IMAC News Digest 10 May 2002

http://www.indian-express.com/full_story.php?content_id=2392

New Delhi, May 9: Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee’s
controversial Goa speech has become the subject of a
privilege motion moved by Congress Chief Whip in the
Lok Sabha Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi.

Accusing the PM of ‘‘misleading’’ the House by
‘‘tampering’’ with his own speech, Dasmunshi has
submitted to the Speaker’s Office a video cassette and
a transcript of what the Congress claims is the
original speech.

However, given the change of guard in the Speaker’s
Office with Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi set to be
elected tomorrow, it is unlikely that there will be
much progress on the Congress notice.

The Congress charge pertains to one controversial
sentence. According to the clarification made by
Vajpayee in the Lok Sabha on the speech, he used the
phrase ‘‘aise Mussalman (such Muslims)’’ to single out
fundamentalist Muslims as those who cannot mingle with
the rest of society. He insisted he was not referring
to the Muslim community as a whole.

However, the Congress today claimed that the word
‘‘aise’’ was an ‘‘after-thought’’ and a ‘‘deliberate
inclusion’’. It was not there in the original speech,
Congress spokesman Jaipal Reddy said.

He said that the party has procured a copy of the
original text as well as a video cassette and there is
a ‘‘substantive contradiction’’ between what the PM
quoted in the Lok Sabha and waht he actually said in
Goa. ‘‘It is tantamount to a breach of privilege as he
has misled the House,’’ Reddy declared.

Realising that it may be tilting at windmills, the
Congress has gone ahead with the privilege notice
anyway to keep the pressure on the Government on its
overt return to Hindutva in the aftermath of the
communal violence in Gujarat.

© 2002: Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. All
rights reserved throughout the world.

Ahmedabad police commissioner transferred
PTI [ FRIDAY, MAY 10, 2002 9:56:26 AM ]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Articleshow.asp?art_id=9441834

AHMEDABAD: In a reshuffle of the city police, the Ahmedabad Police
Commissioner P C Pande was transferred late on Thursday night.

Ever since riots broke out in the city, Pande had come in for
criticism over his handling of the situation and his controversial
remark that police ranks could not be above the prejudices of the
local people.

He has been replaced by K R Kaushik, additional DGP of the CID, Home
Department sources said.

Pande will take the place of A K Bhargava as additional DG, arms
unit. Bhargava will take over from Kaushik, they said.

Kaushik was supervising the investigations into the Godhra carnage
which triggered communal riots in the state.

It was understood that the government took the decision to effect the
above transfers after three city fire brigade men were attacked and a
fire brigade ambulance was set ablaze in Raipur Chakla in the Walled
City late on Thursday night.

Copyright © 2002 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved

72 days and no end in sight to Gujarat violence
BHARAT DESAI
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
[ FRIDAY, MAY 10, 2002 2:25:16 AM ]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Articleshow.asp?art_id=9410916

AHMEDABAD: It can be dubbed a ``Catch-72'' situation for the Gujarat
government which claimed to have controlled the riots within 72 hours
of their outbreak.

Thursday, when the riots completed 72 days, was a moment of reckoning
for an administration which neither wants to remember its 72-hour
claim, nor accept that 72 days later, there is no semblance of
control.

The acceptance that things are still out of control has come more
from the Union government, which has appointed K P S Gill to stem the
tidal wave of hatred.

The state government had decided it had done enough by deputing
director-general of police K Chakravarthi to take charge of
Ahmedabad. The city now accounts for more than half the 945 deaths
reported officially since the Godhra carnage.

Though the government has now clammed up and refuses to part with the
casualty figures, highly-placed sources in the home department say
the number of the seriously injured today stands at 1,420.

Arson cases stand at 22,560 and the loss in arson at Rs 705 crore —
not including the 4,000 vehicles damaged in the riots.

The police have their own statistics to show they have done their
bit. Nearly 42,400 arrests have been made and 14,100 teargas shells
and 10,500 rounds of ammunition fired — which has so far killed 192
rioters.

It is another issue that a community-wise break-up of the victims of
police bullets shows the force in a very partisan light.

The allegation that the government and the police have not
judiciously utilised the 6,200-strong Army and Central para-military
forces should send a warning note to Gill, who plans to bring in more
men.

Seventy-two days after the riots broke out, the BJP leadership has
refused to dismiss chief minister Narendra Modi despite the mayhem in
Gujarat.

This protection has been extended by Modi down the line. He has not
transferred a single high-ranking home department or police officer
accountable for the lapses.

The only transfers effected have been at the lower levels. This has
given the impression that the officials could have kept their jobs if
only they, too, had looked the other way.

Those were the initial days of the riots when it seemed like a
completely one-sided affair, unlike the present situation where
things look more evenly matched with every action by one community
bringing in an immediate reaction from the other even in curfew-bound
areas.

In an atmosphere which is so hopelessly vitiated, no amount of peace
marches, peace rallies, all-religion prayer meetings and handshakes
between community leaders have helped cool the frayed tempers.

And talking of control, it is not just the government and the police
which have lost it.

Even those who were at the forefront of the hate campaign in the
first 72 hours seem to have no control today over the mobs which just
wait for an opportunity to pounce on a pedestrian, a scooterist or a
cluster of houses, even as the official death toll steadily marches
towards the four-figure mark.

Copyright © 2002 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved.

Baptism by fire for new Ahmedabad police chief
BHARAT DESAI
TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ FRIDAY, MAY 10, 2002 12:17:31 PM ]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Articleshow.asp?art_id=9451627

AHMEDABAD: The new Ahmedabad police chief has a tough task ahead. On
Friday, arsonists ran amok in his city and the fire brigade was on
strike since Thursday night.

Rampaging mobs set several hutments in Jamalpur on fire in
retaliation to the killing of a man on Thursday night.

According to the police, the man was drunk and had strayed into a
slum near the Calico Mill. DCP RD Makadia said the victim was a
history-sheeter and had once been arrested and bailed out during the
riots.

Mobs held the rival community responsible and attacked their hutments
on the banks of Sabarmati.

Residents themselves were trying to douse the flames.

Bombs were being hurled at Raikhad Darwaza and firing was reported
from some of the areas.

To add to the city's woes, the staff of Ahmedabad Fire Brigade went
on a strike late on Thursday night after their colleagues were beaten
up by a mob at Raipur.

A senior police official, present on the spot in Jamalpur, said: "The
situation is very grave, something should be done about the firemen's
strike or things will go out of control."

According to sources, two youngsters, who are sons of two Ahmedabad
Fire Brigade officials, had gone to Khadia in the evening and were
badly beaten up. When an AFB ambulance went to the boys' rescue, five
occupants of the jeep were dragged out and beaten by locals. The
ambulance was then turned over and set ablaze.

Incidently the ambulence was gifted to the AFB by Home Minister L K
Advani.

Immediately after the attack, staff of Ahmedabad Fire Brigade and its
ambulance services decided to go on an indefinite strike.

Hectic talks between the agitated employees and the Mayor Himmatsinh
Patel, Municipal Commissioner P Panneervel, Chief Fire Officer Bipin
Jadeja went into the wee hours of Friday.

Copyright © 2002 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved.

Mafia seeking Pak arms for Gujarat: Advani
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
[ SATURDAY, MAY 11, 2002 3:36:21 AM ]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Articleshow.asp?art_id=9515383

NEW DELHI: Union home minister L K Advani on Friday told the
Parliamentary Consultative Committee on Internal Security that there
were ``reliable reports, including intercepts, pointing to underworld
elements seeking assistance from Pakistan to carry out retaliatory
actions in Gujarat and even parts of Maharashtra.''

The home minister shared this information with the members when they
expressed concern over the continuing violence in Gujarat.

Advani said, ``Help from across the border is being sought for supply
of arms, ammunition and explosives for undertaking such acts of
violence. Pakistan-based leaders of Lashkar-e-Taiba and members of
Dawood Ibrahim's and late Abdul Latif's gangs and underworld dons
here are involved in this conspiracy,'' he said.

He also tried to convince Opposition MPs that ``the Centre would do
everything necessary'' to restore normalcy to Gujarat. The Opposition
members, particularly CPM's Somnath Chatterjee, wanted to know what
steps the government had taken in Gujarat under Article 355 and why
peace had not been restored even after so many days.

Advani said Article 355 cast upon the Central government a
constitutional duty to protect a state in times of internal strife or
external threat.

Cutting across party lines, members expressed concern at the
continuing violence and the plight of the refugees staying in
makeshift camps.

Advani assured the Opposition that no relief camp was being wound up,
adding that even the Gujarat High Court had appreciated relief work
carried out by the state government.

Congress leaders wanted to know if the committee set up to probe
former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's assassination was being wound
up.

Advani said the Multi-Disciplinary Monitoring Agency (MDMA),
constituted to examine the unanswered questions about the
assassination and doubts raised by the Jain Commission which had
probed the case, would continue its work.

``The term of the monitoring agency expires on May 31, but the
government had decided to extend it for one more year,'' Advani said.

Copyright © 2002 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved

Gill removes police chief, shuffles team
PTI
[ FRIDAY, MAY 10, 2002 7:43:57 PM ]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_ID=9482635

AHMEDABAD: Going by his dismal performance during the riots,
Ahmedabad police commissioner P C Pande should have been transferred
two months ago. But it needed a K P S Gill to persuade Chief Minister
Narendra Modi to do the needful.

Pande and a few other senior police officers of Ahmedabad were
finally transferred late on Thursday night and a new set of officers
brought in to handle the still-smouldering Ahmedabad.

Observers, however, feel that despite Gill's reshuffle, Modi managed
to have his way, owing to Gill's unfamiliarity with the inner
dynamics of the Gujarat force.

Most of the new incumbents are ones who helped Modi in the Rajkot-2
by-elections. Notable among them are additional DGP (CID-Crime) K R
Kaushik, who replaces Pande; SP of Jamnagar Satish Verma, now
additional commissioner, Sector II, which includes areas like Naroda
Patia, Naroda Gam and Chamanpura and Satish Sharma, who will be in
charge of a considerable area of the Walled City.

But Gill, too, made his own statement, bringing in A I Saiyed as his
officer on special duty. Saiyed, who had been shunted in and out of
the Karai police academy, now holds this job in addition to his
earlier one.

Thursday night's meeting to discuss the transfers was attended by the
director-general of police K Chakravarthi, chief secretary G
Subbarao, additional chief secretary (home) Ashok Narayan and Modi.

All the proposals for the Ahmedabad placements were tabled by
Chakravarthi and ratified by Gill. The rest of the party kept quiet
for most of the two-and-a-half-hour session.

Gill has looked into the prospective officers' background — years in
service, age, remarks in their Confidential Reports and their
achievements.

Significantly, minister of state for home Gordhan Zadaphia, who had
earlier been instrumental in positioning men at the ACP and DCP
levels in Ahmedabad, was kept out of the meeting.

So as Modi — who is also holding the home portfolio — laughs all the
way to CMO, Zadaphia is kept sulking.

Zadaphia's trusted lieutenant, R J Savani, who was posted as DCP
(crime branch) last month, was moved as SP (Ahmedabad rural).

Recently, the Crime Branch was directed to investigate 10 of the more
serious cases of communal rioting involving VHP and BJP office-
bearers.

Savani had a tough time dealing with those who were named in the FIRs
in the Naroda-Patia cases. Now, he could be heaving a sigh of relief
and consider himself fortunate to have been allowed to handle a
district independently.

Similarly, additional police commissioner (sector I) Keshav Kumar,
who moved to Ahmedabad a couple of weeks ago, was removed from the
field and put in place of additional CP (administration) K D Patadia.
Patadia has been left without a posting.

So is DCP (zone III) R D Makadia, who has only 22 days of service
left before he retires and will be replaced by SP (Ahmedabad rural)
Vikas Sahay.

Being in Raj Bhavan as ADC to the Governor helped D G Vanzara, who is
now DCP (Crime) while joint commissioner (Prohibition) Rajan
Priyadarshi got his executive break and will be DIG (Rajkot range).

Copyright © 2002 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved

5 dead, widespread arson in Ahmedabad
TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ SATURDAY, MAY 11, 2002 3:40:37 AM ]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_ID=9515678

AHMEDABAD: New Ahmedabad police commissioner K R Kaushik assumed
charge on Friday even as parts of Ahmedabad went up in flames with
the fire brigade nowhere in sight for most part of the day.

At least five persons were killed in violent incidents since Friday
morning and widespread arson was reported with the firemen on strike.

Curfew was imposed in Kagdapeeth, Kalupur, Dani Limda, Sarkhej and
Gaekwad Haveli police station areas on Friday even as Kaushik toured
some of the worst affected areas of the city and tried to boost the
morale of the policemen.

One person was burnt alive in Kalupur in the afternoon. The victim,
the police said, was a fruit vendor who got caught in the communal
strife that gripped the area at 11 a.m. A mob caught hold of him near
the Kalupur Tower, stabbed him, doused him with kerosene and set him
on fire.

At least three persons were killed in Raikhad and Jamalpur in
incidents of bomb blasts, stone-throwing and stabbings, which also
left 43 persons injured. Two of the deaths took place in Raikhad and
one in Jamalpur. Most of the injuries were from bomb blasts.

While one person was hit by a stone in Jamalpur, two others sustained
shrapnel injuries. All these riot-victims died within moments of
reaching V.S. Hospital.

Another death due to stabbing was reported from the Beharampua area
around 8 a.m. when a mob of around 100 persons pounced on the
unidentified youth near Vasant-Rajab crossing.

As early as 6 a.m., localities in the Jamalpur and Raikhad Haveli
area had woken up to bomb explosions and war cries as people of both
the communities clashed. Amidst heavy stone- throwing, bomb blasts
and sporadic incidents of arson, the police resorted to teargas
shelling and combing to control the violence.

The situation turned grave by the afternoon as police constable
Mahendra Singh was severely beaten up and his motorcycle and rifle
snatched in the Khwaja Darwaza area of the Gaekwad Haveli police
station. His motorcycle was burnt by the mob and the police are yet
to recover the rifle.

Taking advantage of the strike by the Ahmedabad Fire Brigade (AFB)
over an incident on Thursday night when firemen were beaten up and
their ambulance burnt, the mobs went on an arson spree on Friday
morning setting shops and hutments on fire in several areas,
including Jamalpur, Raikhad and Raipur.

Copyright © 2002 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved

Modi skips relief camps to placate ministers
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
[ SATURDAY, MAY 11, 2002 4:20:22 AM ]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_ID=9518430

GANDHINAGAR/NEW DELHI: Chief minister Narendra Modi cancelled a
crucial meeting with managers of ten Muslim relief camps on Friday.
This was to be his first-ever formal meeting with them, barring the
visit to the Shah-e-Alam refuge camp with Prime Minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee on April 4.

Modi, instead, spent the day appeasing his cabinet colleagues, who
are disillusioned with his handling of the communal riots. For over
two hours, he was closeted with water resources minister Narottam
Patel and finance minister Nitin Patel.

In the last two cabinet meetings, Modi had drawn flak from his
ministerial colleagues. Friday's meetings were an attempt to quell
the discontent within the ranks, especially in view of industry
minister Suresh Mehta's visit to New Delhi.

Mehta, who had been a vocal critic of the chief minister in
Wednesday's cabinet meeting, has apparently met the party bosses and
home minister L K Advani. Though BJP president Jana Krishnamurthy's
office refused to confirm any meeting with Mehta, officials from the
Prime Minister's Office said Vajpayee had not met him.

Nitin Patel told Times News Network that he had
discussed ``departmental issues'' with the chief minister, though he
refused to reveal which ones.

After his meeting with Modi, Narottam, at a hurriedly called news
conference, sought to deny that he was one of the discontented
ministers.

Clarifying why he did not attend the cabinet meeting on Wednesday, he
said: ``It was not a boycott. I was away for a religious function in
Gangeth village in Mehsana district. I had postponed it thrice. I did
not want to postpone it again.''

A senior official in Modi's office, however, sought to explain that
the meeting with relief camp managers had to be cancelled ``because
of the sudden deterioration in the law and order as the chief
minister had to review the situation''.

Copyright © 2002 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved

Naidu makes peace with PM on Gujarat
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
[ SATURDAY, MAY 11, 2002 3:56:40 AM ]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_ID=9516790

NEW DELHI: After adopting a tough posture on the handling of the
communal riots in Gujarat and state chief minister Narendra Modi's
removal, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief and Andhra Pradesh chief
minister N Chandrababu Naidu sought to mend fences with the BJP on
Friday.

Naidu is a key ally of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA)
and his extreme public stand on Gujarat had threatened to strain the
otherwise friendly relations between the TDP and the BJP.

As it happens, Naidu appears to have surrendered tamely to the
Centre.

Naidu, who came to Delhi on Friday after a gap of five months and for
the first time after the Gujarat controversy, called on PM Vajpayee
where he apparently tied himself in knots explaining his party's
stand on Gujarat.

Naidu first had a one-hour meeting with the PM with his officials
where he discussed the pending development projects relating to
Andhra Pradesh. This was followed by a 30-minute one-to-one meeting
between the two leaders.

It was during this meeting that Naidu apparently justified the TDP
position on Gujarat, particularly its demand for Modi's removal in
view of this party's commitment to secularism.

Naidu, it is learnt, also hurried to clarify that it was not his
intention to destabilise the NDA. Though his party's stand on Gujarat
remains unchanged, it was not a pre-condition to his party's
continued support to the NDA, he explained.

Later, talking to the media, Naidu appeared reluctant to say anything
on Gujarat. He admitted that this matter had figured in his talk with
the PM but did not want to elaborate on the issue.

In response to persistent queries, Naidu said that his party's stand
on Gujarat was very clear as he had reiterated it several times in
the recent past, adding that the TDP MPs had even walked out during
the Lok Sabha debate on Gujarat.

Stating that he is always very firm on issues, Naidu said the
differences between the BJP and the TDP on Gujarat persisted but did
not refer to his demand for Modi's removal.

As for his party supporting the Shiv Sena candidate for the Speaker's
post, Naidu explained that once the TDP had declined to accept the
post and the other parties agreed on Manohar Joshi, his party decided
to go along with everybody's choice.

When reminded that it was Shiv Sena's Bal Thackeray who had recently
criticised the TDP for its stand on Gujarat, Naidu merely said, ``I
neither react to personal remarks, nor do I make personal
remarks...my position is on issues.''

Naidu even called on the new Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi on
Friday, much to the chagrin of his MPs, who are upset over the TDP's
support to the Shiv Sena, which has an aggressive Hindutva agenda,
and that, too, when it had taken such a principled stand on
secularism.

Copyright © 2002 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved

No help from Govt: Relief agencies
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
[ SATURDAY, MAY 11, 2002 3:38:38 AM ]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_ID=9515541

AHMEDABAD: As the fires of sectarian conflict show no signs of
abating, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) say they are facing an
uphill task in providing succour to the victims, much of it without
the government's help.

``We are stuck between relief and rehabilitation,'' says Victor
Moses, who co-ordinates relief activities of an NGO called the
Citizen's Initiative.

``For how long do you think the NGO's are going to sustain relief
activities in these camps. It has almost drained us out. We're still
making efforts to mobilise funds. There is no effort being made by
the government to rehabilitate the victims in these camps,'' says
Moses.

Pradeep Shenoy, a social worker from Bangalore says, ``We have been
trying hard to pacify victims by providing them counselling. But if
violence continues, it would be difficult for us to restore faith in
them.''

``We have been working in these relief camps for quitet a few days.
What we've realised is that the apathetic attitude of the authorities
is one of the main reason for widening the gulf between the
communities,'' says Abhijeet Loreng, working with an NGO called DANA.

Copyright © 2002 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved

Firemen say they don't trust Ahmedabad police
TIMES NEWS NETWORK & AGENCIES
[ FRIDAY, MAY 10, 2002 4:13:58 PM ]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_ID=9467860

AHMEDABAD: Ahmedabad Fire Brigade officials have agreed to attend to
calls but only with an escort of the State Reserve Police and not the
local police.

However, during talks with the municipal commissioner, they said even
with the escorts, they would not attend to calls in Khadia and
Raipur. The fire brigade officials had gone on strike after two
youths, sons of fire brigade officials, were beaten up in Raipur
Chakla last evening. The commissioner has agreed to take up the
matter with the state home secretary immediately.

The demand for punishing those responsible for the attack on the
firemen was also considered and legal action would be taken against
the attackers, Chief Fire Officer B C Jadeja said.

Jadeja said that the fire brigade personnel had expressed resentment
over the incident in which five firemen were injured in the attack by
some persons in Raipur Chakla area of the city late last night.

When the fire brigade ambulance reached the spot to shift the injured
to the hospital, all its five occupants were severely thrashed by the
mob, he said.

The ambulance, which belonged to the Danapith Fire Brigade Station,
was also set ablaze by the mob.

Meanwhile, the fire brigade personnel on Friday rushed to at least
three places in riot affected areas of Jamalpur to put out fire in a
guesthouse and shops.

Copyright © 2002 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved

Relief camps will not be closed down: Advani
PTI
[ FRIDAY, MAY 10, 2002 6:27:34 PM ]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_ID=9477330

NEW DELHI: Asserting that the government would do everything
necessary to restore normalcy in Gujarat, Home Minister L K Advani on
Friday said that the state government had not taken any decision to
close down relief camps for the riot victims.

Advani told a meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee
attached to his ministry that even if there had been no resolution in
the Rajya Sabha on the Gujarat issue, Article 355 of the Constitution
cast upon the Central government a Constitutional duty to protect a
state in times of internal strife or external threat.

"The Rajya Sabha resolution has only made the government more
conscious about this obligation," he said.

Responding to concern voiced by some MPs on winding up of some relief
camps in the troubled state, the Home Minister said "the state
government has not taken any such decision".

Sharing the members' concern on continuing violence in Gujarat,
Advani said "there are reliable reports (including intercepts) that
speak of underworld elements being in touch with their mentors in
Pakistan regarding retaliatory actions in Gujarat and even in parts
of Maharashtra".

Maintaining that help from across the border was being sought for
supply of arms, ammunition and explosives for undertaking such acts
of violence, he said "Pakistan-based leader of Lashkar-e-Taiba and
elements of gangs of Dawood Ibrahim and late Abdul Latif are, in
particular, involved in such conspiracies."

Referring to the appointment of K P S Gill as security advisor to
Gujarat Chief Minister Ndrendra Modi, Advani said that it was the
state government which took the decision, but in consultation with
the Centre.

The Cabinet Secretary here, he said, was also monitoring the
situation with regard to relief and rehabilitation of riot victims.

Observing that the Gujarat High Court had "appreciated" the steps
taken by the state government for management of the camps, Advani
said that the Court stated that the state had already appointed S M
Bukhari, a retired IAS officer, as chief coordinator for relief and
rehabilitation. It has also increased cash assistance from Rs 5 per
person per day to Rs 7.

The state authorities had also taken care to some extent of trying to
sort out the problem ventilated by the petitioners, the Court said.

Copyright © 2002 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved

No end to violence, six more killed in Ahmedabad
rediff.com,
May 10, 2002.

http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/may/10train5.htm

At least six persons were killed, one of them burnt
alive, and 50 injured in fresh violence in Ahmedabad
on Friday, even as the Gujarat government shunted out
Commissioner P C Pande and appointed a Muslim police
officer to assist K P S Gill, security advisor to
Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Three people were killed and over a dozen injured when
police opened fire and burst tear-gas shells to
contain violence in Jamalpur and Raikhad.

A motor-cyclist was burnt alive by a mob in the
Kalupur police station area.

A police constable was beaten up and his rifle
snatched away in Raikhad.

Fresh violence prompted re-imposition of indefinite
curfew in four police station areas of Kalupur,
Haveli, Danilimda and Kagdapith.

Night curfew continued in eight other police station
areas in the city and Sarkhej police station limits in
Ahmedabad rural district.

Army and para-military forces have been deployed in
some of the most sensitive areas of the walled city.

PTI

Copyright 2002 rediff.com. All rights reserved.

Modi took firm steps in Gujarat: M M Joshi
rediff.com,
May 10, 2002.

http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/may/10train3.htm

Minister for Human Resource Development Murli Manohar
Joshi said on Thursday that firm steps were taken by
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to control the
communal violence in the state.
Addressing a joint meeting of the Council of Foreign
Relations and the Asia Society in New York, he said
the Bharatiya Janata Party government, which had an
unblemished record of four years, had nothing to gain
from allowing the riots to continue.

The criticism against Modi was politically motivated,
he said, adding that the Centre and the state
government took immediate action after the trouble
broke out.

Asked about continuing violence, he said these were
sporadic incidents, which sometime resulted in
clashes, but asserted that by and large the situation
was under control.

The government, he added, was taking all measures to
apprehend the elements behind the riots and create
confidence among the people.

PTI

Copyright 2002 rediff.com. All rights reserved.

SC declines extending closure date of Guj camps
PTI
[ FRIDAY, MAY 10, 2002 12:25:48 PM ]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_ID=9452093

NEW DELHI: The Supreme court on Friday declined to issue any
direction for the extension of closure date of relief camps for riots
victims in Gujarat beyond May 31 but said an application can be moved
before a Vacation Bench for any relief.

A three-judge Bench, comprising Chief Justice B N Kirpal, Justice R P
Sethi and Justice Arijit Passayat, declined to entertain an
application by People Union for Democratic Rights seeking an
extension of the closure date of relief camps by the state government.

The court granted PUDR liberty to move an application in this regard
before a vacation Bench.

Friday is the last working day of the Supreme Court, which will close
for two months summer vacations from April 13.

PUDR Counsel Indira Jaisigh said the state Government notification
for setting up of relief camps had categorically stated that they
will be closed by May 31.

Copyright © 2002 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved

EDITORIAL

Naming games Advani positions Hindutva for take-off
Statesman News Service
May 10, 2002.

http://www.thestatesman.net/page.editorial.php3?id=9205&theme=A

LK Advani may have a point when he says that it is
time to acknowledge the role of non-Congress leaders
in the freedom struggle, but he stretches that beyond
history when he accords pride of place to VD Savarkar,
after whom the airport of Port Blair is being renamed.
It can hardly be a coincidence that Savarkar was a
principal founder of the Hindutva philosophy, which
Advani now proclaims. For those who have read
Savarkar’s book on Hindutva one of the most striking
things is a knowledge of its context. The book was
written while Savarkar was incarcerated in Port
Blair’s Cellular Jail, one of the worst penal colonies
that British India could devise. Yet Savarkar has not
a word to say in his book about the inequities of the
British regime in India; he confines his diatribes
instead to Muslims as well as other Indian minorities
subscribing to religions originating outside India.
Psychologists would call this phenomenon displaced
abjection — fearing to name the strong oppressor, one
ventilates anger by taking it out on other parties as
weak or weaker than oneself.
Such a diagnosis would be corroborated by the abject
nature of the letters Savarkar wrote from prison,
where he described himself as a “prodigal son” wishing
to return to “parental doors of the (British)
government.” He promised that if released, he will
become “the staunchest advocate of constitutional
progress and loyalty to the English government which
is the foremost condition of that progress,” and that
he is “ready to serve the government in any capacity
they like.” Revolutionaries, one would have thought,
are made of sterner stuff than this, unless it is the
kind of revolution that Hindutva mobs have unleashed
in Gujarat, putting to death in particularly gruesome
ways unarmed women and children but melting away when
it comes to confronting the army. Advani, by
proclaiming Hindutva as not something to be ashamed
of, winks at this. It is not enough to cite Godhra as
a precedent for what followed — Godhra was a local
incident while the subsequent pogroms were state
sponsored. As home minister, Advani is responsible for
both Godhra and its aftermath. Renaming airports and
related ideological bluster will do nothing to help.

Copyright 2002 The Statesman. All rights reserved.

OPINION

The big, blatant cover up
By Seema Mustafa
Deccan Chronicle,
May 10, 2002.

http://www.deccan.com/columnists/col1.shtml

There is nothing really wrong in Gujarat. Nothing that
cannot be corrected by a few basic administrative
measures. Yes, of course some persons have died. But
the figures have been grossly exaggerated by the
media. And a few more are continuing to die.

That is unfortunate, but look at the numbers. The toll
is far less than it was. This alone shows that the
government is in charge. As for those in relief camps,
they should return to their homes.

And Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who is as concerned
about their welfare as the pseudo-secularists, is
making arrangements for their return. Yes, a few were
killed while trying to go back to their homes. But
those were only isolated incidents, arising from
passions running high. After all K P S Gill has been
sent to steamroll Gujarat back into normalcy. This
alone is an indication of the government’s sincerity.

As for the international community, they are trying to
incite communal sentiments, probably out of domestic
compulsions best known to them. The government is
doing all it can to restore normalcy. And there is no
question of removing the Chief Minister or imposing
President’s Rule. It is simply not required.

The NDA government at the Centre has dug in its heels
and launched Operation Cover Up, a massive exercise to
get rid of the evidence, to terrorise the survivors
not to file reports with the police, to ensure that
those lying in relief camps are not able to return to
their homes and are left with the sole choice of
leaving the State, to organise selective arrests with
the real perpetrators being left off the hook, to use
the weapon of transfers and postings to further
silence the bureaucracy and the police, and to pull
out all the stops in making it clear to the people of
Gujarat, India and the world that the violence is not
regretted. In fact, those indulging in the same are
friends of the State, with no crime too heinous to
merit action under the law of the land.

The Cover Up is taking different forms. On the one
side are carefully planted stories in the media that
Prime Minister Vajpayee, despite his speech in Goa, is
again having second thoughts. Of course, there is not
much he can do about it but he is at least thinking.
And if that is not enough, he is even thinking of
Modi’s removal.

Obviously his thoughts are best known to him, but for
Indians it is what the Prime Minister says that is of
paramount importance. Till date the Prime Minister has
spoken the thoughts of the RSS and not that of a poet.

The RSS has already announced its summer plans for
Gujarat, and clearly the intention is now to sanctify
the experiment by endorsing Modi’s politics at the
highest level of the Sangh organisation.

Then there is the much-publicised decision to send cop
Gill to Gujarat as the security advisor to Modi.
Handpicked by Home Minister L K Advani, the very move
has struck terror in minority areas following
widespread apprehension that his intervention will be
limited to mass-scale arrests of Muslims.

In Delhi, the posting is being projected by the
government as a major move to stall the violence and
restore normalcy. In Gujarat, the administration is
letting it be known quietly that Gill is visiting only
to crack down on alleged ISI networks. And as Modi,
Vajpayee, Advani and the RSS know, it is Gujarat that
really matters for them at this stage.

Much has also been made of relief and rehabilitation.
For all ostensible purposes the State government has
announced that the people should return to their
homes. The impression that one is expected to gather
from this is that the people are safe to return to
their homes.

That sufficient arrangements have been made for their
security, that the violence has abated and the Modi
government is keen to restore normalcy as soon as
possible. In reality, the order to return to their
homes is a threat.

For one, there are no homes to return to as most have
been gutted. Two, the people have been very clearly
warned through the RSS perfected grapevine that if
they dare to return they will meet a fate worse than
what befell their relatives earlier. Three, that the
only way out for them is to leave Gujarat.

Those desperate to begin life again have been taught a
lesson. They have been attacked and brutally killed
for taking the State government’s word at face value.

The message is a resounding: there is no home for you
to return to. But for the purpose of debates in
Parliament, the Modi “initiative” to resettle the
victims is parroted over and over again by the top
leaders in the government at both Delhi and
Gandhinagar.

It is safe, it is secure, Gill is there, more
battalions of the CRPF have been posted. As for the
Army, the only force that was able to instil some
sense of security in the traumatised victims of the
worst massacres in Independent India, it is not
required.

The international community has also been addressed in
Operation Cover Up. It has been told by no less a
person than the Prime Minister that the country is in
the midst of an invigorating debate on Gujarat.

That all the signs of a democracy are visible: there
is debate, there is discussion, there are arguments,
there is criticism. After all what else is democracy
all about?

A healthy democracy can be judged by its ability to
debate, not condemn, open murder and pogrom. A vibrant
democracy can be judged by a government’s willingness
to allow the debate while stonewalling the
condemnation.

After all there are always two sides to the story and
the NDA government as a reasonable, responsive
executive has allowed the other side to filter through
the RSS blockade.

Is this not reason enough for the international
community to mind its own business? And stop issuing
demarches which our foreign secretary finds too
embarrassing to accept? If people are being killed,
raped and butchered it is not a human rights issue
concerning the world, but an internal matter of India.

The violence is continuing. The numbers might be less
but the brutality is as intense. People are being
bludgeoned to death. Or burnt alive. There is a
certain viciousness that has no explanation. Depraved
minds have been given the licence to kill by a State
which has joined the mobs.

When is it going to stop? And what of the survivors
when it does stop? The trauma of the young child who
has seen his mother raped and his father burnt alive
can never be relieved. Never. The media and
fact-finding missions have recorded the testimonies of
the survivors.

The horror in the simple statements recorded by the
children, women, men who have witnessed the worst can
never be mitigated. Never. No one, but no one in the
world deserves to die as the people of Gujarat did. No
one deserves to carry the memories that the child in
the relief camp is living with through every second
and minute of his existence. No one.

It is not a question of Godhra and Ahmedabad. This
projection too was an ugly cover up of stark reality.
One killing can never justify another. Ugly, horrific
violence by a mob cannot be used to condone the worst
kind of violence by the Indian State. It is not a
question of the Hindu and the Muslim. It is a question
of humanity.

Does a human being deserve to die as the man in
Gujarat did when he tried to return to his home? Does
a human being deserve to be raped over and over again
by a mob simply because she had been made a target by
fascist forces? Does a woman deserve to see her unborn
baby torched before her, no matter what her religion
might be? Does the little child deserve to witness the
brutal death of his family, with his sister raped and
knifed, his mother and father thrown into a burning
pyre?

Is this humanity? Is this religion? Is this the act of
believers? Is this governance? The depravity of the
mobs cannot be understood. But the reaction of the
political class is even more amazing. The most suave,
sophisticated Ministers of the BJP in Delhi are the
staunch supporters of Modi in Gujarat. For them the
death, the trauma, the terror has no meaning.

Except as a tool to take their fascist concerns
forward. Obviously there is something very wrong. Not
just with the violent mobs in Gujarat, but those
protecting them in Delhi and Gandhinagar. The lies,
the distortions, the unbelievable arguments are all
part of the cover up.

The blatant targeting of journalists, social activists
and others insisting on bringing out the truth is part
of the worst kind of terror tactics. Given shape by
Modi in Gujarat, and being used selectively by his
colleagues in Delhi.

But India is not going to be silenced. There is a
certain resilience about this country that will escape
from even the most tightly capped container. The Sangh
has a time window of two years during which it will
try to use every dirty communal trick in the book.

Communal violence, war, Kashmir are all possibilities
that can be exploited for a victory at the polls. And
the Sangh will try to milk every opportunity for the
maximum results. But there is a bottomline, even for
the impoverished masses of India.

This has been crossed decisively in Gujarat, setting
into motion a dynamics which can upset the most
carefully laid out plans. After blowing apart the
cover up.

©Copyright 2002 Deccan Chronicle. All rights reserved.