BACKGROUNDER ON THE GUJARAT CARNAGE 2002 & AFTERMATH
May 2004

On 27 February 2002 train compartment No. S6 of the Sabarmati Express (from Ayodhya to Ahmedabad) was set on fire at Godhra railway station. Fifty-eight people are believed to have died in this fire and most of them were apparently "Kar Sevaks" ('holy crusaders' involved in manual work; they are associated with Hindu extremist groups), returning from Ayodhya. Many of the victims were women and children. This incident was immediately blamed on the minority Muslim community, and sparked the events that followed in Ahmedabad and the rest of Gujarat State. Violence engulfed the whole state, spreading like wildfire. Even rural areas of Gujarat witnessed a number of killings, looting, arson and rape unprecedented in the history of communal violence in
India.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) or The World Hindu Council, called for a state wide bandh, or general closure of shops, industries and transport, on 28 February. Angry mobs went on a rampage against the Muslim community for more than 72 hours without any semblance of police or army presence. The attacks continued until mid-March, with second and third rounds of violence continuing as late as June 2002.

The National Human Rights Commission began inquiries into the matter on 1 March 2002, questioning the Gujarat State Government. The Chairperson of the Commission visited Gujarat from 19 -22 March and met with the Chief Minister, Chief Secretary, senior officers, eminent persons, retired chief justices, leaders of political parties, representatives of NGOs and victims of violence.

The National Human Rights Commission found that the destruction of life and property was selective, systematic and meticulously planned. It was obvious that the riots were pre-planned, as the rioters were equipped with the minutest details about houses and business establishments belonging to the minority community. The VHP and Bajrang Dal (the militant wing of the Sangh
Parivar) activists even had voter's lists with them to identify houses belonging to Muslims. This could not have been possible without the help of the administration and the police.

An independent group of citizens called 'Citizens for Justice and Peace' set up a "Concerned Citizens' Tribunal" headed by Justice V. Krishna Iyer, formerly of the Supreme Court of India. This Tribunal conducted an independent inquiry from 2nd - 13th May 2002. The result was an exhaustive two-volume report entitled "Crime against Humanity". The findings of this Tribunal are corroborated by other independent fact-finding research and study groups from India and other parts of the world who are convinced that the Gujarat carnage was not a flash-in-the-pan or a 'normal' communal riot but a well-planned and orchestrated attack in an attempt to wipe out the minority Muslim community from Gujarat. It is believed that the State Government was complicit in instigating and spreading the violence.

The leader of the State Government, Narendra Modi is a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) which has an open agenda of 'ethnic cleansing'. The RSS had warned Muslims in their 'Bangalore resolution' that they would have to live under the mercy of the majority community.
The Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the Home Minister, Lal Kisan Advani, also belong to the family of organizations known as the Sangh Parivar which includes the RSS. Many believe that Narendra Modi was implementing a decision collectively taken by the Sangh Parivar.

ROLE OF GOVERNMENT

In the Gujarat carnage a number of articles of the Indian Constitution were violated with the complicity of the state:

• Article 14 holds that the state shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.
• Article 15 prohibits discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.
• Article 19 protects certain rights regarding freedom of speech.
• Article 21 protects life and personal liberty: no person shall be deprived of their life or personal liberty except according to the procedure established by law.
• Article 25 upholds freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion.
• Article 29 concerns the protection of the interests of minorities.
• Article 32 concerns remedies for the enforcement of rights.

The State Government

Following the train burning incident on February 27 the VHP called for a statewide bandh (or general strike) on 28 February to protest against the brutality at Godhra. On the day of the bandh all hell broke loose as rampaging mobs, comprised mainly of members of the VHP, RSS, Bajrang Dal
(all members of the Sangh Parivar) went around spreading terror, looting, burning, rioting, murdering and raping.

Local sources say that there is strong evidence that the Chief Minister of the State called his coterie on the night of 27th February 2002 and gave strict instructions that the Muslims had to be "taught a lesson" and that neither the police nor the administration would interfere when this punishment was being meted out. It is reported that the State Home Minister Mr. Gordhan Zadaphia told police personnel trying to do their duty to let the mob do what it wanted, saying "don't stop them; they are holy and what they are doing is a holy act". At another location a fire brigade member was questioned by the mob, "Do you want to put out the fire or die?" The fire brigade reportedly had clear instructions not to put out any fire unless given police protection and no police protection was provided therefore they did not take action anywhere.

Mobs of up to 2000 persons armed with computerized lists of Muslim owned shops, businesses, houses, factories, godowns (warehouses or storerooms), hotels and other properties tracked down these places in various localities of towns, cities, villages and looted and destroyed them. This mayhem continued for several days unabated. The Chief Minister, responding to the arson and violence in Gujarat said:" Every action has an equal and opposite reaction". The Police Commissioner of Ahmedabad, Mr. P. C. Pandey, is reported to have said of the police inaction and culpability: "the police force is also human after all they also have emotions and we can understand them".

Discrimination in emergency assistance
In the aftermath of the riots, there was discrimination between the majority and minority communities even in the provision of emergency assistance. In the Muslim camp at Shah-e-Alam, there were only twenty two toilets for thousands residing there under extremely inhuman conditions, while in Kankaria Municipal School, an official Hindu camp, the residents received good meals, were well provided for and a Red Cross tent was pitched in the grounds.

Police complicity
There were reports of attacks on relief camps where Muslims resided and the police failing to stop the attacks. Eventually it was necessary to call in the army to stop these attacks.

Not only did the police cooperate with the violent mobs, the arrests that they made were extremely selective. The first time they arrested 62 people under the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO), all of them were Muslims. Later when the Indian Express made it headline news, POTO charges were withdrawn in these cases.

Evidence from various towns and districts of Gujarat, recorded by the Concerned Citizens' Tribunal reveals a shocking pattern of behavior among the police in:

• their failure to record First Information Reports (FIR's)
• police complicity in not naming the accused despite repeated insistence of the victims/ survivors that all accused should be named
• their insistence on recording omnibus FIR's for whole areas, regions and towns instead of separate detailed ones for every crime and offence committed.

The Courts
The casualness with which matters relating to the Gujarat carnage have been handled by the courts gives rise to serious concern for the rule of law and the survival of Constitutional Principles in India. Even open acts of threat against two high court judges belonging to the minority community did not stir the judiciary into any action against the government. This is a sad reflection on the judiciary, which in the past had considered the slapping of a magistrate a sufficient reason to invoke the contempt jurisdiction of the Apex Court.

On November 21st 2003, the Chief Justice of India V. N. Khare had to ask Gujarat's Solicitor General "how many times should we remind you of your duty?" .... once again indicting the Gujarat Government. Most of the Indian papers carried lead articles / editorials on what was taking place in Gujarat. A widely circulated English daily, in its editorial of November 24th says:
"the highest Court of the land has delivered another stinging rebuke to the Modi Government and by all accounts, it was again richly deserved. Justice is not being done in Gujarat and the state Government is proactively responsible for this terrible breakdown.

Last time the Apex Court looked, it found serious lapses in the appeal filed by the Government
in the High Court against the acquittal of all 23 accused in the Best Bakery Case. Now, amicus curiae Harish Salve has pointed to similarly glaring evidence of bad faith on the part of the prosecution in other serious cases. Indeed, the Apex Court's decision to stay the trial in ten key cases and ask the Modi Government to show cause why these should not be transferred out of Gujarat is immensely reassuring.

Fortunately, for Indian society, the Supreme Court has been playing a proactive role and hopefully, in a short time from now, (when it is supposed to decide about the shifting of the cases outside Gujarat)… it would have salvaged (though belatedly) a bit of fair-play and justice which was being systematically destroyed."

Neglect of Victims
Amidst the atmosphere of hatred and terror, some acts of human solidarity also took place. These acts came from unexpected quarters, with people putting their own lives at risk. At the same time, even after a month of rioting, no efforts were made by the State or Central Government to bring about peace and harmony among the people. The Prime Minister and Home Minister did not visit Gujarat during these difficult times. Therefore, the Prime Minister's visit, after five weeks, did not hold much significance. Neither the State nor Central Government thought it necessary to order an enquiry into the Godhra incident.

When a devastating earthquake struck the same state, the Gujarat government developed an elaborate Earthquake -2001 rehabilitation package ranging from Rs 7,000/- for a hut to Rs 1.5 lakh (a lakh is one hundred thousand). Not only has no comprehensive rehabilitation package been declared months after the violence, no needs survey has been conducted. By its behavior and
action, the government has made it clear that it wishes to have nothing to do with the physical and psychological rehabilitation of its own people, the Muslims of Gujarat. Many unofficial NGO surveys and reports suggest mass migrations from Gujarat to Mumbai, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Prudish, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

CIVIL SOCIETY ACTORS

An attack on livelihood and common heritage
The rioters or self styled Hindu guardians not only let loose a reign of genocidal violence, but also ensured that the basis of livelihood of Muslims of Gujarat was destroyed. First, they looted what they could and then the shops and business establishments were set alight. Common heritage and institutions were targeted along with the minority community.

In addition to the loss of 2000 lives, the destruction of businesses was worth at least 3,800 crore (1 crore is one hundred million). The damage caused to the private homes and agricultural properties of at least 300,000 victims of Gujarat has not been calculated. Not less than 270 mosques, darghas (Muslim burial tombs) and other shrines, representative of Gujarat's composite culture, were systematically destroyed in the first five days of the carnage.

Media Hate Frenzy
The local media, particularly the print media played an extremely provocative role. The two main daily papers, Gujarat Samachar and Sandesh entered into an ugly competition to blow out of proportion everything happening during the communal carnage, provoking further communal clashes and violence against innocent people.

The Sandesh even claimed in a front page banner that 'Muslims returning from Haj pose a serious threat to the Hindus'. It also claimed that 'the fear of terrorism looms large all over Gujarat and with the help of international nexus, RDX bombs and aeroplane hijacks are likely to be used by these terrorist forces.'

Contrary to these claims, the rioters had everything they needed to destroy the helpless people. As well as deadly weapons, they had mobile phones to provide information and receive information about what to do next. Where did this supply of arms and other tools of destruction come from? What was the source of funding for this expensive operation? Surely rioting mobs do not normally have such resources at their disposal?

Religio-Political Agenda of the Sangh Parivar
In order to understand the State sponsored carnage in Gujarat it is necessary to examine the ideology and workings of the RSS and the VHP, the ideological fountainheads of the Hindu right wing. The BJP, which heads the NDA Government at the national level, is merely the parliamentary expression of the sectarian ideology of Hindutva. The Bajarang Dal is the militant wing of the VHP whose mandate involves the use of arms, if necessary, to nurture 'Hindu pride' and 'Save the Hindu Nation'.

The RSS and the VHP, and its numerous affiliates and branches, are committed to an ideology that militates against the basic principles that undermine the Constitution. The principle of equal rights to all citizens and non-discrimination are fundamental values in the Indian Constitution. It is clear from its ideological orientation, statements and activities that the Sangh Parivar - the RSS, VHP, BD, BJP and their ideological off spring are fundamentally opposed to the Indian Constitution.

In his book, We or Our Nation Defined, (published in 1939), Shri MS Golwalkar, the second 'sarsanghchalak, (head) of the RSS, clearly spelt out his notion of 'cultural nationalism', drawing unabashed inspiration from the example of Adolph Hitler. Through painstaking research, some scholars have unearthed information in recent years, to establish, beyond doubt, the ideological and organizational inspiration that RSS leaders drew from fascist Italy and Nazi Germany in the late 20's and 30's. The public utterances of the RSS today, its constant invocation of the 'Hindu nation' ideal, its consistent adversarial stance against the country's religious minorities, clearly establish the link between the theory articulated by Golwalkar in 1939 and the current practice of the Sangh Parivar.

In January 2001, the BJP controlled Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh governments decided to lift the ban on government servants joining the RSS. This raised a nation wide outcry forcing withdrawal of the notifications. This episode illustrates how the BJP leadership would like to encourage and legitimize close links between the RSS and the bureaucracy.

On January 30, 1948, barely five months after India won her Independence and the subcontinent was partitioned on religious lines, the unthinkable happened - Gandhiji affectionately called the 'Father of the Nation' was assassinated by Nathuram Godse, who belonged to the extremist Hindu
Mahasabha. He had, in the past, also been a member of a small voluntary organization, the Hindu Rashtra Dal, and, in the early 1930's of the RSS.

The RSS men expressed joy and distributed sweets. (see Truth Triumphs, published by a pro- RSS publication in 1997and distributed by Sahitya Niketan, Hyderabad).

Following the assassination, the Government of India treated both the Hindu Mahasabha and the RSS as constituting a threat to law and order and arrested their leaders Shri Golwalkar and Shri V G Deshpande. On Feb 4, 1948 the union home ministry headed by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel released a communiqué announcing that the RSS was an unlawful association reducing its activity to a minimum. When a few sympathizers of the RSS within the Congress initiated a move to life the ban another communiqué was issued by Shri Patel rejecting all pleas.

In August 1948, Shri Golwalkar corresponded with Pandit Nehru and Sardar Patel to have the ban against the RSS lifted stressing the ostensible danger to India from Communism, as evidenced by the alarming happenings in Burma, Indochina, Java and other neighboring states. Eventually the RSS agreed to: adopt a written constitution; maintain a regular register of their members; not to admit minors without parental permission; and to adhere to work solely in the cultural field. The RSS won back their legal status on January 12, 1949.

Following the demolition of the Babri Msjid on December 6, 1992 the union government imposed a ban on the RSS, the VHP, BD and organizations like the Jammat-e-Islam and Islam Sevak Sangh on Dec10, 1993. But the Bahri Tribunal set up under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act exonerated the RSS and subsequently lifted the ban on all the groups.

To summarize, the RSS ideology asserts that India is a Hindu Nation and Christians and Muslims are aliens in India. There is no place for ' Western Concepts' like Secularism and Democracy in a Hindu nation as Hinduism is the most 'secular' and tolerant religion. This ideology aims to introduce Hindu Rashtra (a Hindu state) in India and so far it has been consolidated on the hatred of Muslims, Christians and 'Western Concepts'.

CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHINGS

The equal human dignity and rights of all persons and all peoples is a central tenet of Catholic Social Teaching. Murder, violence and the systematic attempt to eliminate a people are clearly an offense against God and humanity.

Each person individually and every people collectively reflects the image of God. The social nature of the person and the diversity of humanity are reflective of a God who is a community of persons. In community and diversity we reflect something of the relational nature of the Divinity. Whenever we reject a people or a culture, we reject a unique expression of the image of God.

According to Catholic thinking, the basic purpose of the State is to organize and structure the common good. This involves protecting and promoting human rights and ensuring that all groups and individuals in society are able to meet their needs, fulfill their potentials and contribute to society.

The state has a particular responsibility to safeguard the rights and legitimate interests of the poor, marginalized and minorities because these groups are the least able to safeguard their own interests.

For a state to not only fail to protect the human rights of everyone within its jurisdiction, but to seriously, actively and systematically violate the rights of minorities on a vast scale is such a serious failure in duty that it robs the state of authority and moral legitimacy.

Not only should the state safeguard the right to religious liberty, but a rigorous separation between the state and religious authorities should be maintained.

In recent years Pope John Paul II has spoken often of the danger of the misuse of religious ideas to justify discrimination and even violence. As long ago as 1991 he said:

"... much remains to be done to overcome religious intolerance, which in different parts of the world is closely connected with the oppression of minorities. Unfortunately, we are still witnessing attempts to impose a particular religious idea on others, either directly, by proselytism, which relies on means which are truly coercive, or indirectly, by the denial of certain civil or political rights. Intolerance can also result from the recurring temptation to fundamentalism, which easily leads to serious abuses such as the radical suppression of all public manifestation of diversity, or even the outright denial of freedom of expression. Fundamentalism can also lead to the exclusion of others from civil society." (World Day of Peace Message, 1991, # 4)

 

INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS INSTRUMENTS

India is party to a number of international human rights instruments that were contravened in the Gujarat violence. It is the duty of the whole international community to hold India accountable for these breaches of treaty obligations.

Under international human rights law, states are held legally responsible not only for their own acts or omissions, but also for acts or omissions of private persons when there is state complicity in the acts committed by private actors, and when the state fails to exercise "due diligence" in the control of private actors. The 'due diligence' concept provides a measure for evaluating a state's responsibility for violation of human rights by private actors.

The Convention on the Prevention & Punishment of Genocide
The violence in Gujarat is considered by many to have been an act of genocide. The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide defines genocide in the following way:
In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethical, racial or religious group such as:

• Killing members of the group - Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
• Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or part;
• Imposing measures intending to prevent births within the group;
• Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group (Article II)

Genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide, attempts to commit genocide and complicity in genocide are all punishable under the Convention (Article III).

The Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
Many women were victims of violence, including sexual violence in Gujarat, and the Government has done nothing to assist them. General Recommendation No. 19 issued by the Committee on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) states that:
"Article 12 of the Convention [i.e. the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women] requires States to take measures to ensure access to health care. Violence against women puts their health and lives at risk. States should establish or support services for victims of family violence, rape, sexual assault and other forms of gender biased violence, including refugees, specially trained health workers, rehabilitation and counseling."

The UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women states that the states are obligated to "Ensure that there is specialized assistance in terms of support and rehabilitation for women victims of violence." (art.4 (g)) Furthermore, Ms Radikha Coomaraswamy, the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, has recommended that:
"Confidential medical assistance, legal assistance, and culturally appropriate, community-based psycho- social counseling for victims and their families should be provided to prevent rejection or an attachment of social stigma to the victims' (E/CN4/1998/54)

The International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court (ICC) came into existence from July 1, 2002, however India has refused to ratify the treaty. Under the treaty, any person can be tried by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity or acts of genocide, irrespective of where the crime was committed.

India, not being a ratifying party, cannot be forced to hand over to the ICC any person charged or convicted.

The genocide in Gujarat can not be taken up at the ICC since the court was set up on July1, 2002 i.e. post Gujarat. However, if the carnage at Gujarat had taken place post July 2002, and India had still not ratified the ICC treaty and acceded to the Court, the issue could still have been brought up through the UN Security Council.

POLICY DIRECTIONS FOR CHANGE

Local justice and peace workers have recommended the following policy directions to address the situation in Gujarat:

• In view of the breakdown of the Constitutional machinery in Gujarat posing a systematic challenge to the secular foundation of the polity, President's Rule could have been imposed to assure the minorities of the security and safety of their lives. The President should be encouraged to adopt such action in a timely manner should similar violence reoccur.
• The Central Government should enact legislation to effectively implement the Genocide Convention, which India has ratified. Such enabling legislation would facilitate the prosecution and punishment all those who participated in the planning and the execution of murder, sexual violence, theft and destruction in the state of Gujarat during the communal carnage.
• The government should suitably amend electoral laws so as to disallow parties that espouse a particular religion, and which act or behave by word of mouth, print or in any other manner with a view to secure power through a religious policy to contest elections to Parliament, to the Assembly, to the Municipal Corporations, to Panchayats.
• Immediate steps should be taken by both the Central and State Governments to prohibit the distribution of trishuls (tridents, which are both lethal weapons and a religious symbol) and swords. Attempts to arm civil society and prepare a section of society to unleash violence against other sections of society are threatening the internal security of the country.
• The Government of Gujarat should crack down on the arms training camps being conducted by the RSS/VHP and Bajrang Dal as these are breeding grounds for home grown terrorists who propagate violence against sections of Indian society.
• The establishment of a State Human Rights Commission in Gujarat is a matter of urgency and should be accomplished soon.
• Many sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code and other laws predate the Indian Constitution and have not undergone a thorough revision, restructuring and orientation in keeping with the fundamental principles of democracy, equity, freedom and equality as contained in the Constitution. Therefore, new laws should be formulated to encompass a rights based perspective.
• As national legal mechanisms are inadequate to deal with crimes of this magnitude in which state complicity of the highest level has been found, there is an urgent need for international agencies to intervene and help in the process of securing justice for the victims of the Gujarat genocide.
• To ensure impartial assessment of damages, the Indian Government should invite the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and also the UN Special Rapporteur on Religious Minorities (and other UN agencies for various treaties that India is signatory) to investigate.
• Peace Committees must be set up by civil society and NGO's in all localities, including the unaffected ones. These committees should be involved in creating a conducive atmosphere for the victims to return home once their places of residence are reconstructed.

INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY ACTIONS LINKING WITH LOCAL CAMPAIGNS

Local human rights activists have also suggested the following international solidarity actions:

• Encourage the Indian Government to ratify the Statute of the International Criminal Court.
• Economic sanctions could be imposed against Gujarat by boycotting goods of companies produced by Gujarat based manufacturers.
• Write to multinationals requesting them not to invest finances in Gujarat based firms unless and until the victims of violence receive justice.
• In several cases of the Gujarat carnage, witnesses facing trial have turned hostile resulting in acquittal of the accused and the closure of cases, for example in the Best Bakery case. Adequate protection for witnesses who have received death threats, and the re-opening of cases in courts outside Gujarat should be advocated. The Supreme Court can be moved under Article 32 of the constitution which governs the fundamental right to constitutional remedies.

FURTHER INFORMATION:

The Asian Center for the Progress of Peoples, through its Hotline Asia project, drew international attention to the situation in Gujarat through a series of Urgent Appeals, and a support campaign which can be viewed at www.acpp.org [SUA020328(5), UA000125(1)] Support Action and Campaign: Court Decision - India

Fr Cedric Prakash SJ is the Director of the Jesuit Centre of Human Rights in the State of Gujarat. He is actively involved in issues related to communal harmony, justice and peace. The text of his talk Gujarat: A Year Later, which was delivered at the First Annual Convention of the India Muslim Council, Santa Clara, USA on 28June 2003, can be found at [http://www.c3.hu/~bocs/index.php?&t=/fdk/minden.php?d=181].

The Asian Commission for Human Rights has devoted a series of web pages to massacres in Asia. For more information about the carnage in Gujarat, visit http://massacres.ahrchk.net/gujarat/index.php