
``Arre
kal lete hain to aaj lain le (If they are going to take my
chair
away tomorrow, then take it today itself),'' said Modi, while
addressing
a function here on the occasion of the foundation day of
Gujarat.
He
said the discussion in the Lok Sabha on Gujarat was ``not
objective''.
``Very
rarely will you find anyone making statements which could have
been
of help to the people of Gujarat or had come up with suggestions
which
could have been used to assuage the feelings of those
affected,''
he said.
``Gujarat
has been a victim of natural calamities and in its
aftermath
the situation has been worsened by the slander campaign by
non-Gujaratis
in the past few years,'' he said.
``Not
a single person had died or was injured (in the attack on
Christians)
in Ahwa- Dangs in 1999, yet there was a furore. For
years,
the Sardar Sarovar project has been entwined in some
controversy
or the other because some people are inimical to the
interests
of the state. Fortunately, we have got a go ahead from the
Supreme
Court,'' Modi said.
Copyright
© 2002 Times Internet Limited
Where
there’s a will, there’s a way
VIDYADHAR DATE
TIMES
NEWS NETWORK [ FRIDAY, MAY 03, 2002 12:52:26 AM]
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_id=8691178
MUMBAI: V N Rai, Uttar Pradesh’s
inspector-general of
police
who has done considerable research on communal
riots,
feels that the police can certainly check
communal
riots if they want to.
"Any
riot can be controlled in 24 hours if the
administration
wants to," he says.
In
the wake of the violence in Gujarat, he has sent
letters
to all IPS officers in the country, saying the
police
should not blame inadequate equipment and
manpower
for their failure. May be some isolated
incidents
will take place but large-scale rioting can
be
prevented, Rai says.
Rai
said, while talking to Times News Network during a
brief
visit to Mumbai, that the police were
fullyequipped
when the Babri masjid was demolished and
when
organised attacks were launched against Sikhs in
the
wake of the killing of Indira Gandhi.
The
police failed to act on both the occasions. The
important
issue is the determination to act, the
problem
is not with equipment or numbers, he said.
Delhi
had the highest security in 1984 because of
insurgency
in Punjab. Yet, the anti-Sikh riots took
place
on a large scale because the administration did
little
to prevent them.
"I
have handled mobs. The moment they realise you are
even
handed, half the job is done. One can use the
maximum
force during riots as the police manual
provides.
When I ask the police to fire on a dangerous
Hindu
mob, both the police and the Hindus react with
disbelief,"
Rai said.
Because
of the communalisation, Hindu mobs expect that
the
police would automatically side with them. Rai
said
the police should not blame politicians for
communal
riots.
"The
police must accept that there is something wrong
with
themselves. Those guilty of being partisan should
be
punished."
"In
my conversation with some policemen posted during
the
Bhagalpur riots of 1989 and Mumbai riots of
1992-93,
it became clear that the policemen thought of
Muslims
as violent and cruel. The feeling was so
deeply
embedded in their psyche that even after
admitting
the disproportionate destruction of Muslim
life
and property, they continued to discover many
reasons
to dismiss the suggestion that the
naturally-non-violent
and pious Hindus could in any
way
have been responsible," Rai said.
Rai
favours the idea of forming a confederation of
India
and Pakistan as a step towards solving the
communal
problem.
Copyright 2002 Times Internet Limited.