People's Democracy

COMMENT

Another Lie Of Modi Govt Nailed

Is The Home Minister Listening?

EVERY week big and unsubstantiated lies of Narendra Modi government are now being exposed one after the other, making it extremely clear that what happened in Godhra on February 27, 2002, was a result of the immediate provocation between passengers of Sabarmati Express and hawkers on the station, and not a pre-planned terrorist conspiracy, a theory which Narendra Modi regime invented to engineer State-sponsored genocide of Muslims in the state.

The POTA Review Committee, set up by the central government last year, according to reports by many newspapers and TV channels has recommended dropping of POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act) charges against all the 120 accused in the Godhra train burning case.

It has been further brought to light that this three-member committee headed by a retired High Court judge has not found any evidence of the Godhra incident being a  pre-planned terrorist conspiracy to attack the Sabarmati Express on February 27, 2002.

The committee, which has a statutory status, has already submitted its opinion to the union home ministry as well as the Gujarat state government.

Justice  (Retd) S C Jain is on record in various newspapers confirming,  “we have completed our work of reviewing all POTA cases in Gujarat, and our recommendations are now with the union home ministry and Gujarat government. We have also asked that copies of reports be handed over to the accused”. 

It has been reported that this committee has recommended all the accused in Godhra case be tried under different sections of Indian Penal Code, for the offences they are accused of having committed, including murder, arson, unlawful assembly and rioting, while POTA charges should be dropped. The committee has said that the February 27, 2002 incident was a result of an immediate provocation at the Godhra railway station between the Sabarmati Express passengers and vendors at the station, majority of who were Muslims.

Justice S C Jain said, “the committee has ascertained the views of accused as well as of state police, and examined the available evidence before giving its opinion”.

The committee in its report has pointed out that the POTA charges against the accused were an after thought by the prosecution. The first charge-sheet submitted in the court did not mention anything in this regard, however, in a supplementary charge-sheet filed by the prosecution almost a year after the Godhra incident had occurred, POTA charges were added against the accused. (Those accused who were facing POTA charges at the time of  repealing of the law by the parliament, were, however, to face trial under the same law.)

The union home ministry must make public the findings of this committee immediately and seek an explanation from the Narendra Modi government on its ways of functioning.

It is for the central government to act now on the findings of a committee formed by it. The country has a right to know, as to what exactly happened in Godhra on February 27, 2002, which was used by the modern day Nero to order systematic killings of the Muslim community in the state.

The UPA government despite having been in power for more than a year now, has not shown the expected political will to deal with communalism, especially against those responsible for the 2002 Gujarat riots –– the  worst in modern Indian history. The democratic and secular forces supporting the UPA government are increasingly getting a feeling that what was required to be done on priority is being pushed to a back-burner. 

The silence of the union home and law ministries on Gujarat is baffling. Despite the diaries of Additional Director General of Police R B Sreekumar, and now the report of the POTA review committee – both giving a clear picture that the Godhra incident and the riots that followed it were used by the Narendra Modi  government to eliminate the Muslim community from Gujarat with the help of State machinery. It is also clear that the killings of Muslims continued not because of the State inaction, but because of its direct involvement and that too from the top.

 
The democratic and secular sections of the society are really miffed at the approach adopted by the union home minister. He must remember that the UPA government came to power because of the secular-minded people’s mandate against the communal combine. The inaction in dealing with communal forces would only add to the already rising discontent against his ministry. It is surprising that the Bill for law against communal violence has not even been introduced in parliament. The home minister would do well to read the Common Minimum Programme once more!

Similarly, the way Religious Census data report was released by his ministry, and now the baffling silence on dealing with the Gujarat government – despite having solid evidence – all show that the UPA government’s report card does not match its pre-electoral promise. The patience of the democratic and secular sections of the society is being tested!