Strife-torn Gujarat on Lashkar sights: Police
Statesman News Service

http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php3?id=9265&type=Pageone&theme=A

NEW DELHI, May 10. — The Lashkar-e-Taiyaba “suicide
squad” busted last night had not only identified
“specific targets” like VVIPs and vital industrial
installations, but was tasked with exploiting the
communal passions running high in Gujarat, Delhi
Police said.
Posing as human rights activists, the Lashkar squad
planned to instigate youth of the affected community
in the state to retaliate.
A day after two militants were shot and three (all
belonging to the Lashkar’s newly-formed wing,
Tariq-e-Bin Zaid) arrested, the special commissioner
(Intelligence), Dr KK Paul, said: “After the Gujarat
riots, they (militants) had visualised the state as a
fertile ground for recruiting young men for militant
activity.... Their plan was to move in as rights
activists and motivate people. Fake ID-cards of the
Human Rights Commission have been recovered from their
possession.” Dr Paul refused to disclose the names of
VVIPs or installations identified by the “suicide
squad”.
Intelligence agencies have reportedly gathered
information, including intercepts, that underworld and
militant outfits were in constant touch with mentors
in Pakistan regarding retaliatory strikes in Gujarat
and Maharashtra. The gangsters had sought arms and
ammunition from across the border for such strikes, Mr
LK Advani told the parliamentary consultative
committee today.
The militants’ communication intercepted in Kashmir
and the western border indicated that they were
planning to capitalise on the Gujarat situation. The
continuing communal clashes in the state provided a
suitable condition to Pakistani agencies to launch an
offensive. Officials said the Lashkar-e-Taiyaba and
Dawood Ibrahim’s contacts were involved in the
conspiracy.
Abu Bilal, involved in the Red Fort shootout case, and
Abu Zabiullah, both Pakistan nationals, were shot by a
police team near Humayun’s Tomb in South Delhi last
night following the information provided by their
three accomplices – Sheikh Sayyad, Mirajuddin Peer
alias Hilal and Firoz Ahmed Sheikh, all residents of
Jammu and Kashmir – soon after their arrest. (The
three have been charged under various provisions of
IPC, Arms Act and Prevention of Terrorism Act were
produced before the special court today which remanded
them in 14-day custody till 24 May.)
Police said all five militants are from Lashkar, but
had changed the name of their group to Tehriq-e-Bin
Zaid after the USA banned the former post-11
September. Dr Paul said Abu Bilal was a senior Lashkar
operative and was declared a “proclaimed offender” by
a Delhi Court in the Red Fort shootout case. A
resident of Punjab province in Pakistan, he reportedly
fled to Kashmir after carrying out the Red Fort
shootout on 22 December 2000 and sneaked into Pakistan.

Copyright 2002 The Statesman.All rights reserved.

Gujarat riot victims hounded by heat now
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
[ SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2002 12:40:30 AM ]
RADHA SHARMA AND SOURAV MUKHERJEE

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Articleshow.asp?art_id=9603643

AHMEDABAD: It is summertime in the Shah-e-Alam refugee camp. And its
12,000 inmates are trying their best to brave temperatures of 47
degrees Centigrade.

With 22 fans between them, one bath in three days, and tattered white
sheets as flimsy protection against the mid-afternoon sun.

``It feels like someone has set you ablaze,'' says Rehana Bibi, with
unintended black humour, as she tries to put her newborn infant to
sleep with a hand-held fan made of cardboard.

But sleep eludes the sweaty little one as he wails restlessly. Rehana
is one of 58 mothers who have delivered in the camp and face the
tortuous task of raising babies huddled in suffocating small tents.

While communal temperatures refuse to climb down in the city, the
rising mercury has added a scorching new dimension to the woes of the
displaced people in this camp which is bursting at the seams.

This is just one of the 49 riot-relief camps housing 60,000 victims
in the city. Relief commissioner G C Murmu says there are 91 camps in
the state where approximately 88,000 people have taken shelter.

Bathing is a luxury since water is in short supply. ``We somehow
manage the drinking supply, but there is rationing on water for
sanitation purposes,'' says one of the camp coordinators, Mohsin
Kadri.

Space is at a premium: each person gets no more than 6x3 feet, the
size of a grave. No wonder then, many of the refugees prefer to spend
the night in the graveyard of the Shah-e-Alam dargah compound.

``Sleeping in the graveyard is better. The air is cooler... the crowd
is less. We have seen so many people being murdered that the fear of
the dead does not scare us anymore. It is the living we are afraid
of,'' says Mohammad Yusuf Khan of Naroda-Patia cynically. Many sleep
outside the dargah, while some use the parking spaces in their quest
for a cool place.

The state authorities say they are vigilant about health and hygiene,
and have been spraying DDT and other insecticides to sanitise the
camp area. But inmates are forced to put up with overflowing gutters
that remain overlooked by the municipal authorities. Not
surprisingly, several cases of measles, typhoid and jaundice have
been reported.

But gutters are not their only worry. Of the 2,202 families in Shah-e-
Alam, only about 1,400 have got the government allowance of Rs 1,250
for miscellaneous expenditure. Only 10 families have got Rs 1.5 lakh
as death compensation. And the money for rebuilding houses has not
been disbursed at all.

Officials of the Ahmedabad collectorate say the survey work to verify
the nature of damages and the amount to be paid is still underway.

Copyright © 2002 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved

One killed as Gill meets minority leaders
TIMES NEWS NETWORK & AGENCIES
[ SATURDAY, MAY 11, 2002 7:51:42 PM ]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Articleshow.asp?art_id=9583596

AHMEDABAD: Even as K P S Gill, security advisor to Gujarat Chief
Minister Narendra Modi, held a marathon meeting at Gandhinagar with
minority leaders from across the state on Saturday, one more fell
victim to the communal violence.

Police said that the body of a middle-aged man with stab wounds was
recovered from the Sabarmati banks.

Incidents of violence and arson were reported from Raikhad Haveli.
Several vehicles, including riot control vans, were stoned. RAF
personnel and policemen resorted to teargas shelling to disperse the
mobs in Raikhad and Jamalpur areas.

In the evening, some hutments near the Bhavan's College in Khanpur
were set ablaze by rioters.

In his effort to cool the frayed tempers and restore normalcy to the
state, Gill met minority leaders from Ahmedabad, Baroda and other
parts of the state. A spokesman in Gill's office said that the
discussions went on for about four hours.

The meeting was held at a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp in
Gandhinagar amid tight security and media personnel were barred from
entry into the complex.

Refusing to identify the leaders and organisations they represented,
the spokesman said the delegation impressed upon Gill
the ``circumstances'' that led to the violence precipitating untold
problems for the minority people.

``Some organisations, whose leaders came for the meeting, were
directly involved in relief and rehabilitation work,'' he said.

The spokesman said, ``Gill pacified the aggrieved leaders and in
response they told him that they had high expectations from the
former Punjab DGP about tackling the present situation.''

He added that more such ``threadbare'' discussions would be held in
near future.

Copyright © 2002 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved

CRPF called in after riots hit curfew areas
PTI
[ SATURDAY, MAY 11, 2002 4:09:04 PM ]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Articleshow.asp?art_id=9567384

AHMEDABAD: CRPF personnel were rushed to two localities of curfew-
bound Haveli and Danilimda police station areas of the city on
Saturday afternoon following reports of group clashes and arson,
police said.

They said at Jamalpur a cluster of huts were set afire and two groups
indulged in heavy stone pelting at Behrampura. Police lobbed tear gas
shells to disperse the mob in the two localities.

Fire tenders from Ahmedabad Fire Brigade have been rushed to Jamalpur
under police escort, they added.

Indefinite curfew was extended as a precautionary measure in Shahpur
and Karanj areas of the walled city, police said.

The authorities imposed indefinite curfew in Haveli, Kalupur,
Danilimda and Kagdapith areas on Friday following incidents of
violence and arson resulting in the killing of six persons, including
three in police firing, and injuries to 50 others.

Copyright © 2002 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved

'VHP misusing temple issue to fuel riots'
PTI
[ SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2002 2:03:15 AM ]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_ID=9609381

NEW DELHI: Charging senior VHP leaders with misusing the Ram Temple
movement ``for engineering'' communal riots, Ram Janambhoomi Nyas
chief trustee Baba Dharam Dass on Saturday set up a body comprising
Hindus and Muslims for the construction of the Ram temple.

Dass, who has been sidelined by the VHP on the temple issue,
specifically accused VHP international working president Ashok
Singhal, its president Vishnu Hari Dalmia and trust president Mahant
Paramhans Ramchandra Das of ``misuse of funds meant for temple
construction and undemocratic functioning.''

``Over Rs 2 crore were withdrawn for temple construction but instead
of construction, a carved stone was donated. While it was the trust
that was to decide on the date for beginning the construction work,
these leaders unilaterally announced March 15 and it ended in a
fiasco,'' Dass told reporters here.

``The trust is supposed to pay for the temple priest's salary,
rajbhog and food for pilgrims but they have not spent a single penny
on them. It is not for the trust to bear the expenses of the temple
movement,'' he said, adding the VHP was ``engineering communal riots
to gain political mileage.''

Asked why after associating with VHP leaders for so long, he has
chosen to rebel now, Dass said, ``Only after March 15, I came to know
that the acquired land will never be given to the trust and hence it
has to be disbanded.'' VHP leaders were not available for comment.

Dass announced the setting up of Vishva Dharma Raksha Parishad for
the construction of the temple in place of the existing Nyas
(Trust). ``People from all communities including Muslims will be part
of the new body. We want to build the temple in an atmosphere of
goodwill. We do not want any riots between Hindus and Muslims,'' he
said.

Dass offered 10 acres from his personal land for the construction of
a mosque in lieu of the disputed land and said he himself was ready
to take part in laying its foundation. He demanded that the trust
should be dissolved forthwith and its accounts made public.

Copyright © 2002 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved

TOI story moves Gujarat govt official to act
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
[ SATURDAY, MAY 11, 2002 11:35:09 PM ]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Articleshow.asp?art_id=9599108

AHMEDABAD: In a rare and noble gesture, which should set an example
to not only the bureaucracy but society at large, a senior government
official has offered his entire month's salary of around Rs 25,000 to
a Muslim Sanskrit scholar who lost his treasure of ancient Hindu and
Muslim scriptures when his house in Lunawada was burnt down.

Reacting to a news report in The Times of India earlier this week,
the director of social welfare (other backward classes), K G Vanzara,
said he was shocked to read that the library containing priceless
books was damaged in the attack on the house of Mohammed Ilyan
Hussain Sibhai during the riots.

``My gesture is not to show any mercy to Sibahi but this is an act of
showing solidarity with him as I am also a lover of books,'' said
Vanzara, who wrote to The Times office with the offer.

He said it was striking that Sibhai has expressed his sorrow not for
the loss of his house but for the loss of his personal library which
was consisted of Vedas, Puranas, Upanishads and Bhagvat Gita, Ramayan
and Mahabharat and several other very rare manuscripts in Sanskrit.

Though Sibhai is basically a teacher of mathematics, he obtained
degree of Acharya (post graduate) in Sanskrit and teaching of
Sanskrit is his passion.

Vanzara said: ``I am a lover of books and I have thousands of rare
books in Sanskrit, Persian and Arabic in my personal library. I have
made this collection in the last 25 years. I understand the obsession
of books which is generally found in the scholars. I can feel the
sorrow, helplessness and anguish of Mohammed Sibhai. For each single
rare book of my library, sometimes I have travelled hundreds of miles
to reach to the shop or the person where the desired book could be
available.''

The official, who is of deputy secretary rank in the government, said
those who destroyed the library of Sibhai can only be compared with
the Mohammed Bin Bakthiyar Khalji who destroyed the library of
Nalanda Vidhyapith wherein one lakh rare Sanskrit and Pali
manuscripts were burnt to ashes. ``That was a great loss to the
nation and mankind. Persons like Sibhai are an asset to the society.''

In such a situation as an ardent student of Sanskrit literature,
Hindu scripture, Koran Majid and Islamic scripture, Vanzara said: ``I
extend my heartfelt sympathy, love and solidarity with Mohammed
Sibhai and offer my one month's income which is approximately Rs
25,000 to Sibhai to rebuild his personal library. If he desires and
gives me the list of books which have perished, I will purchase for
him. I am ready to extend all possible help and co-operation within
my resources to resettle Sibhai in Khanpur (Lunawada) from where he
is dislocated. As I do not know Sibhai directly, I make this offer
through The Times of India.''

Copyright © 2002 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved.

Samiti offers to shift temple from disputed site
PTI
[ SATURDAY, MAY 11, 2002 9:42:11 PM ]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_ID=9591268

LUCKNOW: Sri Ram Janmbhoomi Punaruddhar Samiti, a party in the Ram
Janmabhoomi title deed case, on Saturday said that it was ready to
shift the Ram temple at Ayodhya from the disputed site if the Muslims
too agreed to build the mosque elsewhere.

Samiti leader Anand Swarup told reporters here that the Ram temple
issue should not be exploited for creating discord among the Hindus
and Muslims.

The sentiments of Hindus were attached with the birth place of Lord
Ram and not the temple, he said, adding "if Muslims agree to build
their mosque away from the sanctom sanctorum, the Hindus too could
construct their temple elsewhere."

The janmbhoomi could be a pilgrimage centre for the Hindus in its
present form, Swarup suggested.

Attacking the VHP, the Samiti leader said, it was "linking the temple
issue with the pride and honour of the Hindus as a whole, but if this
led to tension and disharmony in society the temple movement should
be reviewed."

He said that the Shankaracharyas should be consulted in this reagrd.

Copyright © 2002 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved

India's credibility has not suffered: Jaswant
PTI
[ SATURDAY, MAY 11, 2002 1:09:06 PM ]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_ID=9555214

NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh on Friday sought
to dispel apprehensions that India's credibility in the international
community had gone down due to the violence in Gujarat.

"The violence in Gujarat is unfortunate and unacceptable," Singh said
at a seminar on 'Indo-US relations: A convergence of interests'.

Contesting suggestions that India's credibility has touched rock
bottom since the Godhra carnage and subsequent violence, he said no
other country in the world could have had a debate as witnessed in
the two Houses of Parliament non-stop for 40 hours to discuss the
issue threadbare with the Rajya Sabha adopting a motion in one voice.

On Indo-US relations, he said Washington was increasingly recognising
that it was vital for the cause of convergence of mutual interests to
work "much closer (with India) than ever before".

He said in the last six months, there had been visits to India by 54
senior-ranking American officials and politicians of importance,
reflective of the significance the US attached to further
consolidating ties with this country.

Like other countries, the US acknowledged India's importance and its
unique role in global affairs, he said, stressing that if Washington
has to maintain its position of pre-eminence, it has to create a
variety of coalitions

Copyright © 2002 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved

'Use police intelligence to nab Gujarat culprits'
PTI
[ SATURDAY, MAY 11, 2002 9:17:35 PM ]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_ID=9589560

NEW DELHI: Defence Minister George Fernandes on Saturday said that
the Gujarat government should use local police intelligence
effectively to identify culprits behind the continuing violence in
the state.

"There are people who are making all out efforts to ensure that
normalcy is not restored. It is, therefore, necessary to identify
them. the local police intelligence should be used for the purpose,"
he told a TV channel.

Fernandes regretted that the political parties did not show any
desire to restore normalcy in the state. "They were interested in
keeping the issue alive," he said.

Copyright © 2002 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved.

City teachers to teach in camps
Deccan Chronicle.

http://www.deccan.com/headlines/lead4.shtml

Hyderabad, May 12: Several teachers from the city have
volunteered their services for temporary schools to be
started in relief camps in Gujarat.

The appeal was made by the Siasat Trust, which has
tied up with the Ahmedabad-based NGO Society for
Promotion of Rational Thinking, to start 100 book
banks in the relief camps. Temporary schools will be
started at all the book banks.

The books will come from students of the 400-odd
schools run by the Federation of Private Schools
Management. Twenty-two teachers including two women
have so far volunteered to go.

According to Zaheeruddin Ali Khan of the trust, a
survey carried out by SPRAT showed that there was a
strong desire for education among the victims in the
relief camps. SPRAT is headed by M S Johar a software
consultant from Ahmedabad.

“We will supply books and teachers while the SPRAT
will start book banks and also arrange boarding and
lodging facility for the teachers from Hyderabad,” he
said.“We are receiving many enquiries and calls from
people belonging to different communities. They are
willing to go there but they want us to ensure their
safety,” said Zaheeruddin.

“We have appealed to students to donate text books
from standard I to X, general knowledge books,
magazines and religious literature for the book
banks,” said Zaheeruddin.

©Copyright Deccan Chronicle 2002. All rights reserved

Lab proves UK tourist was killed
Deccan Chronicle.

http://www.deccan.com/headlines/lead5.shtml

Hyderabad, May 12: The city-based Andhra Pradesh
Forensic Science Laboratory has conclusively
established that one of the hundreds of people killed
in Gujarat violence was a British citizen of Gujarati
origin who was visiting his home State.

Bone fragments recovered by the Gujarat police from a
razed factory near Prantji village — about 50 km from
Ahmedabad — where Sayeed Dawood, 42, was last spotted
on February 28, the day the violence began, were sent
to the FSL by the British High Commission, Mumbai.

Sixty DNA samples of burnt bones matched with the
samples sent by Dawood’s close relatives settled in
Britain. Dawood was reported missing after he was
targetted by a belligerent mob on his way back to
Surat after visiting Delhi, Jaipur and other places.

Dawood’s relative Imran and family friend Mohammad
Ashfaq, who had accompanied Dawood in the car, were
found seriously injured at a nearby field. Imran, who
was flown to the UK, is the only eyewitness to the
incident. Ashfaq succumbed to injuries near Surat.

Establishing Dawood’s assumes importance with his
family lawyer Majeed Memon asking Prime Minister Atal
Behari Vajpayee to transfer the investigation into the
incident to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Politically, the United Kingdom can now ask Indian
government to take action since one of its citizens
was confirmed killed in the violence. Reports said
Memon is also trying to ensure the return of Imran to
India to identify the culprits within 90 days
apparently to facilitate filing of chargesheet against
the accused.

The Gujarat police has so far arrested six persons in
connection with the attack. Yusuf Pilagarh, a family
friend of Dawood, rushed to Gujarat on hearing about
the incident and returned home after getting disgusted
with the slow pace of investigation.

He was quoted as saying to a portal from his home in
Batley, UK: “Initially, I was told there had been an
accident. But as facts emerged, I could not comprehend
how they could do this to innocents.”

“It’s a major achievement for FSL as we did the DNA
test of a foreigner for the first time after we
installed fully-automated capillary DNA sequencing
equipment at a cost of about Rs 1.5 crore three months
ago,” APFSL director K P C Gandhi said.

He said the UK High Comm-ission in Mumbai which wanted
to get the test done in the UK later changed its mind
after learning that FSL had an ISO 9002-certified lab.

Copyright 2002 Deccan Chronicle. All rights reserved.

Gujaratis hide religion for safety
Deccan Chronicle.

http://www.deccan.com/headlines/top2.shtml

Ahmedabad, May 12: Switching religious identity could
be your passport to roaming safely in Ahmedabad and
other major towns of Gujarat which have been divided
into communal pockets due to continuation of riots
since the last ten weeks.

The mutual trust and confidence that were built by the
two communities co-existing for centuries, has not
simply vanished because of the long spell of violence
but has created chasms of mistrust and doubt in the
minds and hearts of the people that might take months
to bridge.

This frightening situation has forced people of both
communities to resort to expedient means to either
hide or expose their identities proving the old saying
right that “necessity is the mother of all
inventions.’’

Shabbir and Yusuf — both college students — carry
their pious white cap with them whenever they venture
out of their house not because of the Muslim tradition
as it is considered as “good luck,’’ but, purely for
security and safety reasons.

The duo wear these traditional head-gears (white-cap)
as long as they are in the minority localities, but as
soon as their two-wheelers move out of their area,
unfailingly they swiftly take them off and stash the
caps into their pockets.

When asked, the boys confessed that it was nothing but
a safety measure in present scenario.

They said “Saab kya kare?, aap hi baatai ye? bahar
jana bhi hai aur salamat rahaina bhi hai’’ (sir, what
to do? you tell us? we have to go out, yet we need to
be safer also.)

Similarly, Mohshin Ansari, 35, an air-conditioner
technician by profession, has trimmed his beard that
he was keeping since his early youth.

Likewise Hindu businessmen dealing in clothes and
bullion, the base of which markets are in Ratan-Pole
and Manek Chowk areas of the walled city, dominated by
minority population, have been resorting to all sorts
of gimmicks to hide their religious identity.

Not simply businessmen and ordinary people, but even
few mediapersons were also forced to remove all
indications of the institutions which they represent
because of fear of being targeted by particular
communities due to policy of their newspapers or
television channels.

The long spell of violence has forced the Hindus and
the muslims to adopt certain sets of rules for their
safety, like not calling one another by names and
removal of symbols like “786’’, “om’’, “jai shree
ram’’ and jai maata di’’ from their vehicles.
Similarly, Hindus tend to speak in Hindi using popular
words such as “ustad’’, “party’’, “bhai’’ and “apun’’
if they are going to the minority-dominated areas.

Youth slashed in riots

In unabated communal violence, a youth was slashed to
death and police opened fire and burst several
tear-gas shells to disperse rioting mobs who set on
fire shops in curfew-bound localities of Ahmedabad on
Sunday.

Stray incidents of hurling of crude bombs and stone
pelting were reported from Haveli and Danilimda even
as indefinite curfew continued in four areas and peace
prevailed in other parts of the city, police said.

In curfew-bound Haveli and Danilimda, stone pelting
and hurling of crude bombs were reported, they said.

The overall situation was by and large peaceful under
strict vigil of military, BSF and para military
forces, police said. The indefinite curfew in Haveli,
Danilimda, Kagadapith and Kalupur continued without
any relaxation while it was partly relaxed in Shapur
and Karanj.

Copyright 2002 Deccan Chronicle. All rights reserved.

Gujarat is fit for the Hague: Meet
Deccan Chronicle.

http://www.deccan.com/headlines/top3.shtml

Hyderabad, May 12: The Gujarat communal carnage is a
fit case to argue in the International Court of
Justice at the Hague. So felt a number of speakers at
a symposium here on Sunday.

The symposium on ‘Genocide in Gujarat: An Action for
Future’, was jointly organised by the Forum for Social
Justice and the Movement for Empowerment of Muslim
Indians to arrive at a consensus on the action plan to
be adopted to prevent communal pogrom in future like
the one in Gujarat.

Former chairman of National Minorities Commission
Justice Sardar Ali Khan said it was Fascism at its
height in Gujarat. Blaming the RSS for the communal
carnage, he said the planned attacks against
minorities was a fit case to be argued in the
International Court of Justice.

The gravity of the crime against humanity in Gujarat
was such that the culprits should be prosecuted in
international courts. Stating that there’s no
alternative to secularism in the country, Justice
Sardar Ali Khan said the NDA government should adhere
to the Nehru-Liyaqat pact on protection of minorities.

He felt that Article 356 of Constitution should be
invoked to dismiss Chief Minister Narendra Modi in
Gujarat. He alleged that Home Minister L K Advani had
misled the nation on Article 355 and added that the
Article could be used whenever a State government
failed to maintain law and order.

Writer and Dalit activist Professor Kancha Ilaiah
regretted that the Muslim intelligentsia in the
country had failed on Gujarat. He said when sporadic
attacks against Christians took place, the Christian
community succeeded in drawing international
attention.

Several countries including the USA intervened whereas
in the Gujarat communal carnage no Muslim country came
out with a statement.

Professor Keshav Rao Jadhav, president of State unit
of PUCL, former minister Bashiruddin Babukhan, Cova
president Mazher Hussain, National Campaign for Dalit
Human Rights convener Paul Diwakar and others
participated in the symposium.

Copyright 2002 Deccan Chronicle. All rights reserved.

One stabbed to death in India's Gujarat state
Reuters.

http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters05-12-034838.asp?reg=ASIA#body

AHMEDABAD, India, May 12 — One man was stabbed and
then beaten to death on Sunday in India's western
state of Gujarat, the latest victim of communal
violence which has already claimed more than 950
lives.

A police official said the unidentified man was
killed in Ahmedabad, Gujarat's main city, but there
were no immediate reports of other incidents in the
state, scene of India's worst Hindu-Muslim violence in
at least a decade.
On Friday, police said five people died in
pitched street battles between Hindus and Muslims in
Ahmedabad. The body of a sixth victim, with stab
wounds, was found on a city bridge early on Saturday
morning.
Sixteen people were injured in separate
Hindu-Muslim clashes on Saturday, and several houses
and workshops were set on fire.
But there were no signs of a repeat of Friday's
vicious street battles, among the worst since the
violence erupted.
The violence started on February 27 when a
Muslim mob attacked a train carrying Hindu devotees,
killing 59 people and triggering a spree of revenge
killings of Muslims by Hindu mobs.
The nature of the communal violence has begun
to change in recent weeks as Muslims start to fight
back. Both Hindus and Muslims are also acquiring guns
and using them in street clashes.
Police discovered stockpiles of weapons,
including homemade rocket launchers, in both Muslim
and Hindu areas of Ahmedabad, stoking fears the
violence could be entering a more lethal phase.
They said rioters' use of sophisticated weapons
such as rifles and powerful explosives in the latest
clashes made it tough to restore order in the state.
About 12 percent of India's one-billion-strong
population are Muslims.

Copyright 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

Gujarat police reach out
LEENA MISRA
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
[ MONDAY, MAY 13, 2002 2:41:48 AM ]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Articleshow.asp?art_id=9712071

AHMEDABAD: The ``rejuvenated'' police force here swung into action
almost as soon as the new officers took charge. More than 60 persons
were picked up from the rioting spot in Dani Limda on Saturday. Of
these, 35 were officially arrested for rioting.

Determined to prove a point and score over their predecessors, new
strategies of policing were worked out and put to use overnight.
Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code (prohibitory orders against
unlawful assembly) was always there but ``it has been put to
effective use'', was the tongue-in-cheek remark of the newly-
appointed officers.

A policy of rapprochement was implemented towards the minority
community with police commissioner KR Kaushik making the first move
at Juhapura to meet Muslim leaders on Sunday.

``There have been several such peace meetings in the past,too, let's
see what happens,'' said inspector-general of police PP Pande, who is
in charge of the Vejalpur area. Sources said despite the efforts,
these meetings had always ended up in a lot of noise. Kaushik visited
the Shah-e-Alam relief camp and talked to the refugees on Saturday.

``They (police officers) asked the inmates about the accused and
their crimes, assuring them that they would be caught if
identified,'' said Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh, a volunteer at the camp. Most
of the victims of the Naroda massacre are housed in this camp.

Security adviser to the CM KPS Gill is also scheduled to hold a
meeting with a delegation of the National Commission for Minorities
and Imam of Jama Masjid here Shabir Siddiqui on Monday.

Kaushik also held a meeting with all the officers above the rank of
assistant commissioner of police and asked them to arrest the guilty
and intensify patrolling. Deputy commissioners of police were seen
patrolling their areas continuously and picking up people from
trouble spots.

Yet, what could not be avoided were murders like the one of a youth
aged around 25 who was stabbed to death near the Pranshankar hall in
Maninagar on Sunday morning and the sporadic incidents of violence.

Sources said more attention would be given to patrolling, especially
during the night, in the lanes and bylanes to prevent people from
coming out and organising mobs.

``We are doing several things, let's see how they work out,'' said
additional commissioner of police (Sector I) Satish Sharma.

One DCP said he was confident that in a week's time, things would
change in Ahmedabad. While many officers see this as a new-look
method, there are others like this DCP who remarked: ``This is a
routine, laws have always been there and so have policemen.''

Copyright © 2002 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved.

Caught in a curfew that lasts forever
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
[ SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2002 11:25:20 PM ]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Articleshow.asp?art_id=9698381

AHMEDABAD/VADODARA: It is difficult to imagine what life is like in
the violence-torn areas of Gujarat for people living in peaceful
areas of the state, leave alone those in rest of the country who are
surprised how people can sustain themselves in such a turbulent
period stretching over 75 days.

For example, Gomtipur of Ahmedabad has been under day curfew for
almost 43 days while night curfew has been on for almost 60 days. In
Vadodara, the situation may be slightly better with areas like Wadi
under night curfew for 24 days and day curfew for 44 days.

So, how does one live in such conditions? Ask bridegroom Anand Shukla
who was all dressed up for his wedding on the evening of May 8 and
was leading his 'baraat' mounted on a horse in Bapunagar. The band
played the peppiest of tunes and Shukla was sure the best moment of
his life was just a few minutes away. But, in a flash, there were a
series of blasts in the vicinity. In seconds the band disbanded.
Shukla was seen running for cover in all his finery. Soon curfew was
imposed in the area and the marriage plans went for a six.

Hamidabanu and Kokila who live in Dabifalia of Vadodara found a
unique way of protecting each other as they belong to different
communities. "A stabbing took place during curfew relaxation time in
old city areas. But we had to go to the market and purchase
vegetables since we had run out of our stocks. Hamida and I went
together to ensure that we are able to ward off our respective
community members in case there is an attack," Kokila said.

The curfew has thrown up other challenges for people -- on how to
reach office or an examination centre and how to get the daily
supplies of milk and vegetables. "While the affluent ones have stored
goods in bulk, the poorer sections are in big trouble, says Ashraaf
Khan Pathan of Juni Bapunagar.

"For diabetics like my father who require medication compulsorily,
closure of chemists' shops often becomes a matter of concern," says
Narayan Singh, a driver residing in Gomtipur. "We have now
sufficiently piled up essential medicines at our place," he said.
But the prevailing conditions are being fully utilised by many to
make money. "When shops open during curfew relaxation shopkeepers
often over-charge the customers who are hard-pressed for money," says
Hosla Prasad Mishra, a social worker at Bapunagar area.

Aziz Gandhi who runs a provisional store near Tambu Choki Dariyapur
says, "When curfew is relaxed for some time, one does not know
whether to arrange for money or buy food, or meet affected relatives
at relief camps or take stock of the damage on his business or do
some work to earn money."

In Raopura of Vadodara, Sarita Pathak was frightened for her
daughters. "They were in school when curfew was imposed in our area.
With great difficulty I managed to get my daughters home," she said.
Every time during curfew relaxation Sarita had to purchase vegetables
in bulk. "I stocked vegetables for eight days. When the curfew went
on for many days we had to survive on grams. We also paid Rs 2.50
extra per 500 ml milk pouch during curfew," she said.

Copyright © 2002 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved.

Officials in a fix over shifting refugee camps from schools
SANJAY PANDEY
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
[ SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2002 11:44:20 PM ]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_ID=9699693

AHMEDABAD: For this beleaguered city, problems never seem to end.
Another one seems round the corner as municipal schools prepare to
reopen in a month after the summer vacations.

The problem is that several schools have turned into riot refugee
camps and unless they close down soon or get shifted, which seems
unlikely, the students will have no place!. This is, indeed, weighing
heavily on the minds of the authorities who say a lot of schools
damaged in the earthquake can't be used anyway.

It appears to be the turn of hundreds of primary school children
ready to feel direct impact of riots. Last year's quake and this
year's are like double whammy for Municipal School Board which is
still battling hard to re-enroll over 27,000 drop-outs due to the
effect of the quake last year.

And this year, too, Ahmedabad Municipal School Board (AMSB)
authorities are fearful of massive drop-out due to impact of riots.
The future these students hangs in balance if relief camps continue
to operate from municipal-run schools beyond May 31.

Sources at the board said that relief camps at municipal schools have
to be shifted at least by June 5 to refurbish them for fresh intake
of students. "We want our schools back. But I do not think our
schools would be vacated before the new session begins," says Dinesh
Raval, Chairman, AMSB. He explained the board's dilemma -on one hand
the future of thousands of students and on the other they have to
maintain a humane approach to riot victims.

The board suffered huge pupil drop-out last year due to large scale
damage to at least 260 school buildings. Sparing more buildings for
relief camps becomes all the more difficult for board as it has yet
to repair 22 schools damaged in quake.

Eleven municipal schools have been converted into relief camps after
the collectorate requested the municipal corporation for providing
infrastructure. Dariyakhan Ghummat camp, the second largest, is
running from Shahibaug Municipal School premises while Kankaria
Municipal School No 7 and 8 are housing Hindu families for the past
two and a half months.

"We have written to district authorities to vacate schools before
vacation ends but a decision rests with the government," says civic
chief P Panneervel.

"Right from the begining we are demanding alternative camps at safer
places for victims where average facilities could be provided till
their permanent rehabilitation," says Dr Shakeel Ahmed, Trustee,
Islami Relief Committee. He added that temporary shelter to riot-
victims on the lines of one provided to quake-affected people last
year can be drawn up and executed instead of running camps at schools
and other places.

However, Ahmedabad district collector K Srinivas said there was
considerable time before these municipal schools are vacated. "Our
main consideration is to rehabiliate riot-affected people first.
Still there is a lot of time left to execute our plans," says
Srinivas.

He also hinted out at merging those relief camps where inmates are
less in number. "Whenever relief and rehabiliation process gets over
we would immediately vacate the premises,' says Srinivas without
committing any time frame.

Copyright © 2002 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved.

Gill asks for more Central forces
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
[ SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2002 11:30:25 PM ]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_ID=9698731

AHMEDABAD: Security advisor to the chief minister KPS Gill has
stressed on the need for deployment of more Central paramilitary
forces to contain the volatile situation in Gujarat. Highly placed
sources told TNN that Gill adequately conveyed this to the Centre at
a meeting with Union law minister Arun Jaitley who is in Ahmedabad
since Saturday.

Gill, who met Jaitley in the evening after a meeting with police
officials, stressed on the need for more companies of the CRPF.

Earlier, the Punjab government had turned down his request for forces
from the India Reserve Battalion.

Gill, in his earlier meeting with Police Commissioner KR Kaushik and
senior intelligence officials from the state on Sunday, is learnt to
have stressed on checking those "elements" that would exploit the
delicate communal situation in the state to achieve their anti-
national ends.

The emphasis was on confidence-building measures and bringing the
guilty to book so that the people's faith in the police is
restored. "He wants regular reports on the progress of
investigations," said sources.

At the meeting with Gill were Special Inspector General of Police
(Intelligence) OP Mathur, officer on special duty AI Saiyed and his
personal secretary Suresh Sharma.

Gill is scheduled to hold a meeting with a delegation of National
Commission for Minorities on Monday.

Copyright © 2002 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_ID=9698616

No one can force us to remove Modi: Jana
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
[ SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2002 11:28:45 PM ]

SHIMLA: In an angry outburst, BJP national president Jana
Krishnamurthy on Sunday said that neither the media nor the political
parties could force the party to remove Gujarat Chief Minister
Narendra Modi.

Asked whether there were any compulsions preventing the BJP from
replacing Modi despite the criticism that the prime minister and the
image of the country was taking, Krishnamurthy, who was here to
attend a two-day meeting of the state BJP executive, said in a
democracy, an elected chief minister could be removed only if he is
defeated on the floor of the House or he loses the mandate of the
masses at the hustings.

Though there have been instances in the past when the BJP changed its
CMs, including in Gujarat, he said that if the Opposition's demand
for the removal of Modi was accepted, no CM in the country would be
safe. If conditions were created to unseat a CM, there would be
anarchy in the country.

Referring to the coming presidential elections, Krishnamurthy said
the party was all for a consensus between the political parties over
the choice of the candidate for the election of the next President
due next month.

He pointed out that the NDA allies had met on Saturday and left the
choice of the candidate to the PM. Vajpayee would take the opposition
into confidence and would meet leaders of other political parties,
including the Congress, to discuss the issue, he added.

``I appeal to the leaders of all opposition parties that there be no
differences on the choice of the candidate. Consensus on the issue
would be in the interest of the country,'' he said.

Krishnamurthy expressed the confidence over the BJP-BSP alliance
government in UP getting the vote of confidence when the UP assembly
meets next week. The alliance government in the state would function
smoothly, he added.

Regarding the threat by some BJP MLAs that they would vote against
the confidence motion in UP, he said there was only one such case in
which a party MLA had made the statement publicly.

``The party has taken a serious note of the statement and the MLA has
been advised not to take the path of confrontation. I hope that
better sense will prevail. If he does not follow the party line,
necessary action will be taken,'' he added.

Copyright © 2002 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved.

One killed in Maninagar, mob clashes on
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
[ SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2002 11:42:22 PM ]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Articleshow.asp?art_id=9699558

AHMEDABAD: One person was stabbed to death and another injured in
police firing as stray incidents of violence continued in the
Maninagar, Gaikwad Haveli and Dani Limda areas of Ahmedabad. The
identity of the deceased could not be established, police said.

A youth aged around 25 years was found stabbed in the throat and
dumped near Pranshankar Hall in the Maninagar area on Sunday morning.
He was rushed to LG Hospital, but was declared dead on arrival.

Violence broke out once again in the Jamalpur area of Gaikwad Haveli.
Police had to open fire in which one person is said to be injured.
Mobs from rival communities came face-to-face and began throwing
stones at each other near the Vasant-Rajab Chowk, which ironically
symbolises a legend in communal harmony! Police opened fire on the
warring groups.

Another person, who was armed with a trident, was picked up from the
Gomtipur area on Sunday morning while trying to attack a woman, who
was pillion-riding.

Overnight violence continued in certain pockets of Dani Limda and
Gaikwad Haveli despite indefinite curfew being clamped in these
areas. Stone-throwing and bombings were reported from the Saptarishi
no Aro, Ganj Sahib Dargah and Calico Mills ni Chaali areas of Dani
Limda. About five persons were injured in these incidents. Police had
to open fire to disperse the mobs.

Copyright © 2002 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved.

Sleep and the Innocent
Priyanka Kakodkar,
Outlook (independent weekly newsmagazine),
New Delhi, India,
May 13, 2002

http://www.worldpress.org/Asia/565.cfm

When night falls, a quiet fear invades the smoky
relief camps in Ahmedabad. For the children of the
Gujarat riots, the witching hour has begun. In the
slow hours till dawn, many huddle close to their
mothers, struggling to stay awake. The horrific
memories that they try to hold at bay during the day
stalk them in their sleep.

For the riot's children, there is a thin dividing line
between memories and nightmares. There are visions of
parents being dragged out of their homes and cut into
pieces, of brothers and sisters thrown into flames.
There are memories of women being brutally raped,
foetuses ripped from pregnant bellies and of their own
spine-chilling escapes from imminent death.

There are some 42,000 children among the over 100,000
inmates in Gujarat's relief camps today. That's what
the discredited state government says anyway. Those
working in the field—civil rights groups, NGOs—claim
that there are at least 30,000 children in Ahmedabad's
camps alone. Many of them are orphans. "Children have
been worst affected by the carnage. Unlike adults,
they may not be able to fully absorb or vocalize what
they saw. But the impact is deep," says Father Victor
Moses, who is coordinating Citizen's Initiative, a
group of 30 NGOs working with the state's riot
victims.

He is right. First came the mobs—burning, pillaging,
murdering and raping in front of the eyes of these
hapless children. Then came displacement—after their
homes were torched. Suddenly, family, friends and
schools are a chimera. R. Srinivasa Murthy, professor
of psychiatry at the Bangalore-based National
Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences
(NIMHANS), who visited some of the camps, found the
children in a state of shock. "The trauma seen in
children who survived the riots in Gujarat is similar
to the trauma children suffered after the Bhopal gas
tragedy, the Uttarkashi earthquake and the earthquake
in the state." So they end up extremely prone to
anxiety disorders, acute depression and stress.

Possibly even worse. When the Ahmedabad-based NGO
Center For Development tried to involve the camp
children in art classes, they ended up drawing burning
houses and dead people. "There is a lot of anger among
the children," says Mira Mehta of the centre. "You
will see a lot of small, silent children playing
around in the camps. They don't look rattled but they
are badly affected inside." That's not hard to
discover. A three-year-old boy playing in the camp
says occasionally: "Abba ko mar diya. Goli, goli!
(They killed my father. Bullet, bullet!)"

Counselling will be futile, say psychiatrists, as long
as the carnage continues. "There is so much fear and
anger among children and we can't even tell them that
it is all over. Until it stops, how can they begin
healing?" asks Sandhya Surendradas of the NGO
Sanchetna's Child Survival Project.

Right now, they are possibly lucky to be just alive.
Remember, quite a few children were murdered. Here are
some testimonies to a gory end of childhood and
innocence:

Javed Hussain, 14
Son of a rickshaw-puller father and a tailor mother,
Javed lost his family in the Naroda Patiya massacre in
Ahmedabad, where 91 people were burnt alive on
February 28. The elementary-school dropout stitched
handkerchiefs for a living.

Present Home: Shah Alam relief camp, Ahmedabad

"We had just finished having tea around 9:30 a.m. when
we heard a mob outside. They were throwing stones,
brandishing swords, dharias and khanjars and chanting
'Jai Shri Ram.' They said they would destroy all
Muslims. We tried to run but they had surrounded us.
They set fire to houses and started throwing people
into the flames. I was standing with my pregnant
cousin Qausarbibi, who was to deliver in another two
days. They dragged her away, ripped open her stomach
with a knife and threw the foetus into the fire. Then
they threw my family into the fire, one by one: my
father, mother and my 17-year-old sister Sophiya. My
aunt's family was also burnt alive.

"Someone hit me with a pipe and I fainted. When I came
to, it was night. There were corpses all around me. My
pants had been burnt off. I walked to my house and put
on some clothes. Then, I walked 6 or 7 miles in the
night to the house of my employer. All along the way,
I feared someone would leap out and kill me. He took
me to the hospital and then they brought me to this
camp.

"I feel like my mind has been destroyed. I can't talk
for more than a few minutes. I can't sleep at night.
Those scenes keep coming back to me. I think about my
mother a lot. She used to say that I was her joy, her
support. I want to ask the people who did this: What
had my family ever done to you? I don't think all
Hindus are bad. I had four or five Hindu friends in my
colony and I can't believe that they were involved. It
was outsiders who did this.

"I feel scared to leave the camp but sometimes I think
I have already lost everything. What can I feel scared
of now? When [Indian Prime Minister A.B.] Vajpayeeji
had come to visit Gujarat, he spoke to me and asked me
about my problems. But I want to know, what has he
done to stop the killing? When is it going to end?"

Mohammad Yashim, 8
A survivor of Naroda's Jawan Nagar blaze which claimed
his mother and six of his nine siblings on February
28, Mohammad escaped with burns over 20 percent of his
body by jumping into a water tank.

Present Home: Living with his sister in Surat
"My father was on the roof, watching, and he told us
that a mob was approaching. We were sitting on the
bed, crying and holding hands. Then, the mob came
towards our home. They were screaming, 'Kill them, cut
them!' The police was with them. They had swords and
were carrying flaming torches.

"We decided to run towards our friends' homes in
Gangotri Nagar. We felt that would be safe. They were
Hindu and we used to watch TV at their homes. I played
with their children. But when we got there, we saw
that they were part of the mob. I saw Keshubhai,
Bhavani Singh and Guddu Chharra in the crowd. My
family was holding hands and running but we got
separated. I saw them drag my mother and set her on
fire. She was screaming. Everyone was screaming. Then
they set me on fire too. I ran and jumped into a water
tank. There were three other children in the tank:
Babloo and his sister, and Mehboob.

"After the mob left, we hid in the nearest house. We
were there for hours. We heard someone latch the door
from outside and then people started setting the homes
on fire. I thought we would be burnt alive now. I
heard my father calling out to me from outside and I
screamed. He opened the door and got us out.

"I can't sleep. If I do fall asleep, I wake up
screaming. I can't eat. I remember my mother and my
brothers and sisters: Hussain, Khajjo, Afreen,
Shaheen. I feel scared to close my eyes. What if
Keshubhai and Guddu Chharra come and get me? They know
that I saw them and they want to hunt me down. When
too many people gather together, I start feeling
nervous.

"I want to grow up and track them down. I want to go
and burn their houses like they burnt our house. I
want to cut them with swords the way they cut my
family. I want to become stronger and take revenge. I
cannot live with Hindus now. I will not feel safe."

Reshma Bano, 11
During the night of some of the worst violence yet in
Gujarat, Reshma's home in Piplej village near
Ahmedabad was attacked by a mob. She witnessed the
horrific rape of a neighbour.

Present home: Shah Alam relief camp.

"The night before the attack, the police came and
picked up most of the men from our village. The 20 to
40 people left were mainly women and children. About 9
a.m. that morning, a mob of about 2,000 people in
white shorts and T-shirts and orange bandanas arrived
in trucks. They had swords and knives and were
shouting 'Miya log ko kato (Kill the Muslims)!' They
burnt the masjid [mosque] near our house. I saw police
but they did nothing. The village was surrounded but
we jumped over a wall and escaped into a thorny field.

"I was looking over the wall when I saw 10 men
grabbing my 16-year-old neighbour. She was screaming,
'Save me! Save me!' They ripped her clothes and fell
on her. It went on and on. We were all sick with
fright, we couldn't go out and stop them. When they
finished, she was still alive but they stabbed her in
the stomach and threw her in a ditch.

"In the evening, we tried to return but a man came and
grabbed my sister, Firdaus. My mother and aunt managed
to free her and we ran back into the field. We stayed
there all night. Walking through the fields for over a
day, we made our way to Rahimnagar to my uncle's
house. He got us here with a police escort.

I am scared mobs will come and attack me the way they
attacked our neighbour. The violence has not stopped.
I keep to myself. I even feel scared to talk to people
inside the camp. What if they are killers in disguise?
What if they have come inside the camp to hunt us
down? All Hindus are not bad, I know. Our neighbours
did not do this. It was people from outside.

"But the police did not help us. When I grow up I want
to join the police, so that I can help people."

Yasmeen Sikandar Khan, 12
This seventh-grade student lost her mother and elder
brother in the Gulbarg Society blaze in Chamanpura,
which claimed over 40 lives, including that of former
congress MP Ehsan Jaffrey.

Present home: Dariyakhan Ghummat relief camp,
Ahmedabad.

"We used to live on the second floor of Gulbarg
Society, right across Ehsan Jaffrey's house. Just
after breakfast on Feb. 28, we heard the mob. They
were throwing stones at our building. My mother said
we should stay inside, so my parents and six of us
locked ourselves in. Then the fire started. The floor
tiles got hotter and hotter. Then all of us ran to
Jaffreysaab's house where we could be safer. There
were at least a hundred people there. We were all
crying with fear.

"Then a mob entered the house. They grabbed my brother
Salim and struck him on the head with a sword. He
cried 'Papa!' and fell to the floor. Then they set
fire to the room. I managed to run out and onto the
roof with the rest of my brothers and sisters.

"My mother got left behind. We went to my aunt's house
on the roof and hid inside her bathroom. After five or
six hours when it was over, we were rescued by the
police. But the same police had done nothing to stop
the mobs. We had to climb over heaps of corpses to get
out.

"Sometimes I hear my brother's voice calling me. I was
his favourite. I keep seeing the burning building.
They never found my mother. She was burnt alive
inside, just like the rest. Sometimes even in the
middle of my sleep, tears are pouring out of my eyes.

"I can't stay with Hindus after this. Even now, they
are not leaving us alone. They have attacked this camp
so many times. Nearly every day, a bomb goes off
outside or the police fire at the camp. They don't
want Muslims to remain in Hindustan."

Sher Khan, 13
Son of a tailor, Sher worked in a plastic factory. He
and his family of four escaped a mob, including
policemen, attacking Akbar Nagar. His best friend was
shot dead by the police. He himself narrowly escaped
being burnt alive by the police.

Present Home: Akbar Nagar home

"The mobs, led by the police, came with guns, swords
and knives. They were shouting 'Jai Siya Ram' and wore
saffron bands on their heads. I saw police inspector
Gadvi from the nearby station. We ran out of the house
but the police began firing. I got separated from my
family but was running right beside my friend Sagir
Khan when the bullet hit him. He fell down. The police
picked him up and threw him in the fire that the crowd
had lit. Then, three policemen caught me.

"I thought that that was the end for me. I was going
to die. There were three of them. One of them tried to
hit me with his stick but hit the other policeman by
mistake. I managed to escape and started running. They
kept firing at me but I managed to duck the bullets. I
got to the main road and hid behind a truck. Then, I
crossed the road and scaled a wall to reach Aman
Chowk, where there was no fighting.

"If the police had protected us, things would never
have become so bad. If I see a policeman now, I start
running away. They don't want this to end.

"The Hindus say they don't want miyabhais [Muslims] in
Hindustan and that we should go away to Pakistan but
we will have to live here. Where else can we go? What
else do we have? I don't even want revenge. I just
want to be left alone.

"I try not to think about what has happened. If I
remember, I cry to myself when no one else can see me.
I have to be strong for my family."

Mohammad Asif, 14
A ninth-grader, Mohammad lived in Mahadeoni chaali
near the Mahakali river with his six-member family.
They survived the mob but their home didn't.

Present home: Dariyakhan Ghummat relief camp

"I was reading namaaz [praying] at the Kosadia Masjid
at about 2 p.m. when we were attacked. The armed mob
first began throwing petrol bombs. They had been
gathering at the Mahakali mandir in our locality.
Instead of controlling them, the police started
shooting in our direction. The crowd burnt the masjid
and also the Quran sharif. I ran towards my house but
the crowds had already burnt and looted it.

"I feel that the minister Bharat Barot was behind the
attack. He had been having meetings in our area every
night. He had even been distributing petrol and
weapons to the Hindus.

"This camp is not safe either. We are still being
attacked and the police come and throw teargas shells
inside. I would like to ask them, 'Are we the
attackers?'. The other day, one woman in the camp died
of shock after a bomb went off near the camp. I want
to go back home but the situation outside is still not
safe."

Shahid Khan, 14
A sixth-grade student, Shahid witnessed the murder of
former MP Ehsan Jaffrey. He and his family of seven
survived a mob attack.

Present Home: Dariyakhan Ghummat relief camp,
Ahmedabad

"I was playing cricket with friends when the police
came. They told the Hindu boys to go home. They were
warning them that something was going to happen.

"Around 9 a.m., a mob of 15,000-20,000 people arrived
and surrounded our building. They started throwing
stones and petrol bombs. Everyone began running
helter-skelter when the fire started. I ran up to the
roof and hid there. Ehsan Jaffrey was well known and
everyone thought they would be safe with him. So many
people hid in his house.

"I was peeping from a window at the top when I saw him
on the ground floor. He was telling the mob, 'Kill me
if you want but let the people go.' Then, the mob told
him to say 'Jai Siya Ram' but he didn't say anything.
They got angry and put a burning tyre around his neck.
They pushed a sword through his stomach. I turned my
head. I couldn't watch anymore.

"I keep having nightmares about it. I can't sleep.
Sometimes I think I'm sleeping but I wake up crying.

"I hate Hindus.Why did they do this to us? I saw our
neighbours in the crowd. I want to kill them if I can.
I want to go back there and kill them."

Imran Khan, 11
This student from Mariambibi ki chaali in Ahmedabad's
Gomtipur district was almost shot by men from the
Rapid Action Force (RAF) and the police on March 20,
when their neighborhood was attacked by Hindu mobs.

Present home: Shah Alam relief camp

"I was having lunch when we were attacked. There was a
huge crowd with swords, knives and stones. I ran out
of the house with my parents and went to Ishraf
Pehelwan's house, where we thought it would be safer.
But the blue-uniformed RAF men with guns and sticks
came inside. They grabbed my father and beat him up.
They began hitting my mother too. I also got hit on
the foot. I told them, 'Why are you beating us? We
didn't do anything.' One raf man held a gun to my
chest and told me to shut up. I thought that I was
going to die. Then the military arrived and they
stopped. By nightfall, we came to this camp.

"In my locality, I had a lot of Hindu friends. We used
to play cricket and basketball together. But after
these problems started, they began chasing me away and
say that they didn't want to play with a Mussalman
[Muslim]. They are not my friends anymore. I don't
want to go back there again."

Jagdish Kumar, 15
Jagdish and his father sold vegetables for a living
near their Raipur Mill home in Gomtipur, Ahmedabad. He
and his family of eight, including five sisters,
survived a mob attack.

Present home: Saraspur Municipal School relief camp,
Ahmedabad

"On the afternoon of Feb. 28, I was at home. Suddenly,
150-200 people arrived on the street outside. They had
black cloths on their faces and were shouting ‘Maro
kato (Kill them)!’ Then the mob began firing at us.
They also threw bombs and started a fire. We all
started fleeing. We ran and came to the main road. By
night the relief camp was set up. I have been there
ever since with my family.

"My house has been destroyed. Our area is surrounded
by Muslim homes. But I feel people from other areas
attacked us. I want to do something to them. I want
revenge but I don’t know what I will do.

"I want to go back. They can’t chase us out like that.
But what will we live in?"

Copyright 2002 World Press Review Online. All rights
reserved.

Gill, team begin mission with healing touch
By Basant Rawat
Sunday May 12, 3:04 AM

http://in.news.yahoo.com/020511/58/1nucc.html

Ahmedabad, May 11: In a double confidence boost to a
hounded community in Gujarat, K.P.S. Gill today met
minority leaders from across the state even as
Ahmedabad’s new police chief K.R. Kaushik visited the
city’s biggest relief camp just a day after assuming
charge.

In sharp contrast, the riot victims had to wait for
more than a month and several hundred deaths for a
glimpse of chief minister Narendra Modi, that too in
the company of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Though the fresh flare-up showed no sign of abating,
with two more persons dying in police firing,
Kaushik’s visit to the Shah-e-Alam camp and riot-hit
areas came as a morale-booster to the victims.

It was the first time since the riots broke out in the
city that a top police officer had visited the camp,
prompting in-charge Mohsin Quadri to say that “some
concrete action will now be certainly taken”.

One visible change after Kaushik has taken over is
that curfew is not being imposed selectively. So far,
prohibitory orders were being stringently enforced
only in minority-dominated areas, which effectively
meant that rioters had a free run.

Gill’s meeting also sent out the right signals.
“Minority community leaders from Ahmedabad, Baroda and
other parts of the violence-ravaged state met him and
held discussions for about four hours,” a spokesman in
the security adviser’s office said after the meeting
at the CRPF camp in Gandhinagar.

“This is in continuation with Gill’s ongoing efforts
to elicit the views of people, especially the minority
community’s…,” he said, adding that Gill “pacified”
the leaders, who responded by saying they had faith in
him. Gill later briefed Modi.

Badruddin Shaikh, standing committee chairman of the
Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, and Congress leader
J.B. Momin, who met Gill yesterday, said they found
him “positive and receptive”.

“We told Gill that on February 28, within a few hours,
shops, restaurants and houses of the minority
community were burnt. It could not have been possible
without proper planning and identification of minority
properties,” Shaikh said. The two advised Gill to
bring prominent figures from both communities on a
common platform to bridge the divide.

Gill is expected to coordinate a proposed meeting on
Monday between leaders of the two communities. The
meeting has been convened by the National Commission
for Minorities.

Asked about his discussions with the minority leaders,
Gill said: “I have nothing to say, let my action
speak.”

Copyright © 2001 The Telegraph All rights reserved
Copyright © 2002 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.

Police fire teargas at Gujarat rioters
Gulf daily News,
AHMEDABAD,India:

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Articles.asp?Article=22892&Sn=WORL

Police in the riot-torn Indian city of Ahmedabad,
where five people died in sectarian violence
yesterday, said they used teargas to control rampaging
mobs.

They fired 16 teargas shells after crowds of people in
the Khadia area of the city in the western state of
Gujarat hurled lightbulbs filled with acid and stones
at each other on Friday night.

There were no reports of serious injuries.

Five people were killed and 40 injured in Ahmedabad on
Friday in continuing sectarian violence which has left
nearly 1,000 people dead in Gujarat in the past 10
weeks.

Curfews are in force in several areas of the city,
which is the commercial capital of the state.

In New Delhi, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee held
a meeting of his coalition government - the National
Democratic Alliance (NDA) - during which the situation
in Gujarat was discussed.

"During the meeting, some coalition members called for
more concrete steps to be taken to establish normalcy
in Gujarat," said Defence Minister and NDA convenor
George Fernandes. "They also suggested that teams of
NDA MPs should visit the affected localities and talk
to the people to bring about peace." Home Minister L K
Advani briefed the meeting about the situation in the
state.

Copyright © 2002, Gulf Daily News

`OPINION`

Secular parties have hobbled secular bodies
SWAMINATHAN S ANKLESARIA AIYAR
[ SATURDAY, MAY 11, 2002 11:30:53 PM ]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Articleshow.asp?art_id=9598811

Gujarat has now been in communal flames for 75 days. Police firings
on mobs has killed almost 200 people, yet not quelled communal
hatred. Deploying the Army has not worked.

What has gone wrong? I think the problem goes far beyond Gujarat, or
even religious hate. I think secular institutions have failed so
badly in India that they no longer have moral authority. The space
they once occupied is gradually being filled by sectarian forces
based on religion, caste and region.

Those who led the freedom struggle hoped to move India away from
traditional sectarian institutions to modern, secular ones. The
British Raj had made a start in this direction, and Nehru took it
much further in the 1950s and 1960s. My generation thought that
modernisation and secularisation would soon defeat the dark forces of
traditional sectarianism.

We were proved wrong. Instead of delivering services impartially to
all, our secular institutions have been hijacked by trade unions and
other vested interests, and become instruments of oppression rather
than deliverance.

The secular government school system has failed. After 55 years of
independence, literacy is only 65 per cent, lower than in many
African countries. Government teachers skip school with impunity,
teaching quality is sub-standard, and any parents who can afford it,
move their children to private schools.

But even as the secular school system erodes, sectarian schools gain
ground. The RSS now runs 20,000 schools with dedicated teachers.
Muslim madrassas are expanding, oiled by Gulf money. Christian-run
schools cannot cope with demand.

The failure of secular education is equally evident at higher levels.
In Delhi University, I am told by students, regular teaching takes
place in only one college, St Stephens. Why? Because it is a
Christian institution, and so not subverted by the teachers union and
workers union that wreck secular government-run colleges. In the
south, private colleges run by religious maths provide better
education than government ones.

Our health centres, electricity boards, ports and all organs of the
secular state are in a mess. A 1990 study showed that the quickest
way to unload cargo in Mumbai was to pay unionised dock workers not
to come, and then hire private workers for the task.

State electricity board linesmen connive in electricity theft to the
tune of Rs 40,000 crore a year. Every government office teems with
corruption and waste. Secular institutions of state look increasingly
like bands of robbers.

In British times, the police-judicial system seemed to deliver
justice, but no more. Nobody with resources gets convicted beyond all
appeals, and people like Harshad Mehta die of old age before their
cases conclude.

The system benefits only lawyers, yet nobody dares take on the
lawyers. Witnesses turn hostile because they believe the government
cannot protect them from threats by the accused. Criminals enter
politics in droves.

When the secular organs of the modern state look corrupt and
moribund, sectarianism looks more attractive. The religious hatred
spewed by Bhindranwale or the Bajrang Dal would sound insane in a
country where the secular state redressed grievances and delivered
justice and fairness. But outcomes are decided mainly by money,
muscle and influence, identity politics becomes increasingly
respectable.

Killing for your community ceases to sound so horrible if the secular
organs of state are so moribund that they cannot penalise those who
attack you. If the state administration had immediately apprehended
the culprits of Godhra, and looked on course to convict them quickly,
I doubt if Gujarat would have gone up in flames.

In fact, 75 days later, the state looks too incompetent to find the
culprits, let alone jail them. In this milieu, communal revenge is
seen by hotheads as an acceptable substitute for a legal process that
never works.

In the 1950s, when the secular state actually functioned properly,
almost all the main political parties were secular: The Congress, the
Communist Party, two Socialist parties and the Swatantra Party.
Communal parties like the Hindu Mahasabha and Ram Rajya Parishad
faded away. The Jan Sangh survived, but had a limited following.

However, in the last decade, India's political space has increasingly
been occupied by parties based on religion, region and caste. The
Congress and two Communist parties have lost ground, and the secular
Janata Party formed by VP Singh in 1989 has shattered into sectarian
fragments.

The parties that have risen to the fore in the 1990s are those based
on religion (BJP, Shiv Sena), caste (BSP, RJD, SP) and region (BJD,
TDP, Akali Dal, AGP, JMM, and the sundry Tamilian regional parties).
Some of these forces existed in earlier decades too, but have become
far stronger in the 1990s.

I do not think the rot can be stemmed by demands from the chatterati
to sack Narendra Modi, or lectures on the virtues of secularism. If
the secular organs of state are held in contempt by citizens,
secularism will willy-nilly get edged out by sectarianism.

I have long been dismayed that almost all our political parties think
it less important to protect consumers than woo trade unions, bar
associations, teachers associations, and other organised interests.

Accountability implies that consumers should be able to penalise
government servants who do not deliver. Yet no politician seems
interested in creating systems that give aggrieved customers swift
justice against organised interests.

No politician wants to empower communities to sack teachers, health
workers, or other employees who fail to deliver services
satisfactorily.

Every political party has a workers' wing and a teachers' wing, and
these wings provide the troops that parties need at election time.

The two Communist parties are the worst offenders, but others are not
far behind. When secular political forces systematically emasculate
the secular organs of state, they open the floodgates to identity
politics and sectarianism.

So, do not blame the BJP alone for rising communalism. Modi sowed his
seeds in soil that had been fertilised by other, secular parties.

Copyright © 2002 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved