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DATA COLLECTION
VISITS INTERACTION
AND DOCUMENTS
The team reached
Ahmedabad on 02.04.02 in the morning by train and visited three affected
areas, and some of the relief camps. At all the places team members
interacted with the members of the public freely without intervention of
any officials, government or otherwise.
On 03.04.02 the team
went to Godhra and five delegations from both communities and also of
mixed composition presented their views and facts to the team. The team
then went to the Godhra Railway Station and interviewed the officials
and some other witnesses of the burning of the S-6 Coach of the
Sabarmati Express in the morning of 27.02.02. The site where the train
was initially stopped and stoned was also visited. The team also
minutely observed the burnt S-6 coach. The officials of the Fire Brigade
who were involved in the fire fighting on the morning of 27.02.02 were
also interviewed. The localities adjacent to the railway station along
with the sites where demolition of structures illegally erected was
carried out on 27.02.02 during the curfew hours were also visited. The
team also visited a Girl High School at Godhara where Muslims from rural
hinterland had migrated for safety.
In the evening the
team had a meeting with the District Collector, Godhra along with other
officials. The District Collector made a presentation of the actions
that the district administration had taken after the incident near the
railway station. Information was also provided in response to the
questions raised by the members of the team. Prime Minister was to reach
Godhra the next day and the team left for Vadodara late at night, as it
did not want to be an obstacle in the arrangements being made for his
visit.
RELIEF CAMPS OF
HINDUS AND MUSLIMS
On 04.04.02 the team
was in Vadodara where it visited five relief camps of both the
communities and seven areas, which were the scenes of arson, fire and
violence during the last month. Team also exposed itself to ground
situations by visiting some sensitive areas where either:
a.
two communities lived face to face with each other in different
localities.
b.
a small number of families of one community lived in neighborhood and
surrounded by a large number of the families of the other community.
c.
two communities lived in the same locality, both in significant numbers
with houses of both communities randomly distributed.
The team also visited
some of the areas, which have been evacuated by the residents because
they were attacked or they apprehended an attack. To have the exposure
to the realities the team also visited some areas where curfew was
imposed. Permission to visit such areas was taken from the appropriate
authorities.
In the afternoon the
Commissioner Police, Vadodra and District Collector Vadodra met the team
along with other officials. The team members were updated with the
information regarding the management of situation till that day. The
officials also answered the queries of the team.
At 5.00 pm the team
met with the representatives of various media organizations, both print
and electronic media. About thirty media persons were present and an
informative interaction took place. The team had taken a conscious
decision not to have a press conference, as it did not want to express
unprocessed, half-baked and impressionistic opinions.
MEETING THE GOVERNOR
& THE CHIEF MINISTER
In the evening
thirteen (13) delegations consisting of 121 citizens met the team and
presented their viewpoints and information. The delegations included not
only the members of both the communities but ranged from the Association
of Hoteliers to a group of adivasis to affected Muslim and Hindu women.
On 05.04.02 the team
once again visited the affected areas to see the change in the ground
situation in two days after the team has visited on 02.04.02. Here once
again the team spoke to common persons at the affected sites. In the
afternoon the team had an interactive meeting with Shri Narender Modi,
Chief Minister, Gujarat. After meeting the Chief Minister, the team met
the Police Commissioner, Ahmedabad. He gave some data about the
preventive arrests (3046), booked (1807), FIRs lodged (636) killed (267
including 58 in police firing) and rounds fired by police (2842). In the
afternoon seven delegations five from Ahmedabad and two representing
state level organizations apprised the team of their version of the
incidents, perceptions and possible remedial measures. Total number of
citizens, both Muslims and Hindus, present in these meetings was 91.
During and after dinner some important persons of the minority community
met the team members personally and provided useful information. This
included a retired judge of the High Court belonging to the Muslim
community. His house had been burnt a few days ago. In the morning of
06.04.02 team members went out individually to interact informally with
common men to feel the pulse of the people. At noon the team went to Raj
Bhawan to meet Shri Sunder Singh Bhandari, Governor, Gujarat where a
very useful interaction took place.
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