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THE INDIAN EXPRESS
http://www.expressindia.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=7877SABARMATI EXPRESS FIRE: Curfew, shoot-at-sight orders in Godhra
Janyala Srinivas & Milind Ghatwai
Posted: Feb 27, 2002 at 1113 hrs IST
Tension has gripped Godhra town in Panchmahal district of Gujarat after Sabarmati Express bringing Ram Sevaks from Ayodhya to Ahmedabad were attacked and set on fire early on Wednesday. Indefinite curfew has been clamped in Godhra town and shoot at sight orders have been issued to police and paramilitary forces that rushed from Vadodara and Ahmedabad.
Panchmahal Dictrict Collector, Jayanti Ravi, in a briefing said at least 30 persons were feared killed. Earlier she told The Indian Express, "It was difficult to count the dead as the bodies were completely charred, many of them reduced to only bones. I saw at least 20 to 25 of them."
Home Secretary K. Nityanandam said earlier a gang attacked four coaches of Sabarmati Express which was bringing back about 400 Ram Sevaks from Ayodhya.
The incident took place after the train had neared Signal Faliu, less than a km from the Godhra station and was heading towards Ahmedabad when it was attacked.
According to witnesses, the burning was a sequel to an altercation between tea vendors belonging to minority community and the occupants of S-6. Sources said the vendors on alleged provocation from the occupants of S-6 returned with a strong mob of around 150. The angry mob then set afire the bogey, says Rohit Bhan.
Kar sevaks Dinesh Goswami and Dilip Patel, who were returning from Ayodhya, told The Indian Express that a mob of about 400 attacked the train from both sides just when the train was pulling out of the station. They say, someone pulled the chain and the train came to halt.
"The mobs, armed with swords, pelted stones at the train and locked both the doors of S-6. They threw many petrol bombs through the windows, which started the fire. We somehow managed to escape by opening one of the doors", Patel and Goswami claimed.
They alleged that the police did not do anything. "If the police had acted swiftly the toll could have been much less," they claimed.
The VHP Ahmedabad city office says its members from Godhra informed here that many of those who died were women. They are charred beyond recognition, City General Secretary Jai Shah said. The VHP cannot confirm whether all the dead are Ram sevaks.
The batch of Ram sevaks, comprising Bajrang Dal activists, VHP members and others participating in the mahayagna, belong to Sabarkantha, Kheda, Anand and Central Gujarat region. They had gone to Ayodhya on February 22 by the Sabarmati Express.
The Sabarmati Express left Godhra station around 12.40 leaving the two damaged bogies behind. The bodies were reportedly still inside S-6 when the remaining train left for its onward journey.
A train carrying the rest of the passengers of the Sabarmati Express is reaching Ahmedabad. Security has been beefed up in Ahmedabad and especially in the communally sensitive Mirzapur, Kalupur railway station area and relief road.
Meanwhile, mobile patrolling has been started by the police in sensitive localities of Surat, where a similar incident had taken place in 1993. Eight persons were set on fire at the Surat Railway Station after being pulled out of a train.
The VHP has given a call for Gujarat Bandh on Thursday to protest the incident.
Tension has gripped Godhra town in Panchmahal district of Gujarat after Sabarmati Express bringing Ram Sevaks from Ayodhya to Ahmedabad were attacked and set on fire early on Wednesday. Indefinite curfew has been clamped in Godhra town and shoot at sight orders have been issued to police and paramilitary forces that rushed from Vadodara and Ahmedabad.
Panchmahal Dictrict Collector, Jayanti Ravi, in a briefing said at least 30 persons were feared killed. Earlier she told The Indian Express, "It was difficult to count the dead as the bodies were completely charred, many of them reduced to only bones. I saw at least 20 to 25 of them."
Home Secretary K. Nityanandam said earlier a gang attacked four coaches of Sabarmati Express which was bringing back about 400 Ram Sevaks from Ayodhya.
The incident took place after the train had neared Signal Faliu, less than a km from the Godhra station and was heading towards Ahmedabad when it was attacked.
According to witnesses, the burning was a sequel to an altercation between tea vendors belonging to minority community and the occupants of S-6. Sources said the vendors on alleged provocation from the occupants of S-6 returned with a strong mob of around 150. The angry mob then set afire the bogey, says Rohit Bhan.
Kar sevaks Dinesh Goswami and Dilip Patel, who were returning from Ayodhya, told The Indian Express that a mob of about 400 attacked the train from both sides just when the train was pulling out of the station. They say, someone pulled the chain and the train came to halt.
"The mobs, armed with swords, pelted stones at the train and locked both the doors of S-6. They threw many petrol bombs through the windows, which started the fire. We somehow managed to escape by opening one of the doors", Patel and Goswami claimed.
They alleged that the police did not do anything. "If the police had acted swiftly the toll could have been much less," they claimed.
The VHP Ahmedabad city office says its members from Godhra informed here that many of those who died were women. They are charred beyond recognition, City General Secretary Jai Shah said. The VHP cannot confirm whether all the dead are Ram sevaks.
The batch of Ram sevaks, comprising Bajrang Dal activists, VHP members and others participating in the mahayagna, belong to Sabarkantha, Kheda, Anand and Central Gujarat region. They had gone to Ayodhya on February 22 by the Sabarmati Express.
The Sabarmati Express left Godhra station around 12.40 leaving the two damaged bogies behind. The bodies were reportedly still inside S-6 when the remaining train left for its onward journey.
A train carrying the rest of the passengers of the Sabarmati Express is reaching Ahmedabad. Security has been beefed up in Ahmedabad and especially in the communally sensitive Mirzapur, Kalupur railway station area and relief road.
Meanwhile, mobile patrolling has been started by the police in sensitive localities of Surat, where a similar incident had taken place in 1993. Eight persons were set on fire at the Surat Railway Station after being pulled out of a train.
The VHP has given a call for Gujarat Bandh on Thursday to protest the incident.
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High-level inquiry ordered into Sabarmati incident
Janyala Srinivas/Milind GhatwaiPosted: Feb 27, 2002 at 1404 hrs IST
The Gujarat government has ordered a high-level inquiry into the Sabarmati Express fire in which six persons were killed, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi said in the Assembly. The Godhra violence issue was raised during the question hour in the Gujarat Assembly which is curently in session. To a notice put by BJP MLA Maya Kodnani, home minister Gordhan Zadaphia said six persons died in the attack on the Sabarmati Express on Wenesday morning at 7:30. The toll is expected to go up. About 38 people were injured in the attack. While 18 of the injured were released after giving first aid rest were hospitalised. Some of the injured are being brought to Ahmedabad in a train.
Indefinite curfew has been clamped in Godhra town and shoot at sight orders have been issued to police and paramilitary forces that rushed from Vadodara and Ahmedabad.
Zadaphia said in the Assembly that one boggie was completely gutted while three others were damaged. Health minister Ashok Bhatt and minister of state for Civil Defence, home guards Bhupendra Lakhawala have rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation.
Intervening during the home minister's statement, Chief Minister Narendra Modi said he has briefed the Prime Minister about the attack and the state government has ordered a high-level inquiry into the incident. Modi said a compensation of Rs 2 lakhs to the families of each of the victims has been announced by the state government.
Opposition leader Amarsinh Chaudhuray blamed the incident on the VHP saying the atmosphere was surcharged due to the kar seva movement. He said communal passions were inflamed in Godhra because the VHP indulged in inflamatory slogans disturbing peace. He said if the government had taken proper steps to restrain the VHP, this incident would not have happened.
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One killed in stabbing incident at Vadodra
Milind Ghatwai
Posted: Feb 27, 2002 at 1640 hrs IST
Three persons were stabbed by some unidentified persons at Vadodra station but away from where the passengers of the Sabarmati Express were being served food packets, drinks etc. by VHP/BJP volunteers. One of the three persons who were stabbed has been declared dead. The old man who died remains unidentified, while the two others were passengers waiting for other trains. One of them is from Gaziabad and the other from Bihar, reported Swati Bhan who was at the railway station when the incident happened.
There are uncofirmed reports that when the train reached Anand, similar stabbings were reported. Nobody from the train was attacked, though.
Posted: Feb 27, 2002 at 1640 hrs IST
Three persons were stabbed by some unidentified persons at Vadodra station but away from where the passengers of the Sabarmati Express were being served food packets, drinks etc. by VHP/BJP volunteers. One of the three persons who were stabbed has been declared dead. The old man who died remains unidentified, while the two others were passengers waiting for other trains. One of them is from Gaziabad and the other from Bihar, reported Swati Bhan who was at the railway station when the incident happened.
There are uncofirmed reports that when the train reached Anand, similar stabbings were reported. Nobody from the train was attacked, though.
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Red alert in Rajasthan-Gujarat border districts
Press Trust of India
Posted: Feb 27, 2002 at 1825 hrs IST
A red alert has been sounded in Rajasthan districts bordering Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh following the attack on Sabarmati Express at Godhra railway station in Gujarat Wednesday morning, a senior police official said.
A red alert has been issued in all border districts and authorities there have been asked to take precautionary measures in communally sensitive areas and ensure law and order," said inspector general of police (law and order) A K Jain.
The authorities have been asked to be extra vigilant in major cities in the border districts, which include Abu road, Sirohi, Kalore, Udaipur and Kota, Jain said.Security have been tightened in passenger trains connecting Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, he added.
West Bengal government has also sounded a state-wide 'high alert' following the train attack, chief secretary S N Roy said.
However, the situation in the state was peaceful.
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Sabarmati Express toll touches 56, curfew in Godhra
Reuters & Agencies
Posted: Feb 27, 2002 at 1443 hrs IST
At least 56 people, many of them Ram sevaks returning from Ayodhya, were feared killed and 37 injured when unidentified people attacked and set ablaze four bogies of Ahmedabad-bound Sabarmati Express train at Godhra railway station in Gujarat on Wednesday morning, police and railway sources said.
A senior official from the railway protection force told Reuters at least 50 bodies had been pulled off the train after the incident at Godhra, in Gujarat. Railway officials also added at least 56 people died in the worst attack.
As the incident triggered violence in the town, 150 km from Ahmedabad in Panchamal, the authorities clamped indefinite curfew and ordered shoot-at-sight to maintain peace.
Some Ram sevaks were still missing as rescuers rummaged through the badly gutted bogies, the sources said. Several bodies were retrieved from the burnt debris, they added.
According to the sources, some miscreants boarded the train coming from Faizabad via Ayodhya, at Godhra station at around 8 am and attacked two coaches carrying Ram sevaks, with petrol and acid bombs. They also pelted stones at them, police said.
Railway police opened fire to quell the attacking mob who pelted stones at the train which was stopped at the signal point near the station. Sporadic violence were reported in Godhra town after the news about the attack spread. There were reports of gunfire in the town.
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Advani condemns attack on Sabarmati Express
Press Trust of IndiaPosted: Feb 27, 2002 at 1301 hrs IST
Home Minister L.K. Advani on Wednesday strongly condemned the attack on Sabarmati Express and asked the Gujarat government to take expeditious action against the culprits.
The Home Minister spoke to Gujarat Chief Minister Narender Modi on telephone in this regard, an official spokesman said. Several people were killed and 18 injured when some unidentified people attacked the train coming from Faizabad via Ayodhya on Wednesday morning at Godhra railway station, 200 km from Ahmedabad.
The miscreants also set on fire four bogies of the train.
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http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2004-08-22/ahmedabad/27164864_1_unprecedented-communal-passions-godhra-carnage-victims-ashok-narayan
Modi wanted Godhra bodies to come to A'bad
AHMEDABAD: Former additional chief secretary (Home) Ashok Narayan told the Nanavati-Shah Commission of Inquiry on Saturday that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi took the controversial decision of bringing all the 58 bodies of the Godhra carnage victims to Ahmedabad.
This decision, seen as a major provocation for the communal violence in Ahmedabad, was despite the fact that only 26 of them actually belonged to Ahmedabad, the rest belonging to Mehsana, Sabarkantha and Anand. The bodies were brought to the Sola civil hospital, where the atmosphere got charged by February 27, 2002 night.
According to Narayan, in the crucial meeting on the night of February 27, 2002 summoned by Modi, there was already a "shared perception" that Muslims had set the S-6 coach on fire, which would incite "unprecedented communal passions the following day". Moreover, the fact that VHP had called a bandh to protest against the killing of kar sevaks meant that reinforcements would certainly be needed for maintaining law and order the next day, Narayan said. Requisitioning of the Army was also proposed at this meeting, which only shows that the officers were apprehending serious trouble. The then DGP, K Chakravarthi, and Ahmedabad police commissioner P C Pande were also present at this meeting.
This contradicts testimonies by senior police officers like Pande, who claimed to have no clue on February 27, 2002, of what was coming the following day.
When cross-examined by Jan Sangharsh Manch lawyer Mukul Sinha, Narayan denied having advised Modi against bringing the Godhra bodies to Ahmedabad, but said, "we discussed this issue".
However, he could not recall if discussions on the preventive arrests of VHP leaders were also held in this meeting. Narayan too claimed to have learnt of the BJP supporting the bandh from newspapers. Interestingly, Narayan, who headed the home department, was not even asked to visit Godhra on February 27, 2002.
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'Modi said, bring Godhra bodies to Ahmedabad'
AHMEDABAD: A retired bureaucrat in the Narendra Modi government has told an inquiry commission here that it was the chief minister himself who took the controversial decision of bringing all 58 bodies of the Godhra carnage victims to Ahmedabad.
The decision was taken at a state cabinet meeting on the evening of February 27, 2002, the day of the carnage in Godhra.
Former additional chief secretary (home) Ashok Narayan told the Nanavati-Shah commission of inquiry on Saturday that the chief minister himself took the decision, which aggravated the already tense situation in the state.
This decision, seen as a major provocation for the communal violence in Ahmedabad, was taken despite the fact that only 26 of the dead actually belonged to Ahmedabad. The rest were from Mehsana, Sabarkantha and Anand.
The bodies were brought to the Sola civil hospital, resulting in a charged atmosphere by 4 am on the morning of February 28.
According to Narayan, in the meeting on the night of February 27, summoned by Modi, there was already "shared perception" that Muslims had set the coach on fire, which would incite "unprecedented communal passions the following day."
The fact that VHP had called a bandh meant that reinforcements would certainly be needed for maintaining law and order the next day, Narayan said.
Requisitioning of the Army was also proposed at this meeting, which only shows that the officers were apprehending serious trouble.
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http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2005-12-20/india/27859003_1_godhra-train-train-carnage-advocate-general
Godhra revisited: A-G quits after a fight
AHMEDABAD: In a development which stunned legal circles here, the long-serving advocate-general of Gujarat, SN Shelat, on Tuesday resigned from his post following a difference of opinion with the state government over the stand to be taken with regards to the Justice UC Banerjee Commission inquiring into the Godhra train burning.
Sources close to Shelat said the advocate-general, during a hearing in the Gujarat High Court on Monday on a petition challenging the formation of the Banerjee Commission, refused to toe the line of the state government that there was no need for the Central government to appoint a new commission when the Justice Nanavati-Shah Commission appointed by it was already probing the train carnage and its aftermath.
Sources informed that on Sunday evening, a meeting was held between the advocate-general and lawyers representing other respondents in the petition. During the meeting it was argued that Shelat, during the hearing in the High Court the next day, should support the petition and oppose the very existence of the Banerjee Commission.
Sources said that this irked the government and some senior officials reportedly gave him a dressing down. Shelat, according to lawyers close to him, was very upset over the incident and sent in his resignation on Tuesday afternoon.
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