Communal Riots-2011.pdf - Indian Social Institute

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he should take urgent action to restore the faith of minority communities in the Congress regime,” said Forum convenor Qari Moinuddin. (The Hindu 10/10/11) 25 killed, 300 injured as clashes erupt in Egypt (7) Cairo At least 25 people, including three soldiers, were killed in deadly clashes between Christians, Muslims and security forces in the Egyptian capital, the worst unrest since the uprising that toppled the Mubarak regime. The violence erupted after Coptic Christians protesting against an attack on a church in Aswan clashed with security forces outside the state TV building, but violence soon spread to Tahrir Square, epicentre of the demonstrations that forced Mubarak out in February. Reports of protesters being crushed by military vehicles further heightening tensions, BBC said. About 1,000 Christian protesters on Sunday night tried to stage a sit-in outside the television building in downtown Cairo. The protesters said they were attacked by thugs with sticks and the violence then spiraled out of control after a speeding military vehicle jumped up onto a sidewalk and rammed into some of the Christians. Most of the 24 killed were Coptic Christians, though at least three soldiers were among the dead. Nearly 300 others were injured and dozens were arrested. The latest clashes on Monday broke out outside the Coptic Hospital where many victims were taken the night before. Screams of grieving women rang out from inside the hospital and hundreds of men outside held wooden crosses. Empty coffins were lined up outside the hospital. Prime Minister Essam Sharaf held an emergency meeting to contain the crisis as the military rulers ordered a swift probe.“These events have taken us back several steps,” Sharaf said. He put the blame on foreign meddling for the troubles, claiming it was part of a “dirty conspiracy”. European leaders expressed alarm at sectarian clashes and urged post-revolution authorities to uphold religious freedom. “I am very concerned, very alarmed,” British Foreign Secretary William Hague said as he arrived in Luxembourg for talks with his 26 European Union counterparts, where the events in Cairo suddenly took centre stage. Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said EU foreign ministers had agreed at the talks “to condemn the violence against Christian Copts in Egypt” in a statement. “There must be an end to this violence against Christian communities,” he added. (Mumbai Mirror (11/10/11) SIT wants Supreme Court amicus curiae as witness (7) AHMEDABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) appointed Special investigation Team (SIT) probing the 2002 riots is ready to make the amicus curiae in Zakia Jafri's case, Raju Ramchandran, a witness in the post- Godhra Gulbarg massacre. Sources said that an SIT official has written to Ramchandran saying if they accept his findings in the case, then he would have to become a witness in the case. The SC had on September 12 referred Jafri's complaint back to a local court in Ahmedabad and said it would not monitor the case. The apex court also asked the trial court in Gujarat to decide on the case on the basis of the SIT's report, along with the report of the amicus curiae. SIT officials told TOI that Ramchandran has made some shocking revelations in his report, submitted to the SC on July 25. The court had asked Ramchandran to independently inquire into Zakia's complaint after he had pointed out loopholes in SIT's investigation. The court had later passed on the report to the SIT. Sources said that in his report, Ramchandran has charged chief minister Narendra Modi with making inflammatory speeches after the Godhra train-burning incident on February 27, 2002. He has also said there is some credence in the call data that IPS officer Rahul Sharma has collected of February 28, 2002. Sharma had collected the data on a CD which includes call records of police officers, politicians and riot accused. Ramchandran has also said that senior IPS officers M K Tandon and P B Gondia should have been arrested for their negligence in the Gulbarg massacre in which 68 people, including former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, were killed. Tandon, who has retired, was joint commissioner of police in 2002. Gondia was deputy police commissioner in Ahmedabad during the riots and is deputy inspector general of police in the CID (crime) at present. Ramchandran has added in the report that he can't deny suspended IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt's claim that he was present at controversial meeting at the chief minister's bungalow on February 27, 2002. Bhatt claims Modi had told cops to go slow on Hindu rioters in the meeting. Sources added that that the SIT is waiting for Ramchandran's reply before submitting its report in a local court. When contacted Ramchandran said he had not received any communication from the SIT. The BJP had called the SC order on September 12 a 'clean chit' for Modi, who himself tweeted 'God is great' within minutes. Modi had immediately announced his his Sadabhavana fast which was held from September 17 to19. (Times of India 20/10/11) Godhra commission has cost govt 6.3 crore (7)
AHMEDABAD: The state government has till date spent Rs 6.32 crore on the Godhra commission that was set up more than nine years ago to probe the 2002 violence. The expenses include the fees paid to 20-odd lawyers, who have been appointed as government pleaders. Out of the total spending, an amount of Rs 4.53 crore has gone towards salary of the two judges and the staff members of the commission. Besides, an amount of Rs 1.5 crore has been diverted to meet miscellaneous requirements of the probe panel. This information has been revealed by the commission's secretary C G Patel in response to a query put forth by an RTI activist, Vinod Pandya. The reply states that more than Rs 28 lakh has been paid towards fees of lawyers from 2002. However, payment made to those seven lawyers who have represented the state government after 2004 does not find any mention in this statement. Commenting on the expenses incurred on the inquiry, Pandya said, "Justice is never imparted through setting up of such commissions, and this is nothing but wastage of time and public money. It is evident from this huge spending how government pleases retired judges and officials by appointing inquiry panels." Among 20 lawyers appointed by the government, nearly half of the amount has been paid to advocate Arvind Pandya, who was removed after he was shown accusing the commission in a sting operation. However, there is no account of payment to seven lawyers appointed after 2004. This commission was set up as one-member Justice K G Shah Commission by the Narendra Modi government to inquire into the riots in March 3, 2003. Justice G T Nanavati was made chairperson of the panel after few days. A year later, the scope of its inquiry was widened as a probe into the role of ministers was also conducted. Since its inception, the probe panel has got extensions on 16 occasions, the last one being on June 20 till December 31 this year. It has probed 4,145 cases till date and has come up with a report in September 2008 on the incident of fire in coach no S-6 of Sabarmati Express near Godhra with the conclusion that it was a pre-planned conspiracy. Justice Nanavati was appointed in an inquiry commission to probe the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in 2000. He submitted his report within five years. Justice Liberhan commission took 17 years and Rs 8 crore to come up with a report on the Babri Masjid demolition. Justice B N Srikrishna commission took three years to complete inquiry into post-Babri Bombay riots. (Times of India 2/11/11) First whiff of justice for Gujarat riot victims (7) MEHSANA, November 10, 2011: A special court here on Wednesday sentenced 31 persons to life imprisonment and fined them Rs.50,000 each for burning 33 Muslims alive at Sardarpura in Mehsana district during the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat. Special court judge S.C. Srivastava, who is the Principal District and Sessions Judge of Mehsana, however, acquitted 42 other accused, 11 of them for lack of evidence and the remaining 31 got the benefit of the doubt. The 31 accused have been asked to submit a solvency bond of Rs.25,000 each and not to leave the country without the court's permission. Legal experts said the verdict created history as it was the first case in which a large number of people were convicted for mob violence. It broke the record of the Bhagalpur riots case, in which 14 persons were convicted. The court did not accept the prosecution's charge of criminal conspiracy under Section 120 (B) of the <strong>Indian</strong> Penal Code, which could have attracted the capital punishment, against any of the accused and concluded that the incident took place on the spur of the moment, on the night of March 1, 2002, two days after the February 27 Godhra train carnage. Of the 76 accused in the Sardarpura massacre, two died during trial. One male was found juvenile, and the case against him is going on in the juvenile court. The case was prosecuted by a Special Investigation Team, headed by a former director of the CBI. The Supreme Court, which received complaints that the Gujarat police were shielding the rioters, asked the SIT to probe nine incidents of mass violence and get the High Court to set up special courts to try the cases. The 31 convicted have been charged with murder, attempt to murder, rioting and other offences under the IPC, while the charges of criminal conspiracy against them were dropped by the court. Among the IPC Sections applied included 302 (murder) read with other Sections , attracting punishment from one month to 10 years of imprisonment, all to run concurrently. Among the 31 convicts were 30 from the Patel community and one ‘Prajapati,' one of the “other backward communities.” They included the then sarpanch of the Sardarpura village, Katrabhai Tribhuvandas Patel, and a former sarpanch Kanubhai Joitaram Patel. After the Godhra incident, in which 59 Hindu passengers, mostly Karsevaks, were burnt to death, riots broke out across the State. According to the relatives of the victims of the Sardarpura violence, a mob of over 500 people surrounded a lane named Sheikh Vaas, where the Muslims of the village lived, on the night of March 1, 2002. Fearing the worst, 70 residents took shelter in the only ‘pucca' house in the locality, owned by a person called Ibrahim Sheikh. The mob attacked the house and set it afire. It later threw in an exposed electric wire. While 33 people, including 20 women and 11 minors, were charred to death, the rest were rescued by the police some three hours later. (The Hindu 10/11/11)
Page 1 and 2: COMMUNAL RIOTS - 2011 January to De
Page 3 and 4: Justices Verma and Srikrishna red-f
Page 5 and 6: against Bhatt but he was suspended
Page 7 and 8: Wednesday night," he added. Superin
Page 9 and 10: and prejudice shall be guilty of de
Page 11 and 12: sent all the material to the sessio
Page 13 and 14: Supreme Court by her on the post-Go
Page 15: DEHRA DUN, October 4, 2011: Uttarak
Page 19 and 20: ‘Communal conflict in India has s
Page 21 and 22: are misinterpreting it as a draconi

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