Gujarat Godhra Riots - Demythified!

The Godhra riots may have caught global attention but has the truth done so? Gujaratriots.com is an effort to do so. It has very nicely tried to resolve the myths surrounding the Gujarat Issue. The media had tried all their best to magnify the issue.One question for the media from the common man is "Next time you report any news, can we also have information of the sponsors (i.e. those who pay you for the news)? BTW, do you want some sponsorship from the common man to report what actually happened instead of shamelessly and falsely sensationalizing issues?" The following is a piece of information from gujaratriots.com.

Let's start with an interview by Modi to Aaj Tak’s Prabhu Chawla, excerpts of which were published in the weekly India Today, dated 4 November 2002:

“Q- Your opponents call you ‘Jinnah of the Hindus’.
A- I am hearing this for the first time though I still don’t consider you as an enemy.

Q- You are held responsible for the killing of 1,100 innocent people in the riots.
A- In our previous interview, you said 900 people. Now you are saying 1,100. Are you adding all the people killed in other states like Maharashtra and Bengal to Gujarat’s account?

Q- So what is the correct toll?
A- There would have been no riots in Gujarat if there had been no Godhra.

Q-Do you accept that you failed to provide security to the people of the state?
A-98% of Gujarat would not have peace if we had failed to fulfill our duties. We managed to control the riots within 72 hours.

Q-Why don’t you accept that Gujarat is being defamed because of Narendra Modi?
A- If that is true, give the people of Gujarat a chance to pronounce their verdict through elections.”

As we see, the number of people killed in the riots jumped from 900 to 1100 after Narendra Modi’s previous interview, i.e. within 4 months! Now it has jumped from 9,00 to 2,000. May be after 10 years, at this rate it will jump to 10,000! Already it is being said that, “thousands of Muslims were killed in Gujarat” and “3,000 innocent Muslims were butchered in Gujarat”.

Now let's resolve the Myths.

Myth: Whole of Gujarat was burning

Fact: Out of the state’s 18,600 villages, 240 municipal towns, and 25 district headquarters, only 60 places saw riots. If one includes the two big cities of Ahmedabad and Vadodara, by the wildest stretch of imagination, only 2 % of the state can be assumed to have been burning. Only 40 out of the state’s 18,600 villages saw riots.

Myth: The Gujarat police turned a blind eye to the rioting

Fact: Even though the situation was terrible, the police performed its work extremely efficiently. The police force was woefully insufficient. Uday Mahurkar reports for India Today (18 March 2002) On February 28, the police shot dead 10 Hindus in Ahmedabad alone reported The Hindu on Mar 2, 2002.

Myth: Sangh Parivar organisations like VHP organized the riots.

Fact: Out of Gujarat’s 18,600 villages, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) had units in 10,000 villages at the time of the riots of 2002. If it had wanted- it could have easily organized retaliatory riots in many of these 10,000 villages. Instead-only 40 out of the state’s 18,600 villages saw riots. VHP General Secretary Dr Praveen Togadia is a Patel and hails from Saurashtra region of Gujarat- just like Keshubhai Patel. And yet- no riots happened in Saurashtra at all- even in the first 3 days!

Myth: Gujarat became a dangerous place to live in, in 2002

Fact: The opinion poll by the weekly India Today in its issue dated 25 November 2002 asked a question to its respondents-“Do you feel secure living in Gujarat today?” in which more than 68 % people including more than 56 % Muslims felt secure. While commenting on the entire poll, India Today reported, “Voters have rallied solidly behind the chief minister’s aggressive posturing. They have endorsed his view of the riots being a reaction to Godhra. They approve his fulmination against outsiders who have vilified the state. And they contemptuously dismiss all suggestions that Gujarat has become a dangerous place to live in.”

Source: Gujaratriots.com