| Godhra train burning | |
|---|---|
| Details | |
| Date | February 27, 2002 |
| Time | 07:43 AM |
| Location | Godhra, Gujarat |
| Country | India |
| Rail line | Godhra - Vadodara line |
| Operator | Western Railway |
| Type of incident | Burning |
| Cause | Planned Conspiracy against Karsevaks |
| Statistics | |
| Trains | 1 |
| Deaths | 59 |
| Damage | Complete burning of S6 coach, triggered widespread riots |
The Godhra train burning (Hindi: गोधरा कांड) was an incident in which a sleeper coach on a passenger train was set on fire in 2002 by Muslims in Godhra, Gujarat, India in a conspiracy.[1] 59 Hindu pilgrim passengers coming from Ayodhya were killed[2] in the fire.[3]
The event triggered widespread violence in Gujarat, resulting in the deaths of about 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus.
Contents |
Godhra has a history of communal riots, many of which have been documented by Asghar Ali Engineer, along with the internecine social dynamics.[4]
A majority of Muslims in Godhra belong to the impoverished Ghanchi community. At the time of partition the Ghanchis were supporters of the Muslim League and were also known to be quite militant and aggressive.[4] During partition of India, a number of Sindhi Hindu refugees arrived in Godhra and settled in the neighborhood of the Ghanchis.[4]
Earlier riots involved Muslim Ghanchis and Hindu Sindhis:
The army was called to curb disturbances in 1948, 1953–55, and 1985.
Hindus and Muslims have committed atrocities against one another in this region. In 1980, Riots began with a quarrel between two banana vendors near railway station. Subsequently it lead to wide spread arson and resulted in a family of five Hindu Sindhis burned by Ghanchi Muslims during the 1980 Sindhi-Ghanchi riots.[4]
Some of the violence had taken place near the Signal Falia (Signal Fadia) site near the railway tracks, where the 2002 train burning took place.
The Sabarmati Express reached Godhra Station at 07:43 on 27 February 2002, with many Hindu pilgrims on their way back from a ceremony organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad at the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi site.[5] The survivor of Godhra carnage who lost his wife in attacks recalls that 3000 strong mob of Muslims were present at Signal Falia.[6]
After its scheduled 5 minute halt, the train was pulling out when someone pulled the chain to stop it, and stones were pelted at the train by the Muslim crowd. Then the train left, but was stopped again near a railway cabin where a large Muslim mob of about 500 attacked it. During the attack, the woman's reserved coach no. S6 burned down.[7] A total of 58 Hindu pilgrims (23 men, 15 women and 20 children) were asphyxiated in the smoke, while 250 others managed to escape.[8] Innocent victims were tagged as Kar Sevaks and sent to Ayodhya [9]
The train was stopped and came under attack at Signal Fadia (sometimes misspelled as Signal Falia), near Godhra Junction, by a mob presumed to be Ghanchi Muslims.[10]
The Tribune reported:[11]
As the train left Godhra station, one of the miscreants who had boarded it, pulled the chain alarm after some time to halt the train a km away. It was here that a large number of stone-pelting miscreants set the coach ablaze by throwing petrol bombs and dousing it with kerosene and petrol.
Initial investigations led a Special Investigation Team of the Gujarat police to conclude that the Godhra attack was a planned conspiracy, rather than a spontaneous reaction. Their findings were questioned by the defence lawyers of the accused, as well as the "Central Review Committee on the Prevention of Terrorism Act". An investigative panel led by Justice U C Banerjee claimed that the fire was an accident, not a deliberate act. The Gujarat high court has ruled the Banerjee commission illegal.
A large part of the case that the act was deliberate conspiracy hinged on the testimony of two petrol pump salesmen – Ranjitsingh Patel and Prabhatsingh Patel - who had said that they sold 140 liters of petrol to some (appeared to be) Muslims the previous evening.
As per chief investigating officer Noel Parmar (Noel Parmar was the investigating officer in the Godhra case who retired in 2009 after 43 years of service in the Gujarat police. He was known to be a tough officer throughout his career and has been constantly targeted by the civil society groups fighting for the accused in the Godhra case.[12]), following events took place that led to the train burning:
About confessions, he clarified that ...Under the law, confessional statements are no less important. After the arrest, when we explain to the accused the importance of his confession, we also tell him how it can work against him. It's a long legal process before he gives a confession that is admissible under law... He is given ample chances to not agree with us. The accused is given 24 hours to think about his confession. He is medically examined also to check that he is not beaten or tortured. We are not with him when he confesses.[12]
The events of 27 February 2002 are often reported as a huge mob of Muslims burning the train (Sabarmati Express), knowing it contained pilgrims, monks and kar sevaks leaving for Ayodhya, after a scuffle among a few of the kar sevaks and the mob, though Nanavati commission has pointed out that kar sevaks had not done anything and no incident had happened earlier which could have led to the incident which later on happened at Godhra.[13]
Initial investigations led to the suspicion that a planned conspiracy was behind the train burning, rather than a spontaneous reaction. In 2003, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Gujarat Police moved the sessions court in Godhra to invoke provisions of Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) against all 123 accused in the case, including seven who were out on bail. On 6 February 2003, Maulana Hussein Umarji a Muslim leader of the Deobandi movement in Godhra, was arrested. The police alleged that he was the prime conspirator in the Train burning. His arrest followed the confessional statement of Jabir Binyamin Behera, an accused who was arrested on 22 January.[14][15]
Behera confessed that around 11.30 pm on the previous night, he was present on the ground floor of a guest house when other suspects arrived on a scooter and initiated the first meeting. Allegedly, the strategy was to launch an attack at the slightest provocation from the Kar Sevaks who were returning from Ayodhya. The same night, the conspirators collected 140 litres of fuel from a local petrol pump and stored it at a guest house. They also had instructions from Umarji, who had advanced information on the position of the Kar Sevaks on the Sabarmati Express and specifically told them to target Coach S6 of the train.[14][15]
The confession further went that a second meeting was held around midnight after which a co-conspirator named Paanwala allegedly left for the railway station to check on the train's arrival time. After learning that the train was late, they scrapped their original plan of a pre-dawn attack. In his confession Behera says it was Umarji who advised him against surrendering to the police. The investigators considered Umarji a "big catch" since the mob that burnt bogie S6 was mainly composed of people from the Ghanchi community, a majority of whom were followers of the Deobandi movement.[14]
It was also suggested that foreign Islamic terrorists were involved in the act thus necessitating the invocation of POTA.[14]
In September, the investigations changed track with the naming of Razzak Kurkur, a hotelier from the Muslim-dominated Signal Falia area, as an accused. It was then claimed that though a huge mob was involved in the attack, the actual train burning was the handiwork of a core team of 20.[14]
The defence lawyers of the accused argued against the theories of the SIT, alleging that the charge sheets did not mention that the accused were active participants in the burning, and that the confessions needed to be backed up by sufficient evidence.[14] The SIT report has also been questioned for apparent inconsistencies, such as the speed at which the petrol fuel was delivered to the attack site, and the lack of witnesses. Previous attempts by the SIT to link the incident to foreign elements were unsupported by evidence. It was also advanced that many parts of the SIT's forensic report were based more on conjecture than proof.[16]
The Central Review Committee on POTA, which was set up to check possible misuses of the act, disagreed with the findings of the SIT. Their analysis indicated a lack of sufficient evidence to an alleged conspiracy.[17]
Frontline reports on Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Gujarat Police findings:[16]
SIT called a press conference to reiterate its conspiracy theory. ..Rakesh Asthana, who heads the SIT. He maintains that the plan to torch the train was masterminded during meetings at the Aman Guest House, owned by Razak Kurkur, who allegedly heads a local criminal gang involved in railway crimes. ... the actual operation was conducted by six people, who cut open the vestibule and entered the coach, opened the doors of the compartment and poured 120 litres of petrol (each person supposedly carried a 20-litre jerry can) before jumping out. Then, burning rags were thrown into the compartments through the windows. The SIT's main evidence is a court confession by Zabir Bin Yameen Behra, one of those who allegedly entered coach S-6. Behra first gave details of how the plan was hatched. Later, he went back on the testimony, saying the police forced him to depose before the court.
The incident occurred in 2002 and a two-man commission was appointed immediately afterwards by the state government. Two years later, in 2004, when the UPA government assumed power at the center, the then railways minister Lalu Prasad Yadav appointed a one-man commission to investigate.
Two years after the incident Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav appointed Justice U C Banerjee to investigate Godhra incident. On the eve of election in Railway Minister's home state Bihar, Justice U C Banerjee released a now invalidated report suggesting fire being an accident which resulted[18] out of cooking being carried within the carriage, and ruled out the possibility of fire having resulted out of any external attack.
This report has been doubted by right-wing organisations, Sangh Parivar and Bharatiya Janata Party as being politically motivated, coinciding with the time of elections.
Other survivors and relatives of those killed reacted with outrage at the Banerjee committee conclusion saying this flies in the face of evidence that they were not allowed to leave the coach and [19] burning rags were thrown inside by a mob that had gathered at the station. A court case was filed by survivors of the carnage against the committee.[20]
On 13 October 2006, the Gujarat High Court ruled formation of UC Banerjee committee "illegal" and "unconstitutional". The court also said that the report terming the Godhra fire as ‘accidental’ deprived survivors of their right to a fair trial, and the finding as “contrary to the facts of the case”.[21][21][22] As of now, all its probe results stand invalid. The Central government can still appeal the High Court judgment in the Supreme Court.[23][24][25] The report was later called a "collusive" and a "sham" report" by the BJP at the time of 2005 elections.[26] Noel Parmar, the investigating officer in the Godhra case, has said that the report has been written without evidence, that 1 litre of kerosene could not have burned Coach S-6.[12]
The Gujarat Government, in consultation with Central Government appointed Justice Nanavati and Shah to investigate Godhra and post-Godhra incidents. Nanavati Commission took a lot of time in talking to thousands of people including victims and eye-witnesses, interviewed thousands in an independent manner, finally concluded that Godhra carnage was not an accident but the coach was set on fire by a mob, allegedly Muslims. They also gave a clean chit to Shri Narendra Modi and noted that the efforts done by Government to take control of the situation were appreciable.
The Nanavati Commission, probing the Godhra train carnage and subsequent riots in Gujarat, submitted the first part of its report (See Nanavati Commission on Godhra) to Chief Minister Narendra Modi on 18 September 2008.
It triggered widespread violence in Gujarat, resulting in the deaths of about 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus.
On 22 February 2011 a special court convicted 31 people for perpetrating the burning. Another 63 people, including the key accused, Maulvi Umarji, were acquitted by the special court. However the other prominent people to be accused Haji Billa and Rajjak Kurkur were convicted.[27] The court upheld that the incident had been a planned conspiracy, explicitly citing the "scientific evidence, statement of witnesses, circumstantial and documentary evidence," upholding the Nanavati report, and discrediting the Banerjee commission.[27] The special public prosecutor was satisfied with the verdict.[28]
The special court pronounced the death penalty for 11 of the convicted while the 20 others were awarded life sentences on 1 March.[29]
In the wake of the verdict the Indian government introduced tight security over much of Gujarat – this has involved 15,000 extra police being deployed.[28]