June 2002 Edition

A Letter from Gujarat

In response to our coverage of the communal conflicts in Gujarat, we received the following letter from Anil Pandharkar of Jamnagar:

Thank you for your attempt at a serious and in-depth look at India's communal divisions. It appears that your editorial team has been trying hard to be balanced and sincere in it's coverage of the events in Gujarat. However, I would like to bring your attention to some inadequacies in your reporting. I hope you will either rectify these lapses, or publish my letter so your readers get a more complete picture of what really happened. Even as early general impressions about a situation may not be too wrong, a closer look at details brings out important elements that can add to our understanding.

There is a common misimpression amongst many Indians that acts of criminal retribution against Muslims took place throughout Gujarat. This is not really true. Kutch and Kathiawar regions of Gujarat stayed mostly peaceful. Even in Saurashtra, the situation was largely under control after the army was called in. I would reiterate what one of your correspondents reported concerning the conclusions of a fact-finding team: most of the violence was confined to districts closer to Godhra.

There is also the common feeling that the police forces did not do their job. But the truth may be more complicated. In some cases, they did try to do their job, in other cases they either engaged in cover-ups, or exacerbated the problem. Please consider some of the following reports:

Raveen Thukral (Hindustan Times, May 24) provided the following figures for those arrested for committing some of the worst crimes:

In the 78 days from February 27 to May 15, 2002, law-enforcement agencies arrested close to 10,000 individuals with a criminal background for alleged involvement in the riots. Almost 65 per cent of them were Hindus; 35 per cent were Muslims.

Raveen Thukral also stated: Data collected by the Centre now appears to suggest that it was gangs of hardened criminals and professional mercenaries, not ordinary citizens, who carried out the looting, murders and rapes. In his report, he also added that a senior police officer said the involvement of professional killers was underscored by the sheer brutality of the attacks that were carried out on the victims. It was also pointed out that such criminal activity was recorded most in Ahmedabad, Baroda and Surat.

This is very important - that by and large, after the first few days, it was not the ordinary citizens of Gujarat who went on a criminal rampage.

An earlier report (Times of India, April 28, Sanjay Pandey) indicated that while a disproportionate number of Muslims (93) fell to police bullets as compared to Hindus (77) in Ahmedabad, almost 18,000 Hindus were arrested as compared to roughly 3600 Muslims in the preventive arrests columns. These figures were compiled from reports filed at the Ahmedabad Police Bhawan.

Although there has been considerable criticism of Ahmedabad Police Chief, P. C. Pande, a June 1 report on Rediff.com by Sheela Bhatt presents a contrarian view of his political affiliations, and counters the impression that he was covering up for communal organizations in Ahmedabad. She speaks of a letter dated April 22 (Ref: M/456/02) addressed to Gujarat Home Secretary Ashok Narayan written by Ahmedabad'd former Police Chief in Gujarati.

The following points were made in the letter:

• The VHP and the Bajrang Dal were extorting money with promises of protection against possible attacks by Muslims and people were paying under duress.
• They were putting pressure on businessmen to not employ Muslims.
• VHP and Bajrang Dal workers were not allowing Muslim daily wagers to earn their livelihood in Hindu-dominated areas.
• Muslims were not even being allowed to inspect their shops in Hindu-dominated areas and feared that these properties would ultimately be usurped.
• The government was warned that such activities would not help in the restoration of law and order and said there was an urgent need to control them.

Thus, it cannot be said that the entire police force of Ahmedabad was functioning in a communally biased and prejudiced manner.

Finally, I would like to observe that not all the victims of the post-Godhra communal violence were Muslims.

Police Records (as of Apr 28) indicated that in Ahmedabad, out of the total number of persons injured in stabbings, 62 were Hindus and 30 Muslims. In Gujarat as a whole, 131 Hindus and 179 Muslims were injured. It should also be noted that roughly 30% of the refugees in Ahmedabad are Hindus. A June 7 edition of the Deccan Herald includes a picture of Hindu women belonging to the economically weaker section of society from Bapunagar area complaining of not receiving any help from the Government. Their houses were ransacked and burned by mobs during the communal strife in the city.

Clearly, criminal elements in both communities: Hindus and Muslims engaged in acts of murder and mayhem, although Muslims bore a greater brunt of it.

Related Essays:

Godhra - a Pakistan-initiated Conspiracy?

The Hindutva Agenda in the Context of the Gujarat Tragedies

Ensuring Secular Harmony in India - Searching for Answers

Secularism in the Context of the Two-Nation Theory - Hypocrisy in the Pakistani Media and Crimes against Minorities in Bangladesh

Back for other selections from South Asian Voice for other articles on issues confronting India and the region.

Also see South Asian History or Topics in Indian History for relevant essays that shed some light on the history of the subcontinent.

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