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FIFTY EIGHT PILGRIMS
ROASTED ALIVE
Soon S-6 caught fire
and within minutes it was in flames. Such passengers who managed to get
out of the burning compartment received injuries of sharp weapons and
stones. Some of them got out through the windows and took shelter below
the train. After some time (between 20 minutes and 40 minutes) fire
extinguishing van with firemen arrived and extinguished the fire in
about half an hour.
Inside the coach, 58
charred bodies were found. These included 26 women, 12 children and 20
men. Those who had seen the charred bodies shiver even weeks after the
incident while recalling the gory scene. Even a look at the photographs
of the charred bodies is a chilling experience. Forty three (43) persons
were initially admitted in the
Civil
Hospital
at Godhra with different degrees of burns. The train left Godhra at
about 1230 hrs minus Coach S-6, 58 dead and 43 injured.
The question why
large number of Hindus were roasted alive at the hands of Muslim
crowds at Godhra and also what was the motivation to enact such a
ghastly act needs to be answered. There is strong logic supported by
direct and circumstantial evidence that enables the team to assert
without an iota of doubt that the entire action was carried out on the
behest of the Government of Pakistan. The primary objective was to
create Hindu-Muslim communal conflagration in India. The
reasons why
Pakistan
would resort to such acts are:
1.
Hindu-Muslim communal riots in India would have echo in Bangladesh, and
would help in cleansing of Hindus from that country resulting in further
straining of relations with India. The communal rioting will provide yet
another excuse for India bashing. The reaction in Bangladesh will add
fuel to the already communally tense situation in India. It would
ultimately gives sustenance to the "Two Nation Theory".
2.
Hindu-Muslim riots in India would further accentuate alienation of
Kashmiri Muslims, thereby creating further space in Kashmir for its
nefarious activities against
India.
3.
Hindu-Muslim riots in India would tend to adversely affect India’s
present friendly relations with
Afghanistan.
It is worth mentioning here that Prime Minister of Afghanistan had in a
television interview while responding to a question about the nature of
Afghanistan’s relations with India observed, "That would depend upon how
India
treats its Muslim minority".
4.
Situation at the Indo-Pak border is extremely critical and volatile. A
little slip or mistaken action can any moment lead to war between two
countries. Hindu-Muslim communal riots would come handy to weaken the
Indian Army. When the communal violence goes out of control the army is
deployed on a scale commensurate with the extent and areas of riots and
this ‘army reserve’ would get committed internally in maintaining law
and order.
Presently, in
response to communal frenzy in Gujarat two Brigades of army have were
deployed thereby leaving a portion of our border uncovered or weakly
protected. For example, if the army has been withdrawn from Kachh border
the area there becomes not only weak militarily but it also becomes more
porous for infiltrators and smugglers dealing with drugs and arms. The
vested interests in
Pakistan
that includes the Government of Pakistan need weak and porous borders
and what can be a better mechanism than creating situations where Indian
army’s attention is diverted because of its deployment to assist the
civil authorities to control communal violence. All patriotic and
national forces demanding use of army for one reason or the other should
start looking at the situation from this angle as well.
5.
Hindu-Muslim riots increases the alienation of the saner elements of
Kashmiri Muslim and add to the membership of
Pakistan
created and sponsored terrorist outfits. Thus, the terrorist and
insurgent activities get a shot in the arm. In the event of war between
two countries these subversive groups can play havoc.
6.
Hindu-Muslim riots also create tension between
India
and other Muslim countries with which
India
has developed a lot of understanding and goodwill. Ultimately, the
attempt is to isolate India in the international field and tarnish its
image as the biggest democracy in the world.
Another question that
needs systematic analysis is: Why Godhra? Why did Pakistan choose
to enact this ghastly act at a small, little known town of Godhra? On
the bases of information gathered, the team finds the following reasons
for choosing Godhra for this carnage:
The rate of growth of
Muslim population in Godhra is abnormally higher than the national
growth rate of Muslim population. At present the estimated ratio of
Hindu-Muslim population ranges from 60:40 to 48:52. In any case Godhra
has a very large Muslim population most of that lives on both the sides
of the railway station in depth. In normal course Sabarmati Express was
to arrive at Godhra railway Station at
02.55 a.m. Before anybody including the passengers could wake up the
ghastly deed would have been over. So the misdeed of burning the whole
train could be committed unhindered and with impunity.
Godhra town claims
larger existence of Muslim fundamentalists and ‘jehadi’ elements.
Godhra is neither a Muslim pilgrim center like Ajmer nor a Muslim
educational center like
Aligarh and Deoband. The local Muslims are not economically
affluent either, yet this town had hosted three ‘istema’-
religious congregations. In one of the ‘istema’, Muslim
representatives from more than hundred countries participated. The
holding of international congregations on such a scale gives credence to
the commonly held perception that there has been a massive inflow of
foreign money into Godhra. One Shri Haji Billal, a Congress member of
Nagarpalika, who has been booked by the police as the executor of the
carnage, locals say, have been proudly proclaiming himself to be "Bin
Laden of Godhra". President of the district Congress Committee,
Farooq Malla and Congress activist and member of Godhra Nagarpalika,
Abdul Rehman Dhatia, are amongst those booked for the carnage giving
credence to reports that local Congressmen were actively involved in the
burning of the train.
The next question is:
Why was this particular train chosen for torching? The team
provides the following answer:
This particular train
was chosen because the 2300 ‘pilgrims’ were returning from Ayodhya on
this train. Torching and burning alive of large number of Hindu pilgrims
(including women and children) was intended to let loose a tide of
indignation and provocation of horrendous proportion in Hindu population
resulting in intended ignition of the communal tinder box, causing wide
spread Hindu-Muslim riots all over India. However, the train got late
and the miscreants were able to burn only one compartment instead of the
entire train and (contrary to the expectations of the Pakistan
Government) the communal riots were confined to only a part of Gujarat.
The evidence that
leads to the conclusion that the torching of Sabarmati Express on the
morning of 27.02.02 was pre-meditated can be stated as:
The train took only
three minutes (as per the statement of the Stationmaster) form the
platform to the place where it halted at a distance of about 700 metres
as a result of chain pulling. It is impossible for a mob of about 2000
from various places to converge within three minutes on the ill fated
train that too in the early hour of the day carrying acid bulbs and fast
combustible liquids.
Some one who was the
part of the conspiring group had planned so that the mob gets enough
time to accomplish the misdeed completely. Had only pulling the chain
stopped the train the driver of the train could have started it on
seeing the attack on the train. But to provide enough time to the
miscreants some person already deputed for the job cut the vacuum pipe.
The driver can’t move the train even an inch if the vacuum pipe is
snapped. It has to be repaired before the train can move.
In order to establish
the correct chronology of events the Study Team collected information
from:
1.
Staff
at the Railway Station, Godhra
2.
District Administration
3.
Passengers traveling in Sabarmati Express on 27.02.02 in S-6
4.
Passengers traveling in Sabarmati Express on 27.02.02 other than in S-6
5.
Staff
of the Fire Brigade, Godhra
6.
Others
who were witness to the later part of the incident
7. Reports in local,
regional and national press
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