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The Milli Gazette, April 01-15, 2002
Covert riots and media
What's so ‘spontaneous’ about an attack that leaves
only the seventh shop on a crowded street burnt down?, asks TV
anchor Barkha Dutt who was recently in Gujarat
They came swooping down on us like vultures lunging at a carcass.
There were at least 20 of them, faces remarkably
indistinguishable. In fact, frenzied though these men may have
seemed on your TV screens, they had an almost robotic, rehearsed
air about them as they thrust their gleaming swords into our
windshield and barked, "What's your religion?" There
was only one answer to that. "Hindu," I said aware that
an articulation of my agnostic beliefs would guarantee the
unspeakable), privately cringing for my cameraperson Ajmal Jami.
What would we do if he were asked to produce an identity card?
For the rest of the journey, we mentally made up false names for
him, and avoided addressing him in public. In the mob was a
10-year-old boy clutching a bottle of petrol as if it were life
itself. "What are you going to do with this?" I asked
later when our religious credentials had proved respectable
enough for conversation. "It's for self-defence against
them," he said.
But along the hundreds of kilometres of (completely unguarded)
highway that we travelled there was no "them" anywhere.
Instead, every bend in the road would unfold new horrors. We saw
saffron flags dug deep into the domes of mosques; pages of
beautifully calligraphed Urdu covered with the soot and ash of
burnt plastic; and people who did not think it unusual to first
set alight a family or a factory, and then walk away calmly with
the remains of the day-a sack or two of onions, and if they were
lucky, an undamaged Godrej refrigerator.
A milk-van ferrying eight Muslim villagers was set on fire in
front of our own helpless eyes. There was only one survivor; a
waif-like girl of 15 hunched up under a tree sobbing into her
torn shalwar-kameez. Alone. When we asked how she had been
spared, the villagers said, "She was already half-crazy
(paagal thi woh), so there was no point in killing her."
We left much of this out of our TV reports, aware of the impact
they could have in a volatile situation. But public commentary
seems to argue that the media behaved irresponsibly in the very
naming of the community that was being targeted. Press Council
guidelines are being quoted to back this.
I disagree. Let's get one thing straight: Gujarat was not a
communal riot. A riot by definition must mean incidents of mutual
violence, of communities attacking each other in a retaliatory
cycle. In those circumstances, yes, it makes sense to be
circumspect about naming who is doing what to whom. But there was
nothing ambivalent or amorphous about the violence in Gujarat.
Several politicians have described the madness that swept the
state for those three days as a "spontaneous reaction"
to what happened at Godhra. But think about it. What's so
spontaneous about an attack that is planned so meticulously that
only the seventh shop in a crowded lane gets razed to the ground
but everything around it is untouched and undamaged? Wouldn't a
so-called spontaneous outburst of anger be somewhat more blind
and directionless? Naming the community under siege in Gujarat
was moot to the story. In fact it was the story, revealing as it
did a prejudiced administrative and political system that was
happy to just stand by and watch. Isn't it a journalist's job
then to tell that story?
"Andar ki baat hai, police hamaare saath hai" [this is
a secret: police is with us]. This was the rioters' war-cry to
Muslim residents in Vadi, Vadodara, as they soaked shops with
kerosene that once sold kites, bindis and bangles for the Hindu
festivals of Makar Sankranti and Ganapati Puja. But the mob had
missed the irony of what they were destroying, as had the two
cops looking on languorously. Once again, the attitude-and in
most cases, absence-of the police was inextricably linked to
which community was at the receiving end.Was it covert patronage
from the establishment or a communalised mindset? How could we in
the media ask these questions without stating the obvious?
The other charge against the media is the use of a double
standard: different rules for the reportage of the gruesome train
attack at Godhra- screamed the critics-and different ones for the
violence that followed. RSS man Tarun Vijay said it was the
"secular-mullah mafia" at work. Has honest discourse on
secularism been hijacked by political correctness? These are
questions we can certainly debate but let's look at the specific
accusation. Why were no names taken when Godhra happened?
Actually they were. Every newspaper and television channel said
kar sevaks were killed, once again because the identity of those
under attack may have been central to what happened. Then people
said it was preposterous to link Godhra to Ayodhya; they said it
sounded like a justification for the murderous attack. Fair
enough. So why did the same voices then begin drawing links
between Godhra and the mobs which took over Gujarat for the next
72 hours? You can't have it both ways.
In both cases, though, I believe the religious identity of the
rioters should have been left unsaid, and for the most part it
was. A crazed mob does not speak for an entire community, whether
in Godhra or Ahmedabad. The government says there is real
evidence to suggest a "terrorist link" to the burning
of the train. If so, it only strengthens the argument that this
was not "Muslims" attacking the Hindu community. Next,
we'll begin describing militant attacks on minorities in Jammu
and Kashmir in the same language. Similarly, the hate-filled mobs
that trampled the soul of Gujarat were not representing the
"Hindu community". We all know enough Hindus who braved
threats and violence to shield their Muslim friends.An educated
man stopped our crew on the streets of Vadodara, and excitedly
leapt out of his car. "You're doing a good job, madam,"
he said almost kindly, "but why don't you ask the Muslims of
Gujarat to apologise for Godhra?" By this time my patience
had run thin. "I agree, sir", I said, trying to sound
calm, "but will all the Hindus of Gujarat also say sorry for
the 600 Muslims who have been killed?""It's not the
same," he declared, before storming off. q
The writer is with NDTV. The above article appeared in The
Outlook magazine, 25 March.
The Milli Gazette, April 01-15, 2002
Operation Coverup: Modi’s
fact and fiction
The Government of Gujarat has requested the ISP association
of Gujarat to circulate the statement written in BOLD to all ISP
customers on e-mail under the heading "Effective Steps taken
by GoG to deal with the Situation arising from the Godhra
Incident & its aftermath". It is shocking that the ISP
Association agreed to be part of this insidious charade. As there
is nothing further away from the truth we have listed below a
glimpse into reality. Fr Cedric Prakash anlayses this spin.
FICTION:
» As soon as the Government knew the seriousness of the Godhra
incident, the Chief Minister himself rushed to the spot and
directed the administration to deal with the situation
effectively and firmly.
Curfew was clamped in Godhra without loss of time and the RAF was
deployed in Godhra on the same day.
FACT:
» The visit to Godhra must have had such a calming effect in
surrounding area that it immediately led to carnage that is being
compared to the worst genocide ever committed on earth.
» What was needed was a statement to the people of Gujarat
through the most effective mass media - Radio, Television, Press
- referring to the delicacy of the situation and the firmness
with which the matter would be dealt with if "ANYBODY"
took law into their own hands. Instead, the Chief Minister
himself made inflammatory statements such as
» "Har kriya ki pratikriya hoti hai." ("Every
action produces a reaction").
» "The five crore people of Gujarat have shown remarkable
restraint under grave provocation."
» The media is guilty of secular aggression and it has unleashed
non-violent secular violence in the country.
» "These elements (media) make a mountain out of a molehill
to damage the state.
» Some things that the Government did NOT do
» 40 Policemen were taken away from police stations “on
sports duty” and not recalled.
» No preventive arrests on the bandh eve.
» No attempts to gather intelligence about preparations for
violence.
» No confidence building measures or peace initiatives like
inviting representatives of the two communities.
» No newspaper advertisements in the local newspapers for people
to maintain peace and harmony.
» The city had 18 companies of SRP on the day of the bandh, but
not all forces were in position.
» Half of the 700 strong traffic police not deployed on February
28. The other half did not note down even one vehicle
registration number of the looters who were making merry on the
streets.
FICTION:
» Another alert message was issued the same day to all concerned
officers to take adequate preventive action for maintaining law
and order situation.
FACT:
» It has been reported that a minister in the state cabinet (may
be in response to the above "alert message", or
otherwise) was seen provoking members of the majority community
in areas like Paldi. He offered to send bangles to those
"Hindus" who did not participate in the "ethnic
cleansing" drive. It was a clear instruction to the
arsonist, looters and all the people of Gujarat that 6 p.m. was
the deadline time until when the Chief Minister could keep the
Army away and "you were free to do whatever you
wanted".
nIt has also been stated that some elements from a particular
community were almost stuffed with alcohol right through the
night before the bandh and were set loose on the streets the
following morning, initiating and instigating violence against a
specific minority community [Muslims].
FICTION:
» As reports of violence started coming in by 28th February
afternoon, the State Government immediately decided to call Army
and requested the Army authorities in this regard. The Chief
Minister announced the same decision in the Press Conference held
on 28th February itself.
FACT:
» Instead of stating the truth the Chief Minister continued to
state that the situation was under control and Army was on
stand-by. It is clear that the strategy was to allow the
‘paid mercenaries’ to spread mayhem and break the
economic backbone of the minority community "BEFORE"
the army came.
» Though 12 columns of the Army (approx 600 troops) had reached
Ahmedabad and other sensitive areas on March 1, they were kept on
standby. Military Intelligence puts the blame on the State
Government. Reports submitted say the initial delay was due to
the absence of clear instructions from the Gujarat Government.
(TOI, Ahmedabad, 11th March, Pg 7)
FICTION:
» The Government of India immediately acceded to the demand of
the State Government and issued orders for shifting of two full
army brigades to Gujarat. The Chief Minister himself spoke to the
Prime Minister and the Home Minister to expedite the process.
FACT:
» It is not clear whether the Chief Minister and his colleagues
actually wanted the violence to be stopped. If they did want the
violence to be stopped and the minority community saved, the
Chief Minister himself could have come on to the streets like Mr
George Fernandes and confronted the arsonists.
» Even Mr George Fernandes was reportedly "unhappy with the
way the situation was handled by the Narendra Modi ministry and
felt that the state government was not cooperating with the
Army"! He felt that the army should have been called out
earlier.
FICTION:
» The process of airlifting the army continued throughout the
night and the army had landed in Ahmedabad the very next day
morning. The army was pressed into service within 16 hours. It is
pertinent to note that the army formation in Ahmedabad was not
available, as they were deployed on the international borders.
FACT:
» It is so strange that the Government of Gujarat wants us
living in Ahmedabad and in India who have access to media such as
Star News and the voices of brave journalists like Rajdeep
Sardesai, who repeatedly demonstrated live the
"ABSENCE" of army on the streets and the continued
attacks in different parts of the cities and the villages by
trained murderers. All reporters were saying that the Government
was at least 24 hours late in deploying the army and even after
that the Govt procrastinated in giving the Army the control.
FICTION:
» Major disturbances in Ahmedabad and in the State were brought
under complete control within 72 hours.
FACT:
» One way in which this statement can be read is,
"Maximum Damage was done within 72 hours and trying to push
it further would have been suicidal for the VHP, Bajrang Dal and
it allies as the Army was there and it could not be mollycoddled
into silence like the Local Police".
The extent of planning for this heinous deed is slowly coming to
light with indications that the activists from the "Sangh
Parivar" disguised as Census Numerators" were
identifying the families, assets and shops of Muslim communities
all across the state as early as January 2002. The attacks were
scheduled to erupt close to the elections that were a complete
disaster for the BJP. So that the BJP could gain lost ground by
appealing to the most basic instinct of Hindus, that of survival
against a seemingly ruthless enemy - the Muslim. Articles
describing "the Hindu victimization" were being planted
in national news portals and these had their impact with
average Middle Class Hindus feeling that maybe this attack went
too far, BUT it had to be done!!!
FICTION:
» The State Transport buses are back on the road and the
educational institutions have started functioning regularly.
FACT:
» A picture in today's newspaper (March 18, 2002) says it all.
Only three passengers are utilizing the prompt resumption of
services stated above on one of the busiest routes.
nThe timing of the attack could not have been more disastrous for
the lives of hundreds of children of the minority community who
were scheduled to appear for the 10th and the 12th standard exams
in March. With no clothes, no food, no water, no sanitation, and,
more importantly, no security of their life, the last thing on
their mind would be studies. Yes, some of the schools are
functioning normally, but without ANY Muslim child. If that is
NORMAL, it gives an indication of what normalcy is being strived
for by this government.
FICTION:
» Shops and Establishments have returned to normalcy.
FACT:
» Almost all Muslim owned economic activities have been razed or
burnt to the ground, be it a hotel, a laundry shop, a pangallah,
or even a larri gallah. Each of the establishments had been
identified well in advance, targeted and brought down with the
help of LPG cylinders and petrol and kerosene contributions
extorted at sword point from the majority community by the local
hooligans.
The logistics of arranging mobs, firepower, leadership and
motivation to conduct this "Operation Blackdeath" can
be a case-study in itself. What VHP leaders are commonly stating
is that the people who were involved were common Hindus and it
was their anger that found its way on the streets. Even for a
moment if we try to believe this yarn spun by the Sangh Parivar,
it indicates that we are living in prehistoric times where to
kill or be killed is more important than other seemingly
unimportant things such as Education, Health, Standard of living,
Security and aspirations for a better lifestyle. Maybe the Sangh
Parivar is right, we Hindus will rather have a temple in Ayodhya
than have better education for our children, better medical
facilities for our ailing parents, better economic opportunities
for all of us. So who was in front of the mobs goading them and
pulling Hindu bystanders to stain their souls? Politicians who
stood to gain from this? Hooligans who stood to gain from the
arson? Religious fanatics whose economic needs had been taken
care of? Well, the answer is there if we care to see it
» Even today police officers are mute witness to the attacks on
convoys of Muslims wanting to get back to a semblance of
normalcy.
Some Facts:
» Loss to Hotel Industry - Rs 200 crore (700 Hotels looted and
set ablaze) Source: Ahmedabad Hotel Owners Association
nMore than 900 Dawoodi Bohra shops and houses "looted at
leisure" in an organized manner. Source: Ahd. Newsline March
12, Page1
» Diamond Sector suffered a production loss of Rs 200 crore due
to the riots.
» Textile and Garment Industry - Rs 300 crore across 18 textile
mills and 200 process houses and power loom units.
» Chemexcil - Rs 50 crore per day across Pharma, Chemicals and
Cosmetics Units in Ahmedabad alone (Source: Times of India, March
10 Page 7)
FICTION:
» To curb the violence police has fired over 5,000 rounds to
dispel the crowds and protected the life and property of the
people.
FACT:
» The statement made above has no meaning, unless the Government
of Gujarat had a target of killing ALL the Muslims living in the
state. Yes, lives were saved but not because of the intervention
of the State machinery. It was due to the efforts of some of the
"HUMAN BEINGS" who felt that their brothers and sisters
belonging to another religion should be saved from the fiendish
state-sponsored mobs.
» It is also not clear who have been the targets of these 5,000
rounds. If first hand accounts of bleeding survivors in the form
of women and children is to be believed, it was the local
constabulary that dipped their hands in the flowing blood and
soaked themselves in anti-Muslim hate waves being transmitted
from the top. It would be a worthwhile exercise to find out how
many people who were in the mobs died of bullet wounds?
Some Facts
» 57% (23 out of 40) of the people killed in police firing in
Ahmedabad were from the minority community.
» 41 Hindus killed in about 5,500 rounds of firing. 1% accuracy
is a very discouraging statistic if this happened with a REAL
enemy challenging the police forces.
FICTION:
» In a massive preventive action, police has arrested over 5,000
people.
FACT:
» Why are police officers being transferred from police stations
where these arrests have taken place? Why are police officers
with records of "Criminal Negligence" handed over
charge - to ensure that no more "correct" arrests are
made? It is so easy to hide behind statistics but the truth still
patrols the streets, scaring the common Muslims, forcing them
back behind the Lakshman rekha of the relief camp. Pray, what is
being done about that?
» Another fact that is slowly emerging is the arrest of Muslim
youth from the age group of 18 to 30 sometimes right from the
hospital bed, under POTO. Has there been any attempt to disclose
to the public the "precautionary arrests" being made?
FICTION:
» The Government has made repeated appeals for peace and
communal harmony through print and electronic media.
FACT:
» It is important to ask "WHEN" these appeals were
made. After the destruction was complete, as much as could have
been done in 72 hours?
» Full page ads in local Gujarati dailies condemning the carnage
and banning the Bandh called by a private organization like VHP,
could have helped save the situation. Instead, what was seen on
the streets were pamphlets circulated by VHP calling for an
economic ban of the shops and products of the Muslim community.
Was there any statement made by the Government condemning such
inflammatory publications?
FICTION:
» The government has announced compensation for those bereaved
in the Godhra incident. Financial assistance is being given to
the affected persons for death and injury.
FACT:
» There has been a nation-wide outburst against the
discrimination in compensation so it will not be repeated here.
But the intentions of the Gujarat Government are suspect here -
this compensation and financial assistance charade may just be
another opportunity for an "Assessment ---
Compensation" nexus. One wonders whether a physically
battered Muslim will want to challenge a ridiculously low
assessment of the state machinery and would want to engage with
the people who he saw attacking him a fortnight ago?
FICTION:
» The relief camps have been opened and all necessary facilities
have been extended to them by the local administration.
» One look at the food material being supplied to the relief
camps and it makes clear the intentions of the suppliers. Dal
infested with insects and wheat flour that is inedible clearly
indicates the alacrity of the Government machinery to feed the
refugees with food that is unsuitable for human consumption.
» If all necessary facilities include sanitation facilities one
wonders why there are repeated outbreaks of gastro-enteritis and
why there is only 1 toilet per 500 persons!
This response does not even attempt to touch at the heinousness
of the attacks and the attempt by the VHP to make statements such
as, "It had to be done" and their attempt to state that
the planning for the attacks was done on the morning of the bandh
(Feb 28th) and not months before as other reports suggest.
The people in the camps are getting frustrated and want also to
resume their lives as best as might be possible in the
circumstances. But they are in the dark as to whether it is safe
to go back to the areas where only ash remains as a mute
testimony of the death of innocents. Unfortunately, they are
being chased away like cattle if and when they are mustering the
courage to venture close to their erstwhile homes.
The answer to this does not lie with the Government. It lies with
you and me. It is up to us to understand and realize the extent
to which Power can corrupt and come face to face with the truth
that today the law makers broke the law to "PUNISH" a
community for crimes committed 600 years ago. But tomorrow it
might "PUNISH" you if you are caught asking them why
the money trusted to them is not being spent on burning issues
such as Education, Health, Sanitation, Water, Livelihood, Safety,
Environment. Because at the basic level the people in power
"DO NOT CARE" for the common man. Today the
segmentation variable is religion but tomorrow it can be just
about anything.
PS: Part of the fascist Ideology is: "Tell a lie a hundred
times and it becomes the truth." (Joseph Goebbels, 1939 -
The Mastermind of the Third Reich). Sadly, every sentence written
by the Government reeks of falsehood and untruth.
The Milli Gazette, April 01-15, 2002
Gujarat continues to burn,
mobs still rule streets
'Newton' Modi, who boasted to have controlled the riots in
'record 72 hours' is yet to calm Gujarat. Ahmedabad, Vadodra and
other areas are again under curfew. People are still being
stabbed and killed, businesses are still being looted and
torched. Even refugees are being attacked by the saffron
criminals while their political bosses are demanding
refugees’ eviction from their shelters because, to thier
sick minds these hapless people pose 'security threat'..
Even after a month since the eruption of the planned violence
following the still to be probed Godhra train incident on 27
February, the act of ethnic cleansing continues unabated.
Well-secured under government patronage the marauders are doing
their bit to do a Bosnia in our own backyard under Milosevic
Modi’s leadership. The events clearly point out that a
secret army has been reared by the saffron bosses to be used to
teach lessons, economically cripple and uproot Muslims.
Thousands of people have been burnt alive (official figures have
crossed 700) and at least a hundred thousand people have been
rendered homeless. The number of people taking shelter in camps
run by riot-hit Muslims themselves exceeds fifty thousands in
Ahmadabad alone.
As we go to press on 25 March, there is no semblance of law in
Gujarat, no police to enforce order, and the army too is
selectively and thinly deployed and subject to the orders of
those who ran the street show since 28 February. The killer mobs
are roaming streets to ensure that not a single Muslim man or
woman is left alive.
A delegation that visited the riot hit areas in mid-March places
the casualty at more than two thousand Muslims. The delegation,
whcih included the co-editor of Communalism Combat Teesta
Setalwad, visited some of the worst-hit areas in the state. It
said that the way Muslims were killed and their businesses
destroyed in Ahmadabad, Surat and Baroda shows that everything
was very well- planned. It is commonly said that what has come
out in the open is just a fraction of the human and material
losses in the state. The toll in rural areas stays unknown. Sangh
hooligans have not allowed free movement till now. The true
picture may never come out. Many localities, mosques and dargahs
have been obliterated from the face of the earth in quick,
precision operations which are beyond the pale of ordinary
hoodlums.
How the criminals’ writ runs in Gujarat was evident when
they threatened the National Human Rights Commission’s
chairman Justice JS Verma and his people in Ahmadabad after they
met with the representatives of various non-government
organizations on 20 March. Justice Verma has rejected the report
sent by Modi government and has threatened to prepare NHRC’s
own report if Gujarat government fails to send a satisfactory
report within five days.
These pogroms for the first time employed new tactics to
terrorise people and rape and burning alive was used everywhere
as a weapon to instill fear as happened in Bosnia. Reports of
gang rape preceding murder and roasting alive of Muslim women are
coming out from every area. Survivors in Shah Alam and other
camps in Ahmadabad have narrated as to how their sisters and
daughters were taken as loot by the saffron killers. Narrative of
Muslim man whose mother, wife and daughter were all outraged by
the saffron crusaders before being torched, has been flashed all
over the world.
To top it all now a minister of Modi cabinet does not want to
leave the happless refugees in peace and has launched a campaign
to evict them from their ramshackle camps. Gujarat Civil Supplies
Minister Bharat Barot demanded on 20 March that Muslims in four
relief camps in his constituency, Dariapur-Kazimpur in Ahmadabad,
be shifted away immediately!. In a letter to the state home
minister, who himself is a pointman of the VHP, Barot has
demanded that these camps be disbanded: ‘Hindus no longer
feel secure in their presence in the locality. It is necessary to
remove these camps as some of the outsiders living in these camps
have indulged in rioting.’ This minister has been
threatening the camp manager, Inamul Haque Iraqi, to shift the
camp or face consequences.
While all this is taking place in the ‘world's largest
democracy’ no one is coming forward to assist the riot
victims. No relief, local or international, is coming forward. No
national newspaper has launched a campaign to collect donations
for relief work and the prime minister has forgotten that he sits
on a huge fund exactly for such contingencies. This overall
apathy is in sharp contrast with what was witnessed after the
earthquake in the same area a year ago. Human rights
organizations at home and abroad are mum. No embassy has uttered
a word. Muslim countries too are no exception. Barring Pakistan,
Bangladesh and Iran, no other Muslim country seems to have
uttered a single word on this genocide. No relief has come from
oil-rich Arab countries for their fellow Muslims in this hour of
utter need.
Indian Muslims, who have been in the forefront of supporting
pan-Islamic causes for a century, will have to take stock of
their situation. They need to rethink their priorities and devise
ways to save them while leading their lives as principled and
law-abiding citizens. Gujarat should be a watershed for the
community and the country. Enough should be enough.
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