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CONCLUSIONS
TERRORISM NURTURED BY
COMMUNAL DISHARMONY
The Godhra carnage
and related incidents make a typical case study of international designs
and conspiracies to weaken
India
as an emerging world power. Analysts and professional strategists of all
ideological inclinations converge on one forecast that India is going to
be a major player on the international scene sooner rather than later.
The global community also realizes the inevitability of India becoming
an important economic and military power. In such a situation it is but
natural that nations hostile to
India
or its adversaries make all out efforts to create impediments in this
process. Their strategy is to keep India engaged in communal and caste
strife so that the nation’s focus on development is defused and its
endeavour to emerge as a super-power is thwarted. It would surprise no
one if Pakistan with the tacit support of not-so-friendly neighbours and
world powers hatches conspiracies to destablise and weaken the
Indian
State.
A careful and
in-depth analysis, if carried out with an open mind, would throw open an
action plans where terrorist activities appear to be merging with the
already existing strong antagonism between Muslims and Hindus. Our
hostile neighbour, sometimes in the guise of a friend, keeps on creating
wounds on the body polity of our nation. Creation and perpetuation of
Kashmir problem is one such example. The support to the
authoritarian regimes in
Pakistan by USA and
European countries speaks volumes about the super power’s commitment, or
lack of it, to democratic values. Godhra and the wide spread communal
violence in Gujarat in recent weeks is a part of this nefarious design.
The Study Team concludes:
1.
Burning
of 58 Hindu pilgrims at Godhra on 27.02.02 was an act of international
terrorism carried out with the evil objective of pushing the country
into a communal cauldron.
2.
The
plan was to burn the entire train with more than two thousand passengers
in the wee hours of 27th April 2002. It was a terrorist
action plan that partly failed. The perpetrators of the terrorist acts
received support from jehadi elements operating from Godhra. These
included some Congress members of the Nagarpalika.
The direct and
circumstantial evidence and the statements of officials, NGOs and many
other citizens lead the Study team to conclude:
1.
Preparations for enacting Godhra carnage were made in advance.
2.
There
were no quarrels or fights between Hindus and Muslim passengers on the
train.
3.
There
were no quarrels or fights between the vendors and the Hindu pilgrims on
the platform of Godhra Railway Station.
4.
The
intention of the mob was to put to death all the pilgrims travelling by
the Sabharmati Express.
5.
The
fire fighting system available in Godhra was weakened and its arrival at
the place of incident willfully delayed by the mob with the open
participation of a Congress Councillor, Haji Ballal.
6.
The
demographic changes in Godhra in recent years have made it a center for
jehadi activities.
After examining the
data about the deployment of army, paramilitary forces and State Police
and verifying the facts from field sources the Study Team concludes:
7.
The
Army was requisitioned and deployed in time.
8.
The
police was on many occasions overwhelmed by the rioting mobs that were
massive and carried more lethal weapons than the police.
9.
Police
did not have the training and know-how to mange situations that arose
during this period.
10.
Barring
a few exceptions, the police was not found to be communally motivated.
11.
Frequent deployment of army for internal management weakens the defence
of our international borders and facilitates infiltration from across
the border.
After studying the
presentations made by the administration at Godhra, Ahmedabad and
Vadodra and tallying the information with the NGOs and other individuals
the Study Team concludes:
12.
The
local administration at Godhra did not take adequate precautions to
prevent the carnage. It should have been on the alert in view of the
demographic and political changes taking place in the town.
15.The administration
in Godhra, Ahmedabad and Vadodra was on the whole sensitized to the
plight of Muslim minorities in their respective areas. However, the
police failed to protect the citizens from frenzied mobs indulging in
arson, looting and killing.
16.The relief work
was carried out by establishing relief camps for victims of the riots.
There are separate camps for Hindus and Muslims. Refugees are not
satisfied with the facilities available in the camps.
17. Riot-affected
citizens belonging to both the communities are reluctant to go back to
their homes due to communal tension and apprehensions about violence.
18. Although Gujarat
is a state notorious for communal riots, the bureaucracy and the police
are not trained to handle communal riots and to take pre-emptive action
to prevent sectarian violence.
19.Alternate
strategies to mange communal divide have not been worked out.
20. Adverse media
reports about role of officials affected their performance and
de-motivated them. Several officers were reluctant to take firm action.
Based on the
responses received from more than 500 persons and also the analysis of
the content of media the Study Team concludes:
21.Gujarati language
media was factual and objective. Yet its propensity to highlight the
gory incidents in great details heightened communal tension.
22.English language
media, particularly the Delhi Press, is perceived by the Gujaratis to be
biased. The information disseminated by it was neither balanced nor
impartial.
23.By converting
half-baked news stories into major headlines, print as well as
electronic media widened the psychological hiatus between Muslims and
Hindus.
24.By disseminating
half-truths and lies, the media played no mean role in distorting
country’s image in the World.
25. The credibility
of the media – both electronic and print – is low in
Gujarat.
The sectarian
violence in Gujarat that began in Godhra on 27.02.02 can be divided into
four phases:
1.
The
first phase was Godhra incident which was planned and executed by an
ugly combination of external and internal jehadi forces. It
lasted for less than an hour.
2.
The
second phase was the reaction of Godhra where Hindu pilgrims were
roasted
alive in the train. The backlash was very intense for 3-4
days. However, sporadic incidents continued for several weeks.
3. The third phase
began on 15.03.02 after a Muslim mob attacked a Hindu procession
chanting Ram dhun. Extensive media coverage of this attack
provoked yet another round of communal riots that lasted for 4/5 days.
4. Sectarian violence
continues even more than a month after Godhra. This fourth phase of
violence has no provocation or justification other than to sustain the
"Remove Modi" campaign. It is the constitutional duty of the State
Government to protect citizens and maintain law and order. It is also in
the partisan interest of the ruling party in the state to put an end to
the communal violence as its continuity in office depends on how soon
and how effectively it combats violence. It is, therefore, hard to
reject Chief Minister’s contention that the Congress party that has a
vested interest in getting him sacked is perpetuating the communal
violence by provoking stray incidents.
Thus the Study Team
concludes:
26.Communal violence
in Gujarat has become politicized, and instead of treating it as human
tragedy it is being used to get political mileage by political parties.
27.Loaded statements
made by political leaders propounding their action plans increases the
hiatus between Muslims and Hindus.
28.Continued communal
violence in any part of the country tarnishes the image of the country
in international field thereby reducing its status and bargaining power
29.On the world
canvass today strong indicators are visible
that point to a
concerted effort by jehadi forces to slow down ever-increasing
importance of India in the world affairs.
30.There are also
concerted efforts to disintegrate India, politically as well as
emotionally
31.There are elements
within the country that help and collaborate with the forces inimical to
India.
32.The governing
class in India is ignorant or willfully blind to the threat perceptions
posed by the jehadi forces.
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