Communal Riots-2012.pdf - Indian Social Institute

COMMUNAL RIOTS-2012January to December: 2012Compiled ByK. SamuHuman Rights Documentation,Indian Social Institute, Lodi Road, New Delhi – 110 009, (India)Sanjiv Bhatt refutes Jhadaphia's claim (7)AHMEDABAD, January 1, 2012: The suspended Gujarat cadre IPS officer, Sanjiv Bhatt, has refutedformer Gujarat Minister of State for Home Gordhan Jhadaphia's claim that he was not kept “informed” ofthe gruesome incidents in Ahmedabad in the aftermath of the Godhra train carnage on February 28,2002. He also denied that Mr. Jhadaphia was not aware of the Gujarat administration's decision to bringthe charred bodies from Godhra to Ahmedabad for being taken to the victims' native places for cremation.Mr. Bhatt claimed that as Deputy Commissioner of the State Intelligence Bureau then, he too hadcollected mobile phone call records and they tallied with the one collected by another IPS officer RahulSharma that was submitted before various authorities, which showed the presence of Mr. Jhadaphia inthe vicinity of Ahmedabad on that fateful day. Mr. Jhadaphia reportedly made the claims during hissecond “in-camera” appearance earlier this week before the G. T. Nanavati-Akshay Mehta Judicial InquiryCommission probing the train carnage and the post-Godhra riots. Mr. Jhadaphia claimed that on the“Gujarat Bandh” day on February 28, when minorities were brutally killed in Naroda-Patiya and GulbergSociety in Ahmedabad, he was in Gandhinagar for the entire day as the State Assembly was in session.In his first “in-camera” deposition too in November, 2010, copies of which were made public by thecommission recently, Mr. Jhadaphia had maintained that on February 27, 2002, on hearing about the traincarnage, he left for Godhra in the afternoon and was there till about 3 a.m. the next day when he left forGandhinagar. On the way he stopped at his residence in Ahmedabad for just half-an-hour early in themorning to collect his clothes. In both ‘ in-camera' depositions, he had claimed that though he wasMinister of State for Home then and was allowed reasonable freedom to act as per the situation, he wasnot kept informed of the riot situation in Ahmedabad and other parts of the State. Mr. Jhadaphia alsoclaimed that the mobile phone call list submitted before the commission by Mr. Rahul Sharma was “faulty”if it showed the presence of his mobile phone number in the vicinity of Naroda-Patiya or Gulberg Society.He did not come to Ahmedabad the entire day. He, however, admitted having spoken to some of theBharatiya Janata Party and Vishwa Hindu Parishad leaders such as Mayaben Kodnani and JaideepPatel, both accused in the Naroda-Patiya massacre, but could not recall in what connection he hadspoken to them. While refusing to disclose what transpired during his deposition before the commission,Mr. Jhadaphia later told the mediapersons that he was “neither defending anyone nor levelling falseallegations against anyone.” He claimed that he was only revealing the “truth” known to him as Minister ofState for Home. Mr. Jhadaphia's deposition disappointed the critics of Chief Minister Narendra Modi whoexpected the former Minister to “spill the beans” as he had since developed strong differences with Mr.Modi and quit the BJP to form his own Mahagujarat Janata Party just before the 2007 State Assemblyelections. In a letter to the commission on Saturday, Mr. Bhatt disputed Mr. Jhadaphia's claims andsubmitted copies of the departmental notes signed by him as Deputy Commissioner in the IntelligenceBureau on the decisions to bring the bodies to Ahmedabad from Godhra, the VHP giving a call for a“Gujarat Bandh” with likely repercussions on the communal situation in the State and the building up ofviolent mobs in Gulberg Society putting the lives of the former Congress Member of Parliament EhsanJafri and others in danger. He said all the notes were sent to the Chief Minister, Director-General of Policeand the Police Commissioners of various cities with a copy marked to Mr. Jhadaphia. On the situation inthe Gulberg Society, Mr. Bhatt submitted copies of several notes, first when the mob build-up started andagain after the threat to the lives of Jafri and others, prompting the Ahmedabad Police Commissioner torush adequate force. Mr. Bhatt requested the commission to ensure that the relevant records anddocuments were not destroyed by the State administration. (The Hindu 1/1/12)Death toll rises to 66 in Nigeria communal clash (7)

Abuja, Jan 1: At least 66 people, including women and children, have been killed in clashes between tworival ethnic groups in southeastern Nigeria, hours after President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state ofemergency in four states to crush the insurgency led by a radical Muslim group. Death toll in a communalclash between two communities; Ezillo and Ezza in Ebonyi state of Nigeria have risen to 66 following thediscovery of more corpses from bushes within Ezillo where gunmen opened fire on residents. Childrenbetween the ages of three to five and women were among the victims of the attack and the head ofcrimes of a police station was also killed. Prolonged land dispute between the communities led to the lossof 150 lives in 2010 forcing the state government to sack everybody from the disputed land bringingrelative peace to the area. The attack came a few hours after Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathandeclared a state of emergency in areas mostly affected by fundamentalist Muslim group, Boko Haram'sinsurgency but the two scenarios remain different. Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 6, SaiduDaya in the company of some youth from the area told the media that more bodies were recovered frombushes in the affected areas. Land disputes are common in Nigeria's and the most deadly was theAguleri/Umuleri land dispute which lasted for decades and claimed thousands of lives in 1995. Thegovernor of Ebonyi state, Martin Elechi, in a radio broadcast, expressed dismay over the resurgence ofthe communal crisis which he thought has been resolved. "The shock waves sent by the latest incidentare not only because of the wantonness of the destruction, but also because it came at a time whenEbonyi people and other Nigerians thought that peace had returned," he said. Jonathan's state ofemergency affected the northern region where Boko Haram has been carrying out campaigns ofbombings and shootings in order to enforce their belief that the entire country must come under Islamicrule. The sect threw bomb on Christmas day on churchgoers killing not less than 44. The total number ofdeaths resulting from simultaneous attacks on other northern cities on the Christmas day has been put at49. Boko Haram sect has been waging a bloody conflict to install an Islamic government and Sharia rulein the country. A suicide bomb attack by the group at the United Nations headquarters in Abuja in Julykilled 26 persons. The 150-million Nigeria has both Muslim and Christian population, with Muslimspredominant in the north while Christians mostly live in the South. (One India 2/1/12)Communal tension at Neredigonda (7)NEREDIGONDA (ADILABAD DT.), January 15, 2012: Tension prevailed at Neredigonda mandalheadquarter village on Saturday after villagers belonging to one community restricted passage to a placeof worship of other community located on the service road of the four lane NH 7. The villagers soughtopening of the service road by dismantling an encroaching structure belonging to the place of worship.Revenue officials led by Adilabad RDO G. Ravi Naik and the police led by Adilabad DSP K.M.Maheswara Raju swung into action. Later, they convened a meeting with the two groups and informedthem of the official position with regard to laying of the service road. The officials said the governmentwould take corrective action within the legally accepted parameters. (The Hindu 15/1/12)UDF ‘derailed’ probe into the second Marad riot, alleges Pinarayi (7)Kozhikode, January 22, 2012: CPI(M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan has said that the UDF governmentwhich “derailed” the investigation into the second Marad riot by disbanding and transferring theinvestigating team succumbing to the pressures of the UDF allies, should rectify its wrongdoing. He wasspeaking to media persons during a visit to the organising committee office of the CPI(M) 20th PartyCongress in Kozhikode on Sunday. “The Congress derailed the investigation by a political intervention,”he said, which according to him was obviously done “to save the interest of the Muslim League.” Statingthat the party (CPI(M)) cannot keep on demanding for a CBI inquiry into the issue every now and then,Mr. Vijayan said that the Congress-led government, which once sabotaged the demand for a CBI inquiryinto the issue should “rectify” its mistake by at least restoring the inquiry mechanism, which was in placeearlier. “Or else, they will have to face a strong agitations from the people,” he said. (The Hindu 22/1/12)Malegaon blast case: NIA likely to quiz ATS officials of Maharashtra (7)New Delhi, January 29, 2012: The National Investigation Agency, which has been struggling to collectevidence in the 2006 Malegaon blast case, is likely to quiz some of the Maharashtra ATS officials whohad probed the case. In the light of a confession by Swami Aseemanand before a magistrate, the nineyouths arrested by the Anti—Terror Squad in 2006 were released on bail recently by the court as the NIAdid not oppose the same due to lack of evidence against them. The NIA now plans to examine the role ofofficials of Maharashtra Anti—Terror Squad, which had chargesheeted the nine youths in the case, and

e-visit their investigations into the case, official sources said. As many as 35 people were killed in theblast that rocked the powerloom city of Malegaon in 2006. The NIA has been focusing on the growth ofsaffron terror in the country. It has formed special teams to probe various cases including Malegaon,Samjhauta train blast, Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad and Ajmer blasts. The sources said that the NIA teamcamped in Malegaon and examined all the forensic evidence that had been collected by the ATS, whichwas led by the then Joint Commissioner K P Raghuvanshi and his Deputy Inspector General SubodhJaiswal. The arming mechanism of the three explosions was not identified by the ATS, but it was quickenough in making the arrests and later filing charge sheet against the nine youths - Shabbir AhmedMasiullah, Noorul Huda Samsudoha, Raees Ahmed Mansuri, Salman Farsi Aimi, Farogh Iqbal Magdumi,Mohammed Ali Shaikh, Asif Khan, Mohammed Abdul Ansari and Abrar Gulam Ahmed. Right-wing Hindugroup Abhinav Bharat member Swami Assemanand, who was arrested by the CBI, has stated in hisconfessional statement before a magistrate that the Malegaon blast was masterminded by a Hindu group.He had also said that a boy arrested in the case had brought about a change in his heart which resultedin him spilling the beans. Abrar had alleged in his petition that he was made to speak on the phone tosomeone by the then Superintendent of Police (Rural) Rajvardhan, a 1997 batch IPS officer. NIA is nowplanning to examine Rajvardhan as well in connection with the case, besides some other religiousorganisation in Malegaon. Assemanand, alias Jatin Chatterjee, had stated in his statement that slain RSSworker Sunil Joshi and others were responsible for the Malegaon 2006 blasts. However, he recentlyattempted to back-track from his confessional statement. Four bombs planted in Malegaon, thecommunally-sensitive powerloom township had exploded on September 8. The fateful day happened tobe ‘Shab-e-Baraat’, considered auspicious among Muslims, when they assemble to pay respects to theirdeparted kin. Malegaon had seen another terror attack in 2008 allegedly by right-wing Hindu groups.Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and former Lt Col Srikanth Purohit were arrested in connection with theincident. (The Hindu 29/1/12)Kandhamal riots: Court sentences 8, acquits 19 (7)New Delhi: A fast track court in Phulbani, Orissa, on Tuesday sentenced eight accused in the 2008Kandhamal communal riots to five years imprisonment. Nineteen others were, however, acquitted by thecourt. The riots occurred in Kandhamal, a tribal-dominated district, in the aftermath of the killing of VHPleader Laxmanananda Saraswati at the Jalespata Ashram on August 23, 2008. Hindu groups in the stateblamed Christians for killing Lakshmanananda. They cited Lakshmanananda's claims that Christians weretrying to eliminate him for his opposition to conversion, and had attacked him "eight times before".Kandhamal riots: Court sentences 8, acquits 19On August 25–28, Hindu mobs, allegedly incited byleaders like Manoj Pradhan, an elected state legislator from the BJP, set fire to many Christiansettlements, in which at least 38 people were killed. In addition, more than 25,000 Christians were forcedto flee their villages "after their houses were attacked by rampaging mobs". (CNN IBN 1/2/12)SIT chief trying to protect Modi, alleges Gujarat Congress (7)GANDHINAGAR, February 2, 2012: The Gujarat Congress Legislature Party has launched a scathingattack on R.K. Raghavan, chairman of the Supreme Court–appointed Special Investigation Team, probingsome of the gruesome 2002 Gujarat communal riot massacres. The Leader of the Opposition in theAssembly, Shaktisinh Gohil, said his party took strong exception to the style of functioning of Mr.Raghavan, who he alleged “blatantly tried to protect Mr. Modi and other accused.” The CLP meeting washeld here on Wednesday to consider the party's strategy during the coming budget session, scheduled tobegin later this month. Besides the party MLAs, including State Congress president Arjun Modhwadia,representing the Porbandar constituency, some Congress MPs also attended the meeting as specialinvitees. Pointing out that Mr. Raghavan's conduct raised doubts in the minds of the people of the State,Mr. Gohil said the CLP expected the Supreme Court to provide justice to the people, “in case Mr.Raghavan played any mischief.” He pointed out that though the Supreme Court had on September 12 lastyear asked Mr. Raghavan to submit the final report, he was “deliberately delaying the task.” He said Mr.Raghavan did not bother to record statements of important witnesses in the riot cases, including somepolice officers like R.B. Shreekumar, Sanjiv Bhatt and Rahul Sharma. Pointing out that Mr. Raghavan wasearlier associated with Ratan Tata, whose Nano car project had been extended special incentives inbillions of rupees by the Modi government, the CLP appreciated the work done by the Supreme Court'samicus curiae in the case, Raju Ramchandran, who “did a lot of home work and prepared acomprehensive report in the case. But Mr. Raghavan is trying to find loopholes to save Chief Minister and

other accused.” “Mr. Ramchandran had pointed out in his report the presence of some Ministers in thepolice control rooms, presence of the suspended IPS officer, Sanjiv Bhatt, at the residence of ChiefMinister during the crucial meeting on the night of February 27, 2002, and suggested action against Mr.Modi and others under the provisions of Section 153 (A), 153(B), 505 and 166.” But, Mr. Raghavan was“still trying to save the Chief Minister,” the statement said. The Hindu 2/2/12)Gujarat HC raps Modi govt. for ‘inaction’ during post-Godhra riots (7)Ahmedabad, February 8, 2012: The Gujarat High Court on Wednesday pulled up the Narendra Modigovernment for “inaction and negligence” on its part during the 2002 post-Godhra riots that led to largescaledestruction of religious structures. A division bench of acting chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharyaand Justice J.B. Pardiwala made these observations, while ordering compensation for over 500 religiousstructures in the state. The court was hearing a petition filed by Islamic Relief Committee of Gujarat(IRCG). Inadequacy, inaction and negligence on the part of the State government to prevent riots resultedin large-scale destruction of religious structures across the State, the court observed. The governmentwas responsible for repair and compensation for such places, it further said. The court said that when thegovernment had paid compensation for destruction of houses and commercial establishments, it shouldalso pay compensation for religious structures. The court also ordered that principal judges of 26 districtsof the state will receive the applications for compensation of religious structures in their respectivedistricts and decide on it. They have been asked to send their decisions to HC within six months. IRCG’spetition in 2003 had sought court’s directions to the government to pay compensation towards damage ofreligious places during riots on the ground that the National Human Rights Commission, too, hadrecommended and the state government had in principle accepted the suggestion. The state governmenthad opposed the IRCG petition, saying it was a violation of article 27 of the Constitution. The governmentfurther said that there was no policy with regards to compensation for restoration/repair of religious placesdamaged or destroyed during the riots. Lawyer for IRCG, M.T.M. Hakim hailed it as a “landmarkjudgement” in the country, in which compensation has been ordered for destruction of religious structures.“This is also probably for the first time that a court has held the State government responsible for inactionand negligence during the 2002 riots,” Mr. Hakim said. (The Hindu 8/2/12)Communal clash at Sankarankoil outskirts (7)TIRUNELVELI, February 8, 2012: Even as Sankarankoil in the district is all set to go in for the by-pollwithin the next few weeks, a hamlet on the outskirts of the dusty Assembly segment headquarterswitnessed bitter communal clash on Tuesday night in which a car was set ablaze and at least ten vehicleswere damaged. According to the police, a group of devotees from Kamaraj Nagar on Sankarankoil –Kazhugumalai Road were going in a procession to their temple as part of the festival. When theprocession crossed a mosque on the way, it is alleged that some unidentified persons threw footwear intothe mosque shortly after 9 p.m. and fled before the Muslims offering prayers in their place of worshipcould come out. When they came out, another group of devotees from Gandhi Nagar who were alsotaking out a rally in connection with the temple festival were crossing the mosque. As the Muslimssuspected that some of the rallyists in the second procession were behind the throwing of footwear intothe mosque, they picked up an argument with them. As the matter flared up, the police deployed in frontof the mosque tried to prevent it, but the small police force could not prevent the two sides started peltingstones on each other. The clash became intense when petrol bombs were liberally used by both sides.Additional police forces were rushed to the spot and tear gas was used to disperse the mob. The policealso had to cane the rioters. However, the mob torched a car and damaged a more than ten vehiclesparked on the roadside, and good number of houses were ransacked by the mob. (The Hindu 8/2/12)Best Bakery case: When SC stepped in for justice (7)Ahmedabad, February 11, 2012: The Best Bakery case in Vadodara, in which 14 people were killed, wasone of the two cases related to the 2002 riots, which were shifted outside Gujarat after Supreme Courtintervention. The other was the Bilkis Bano rape and murder case. Among the most gruesome massacresof the Gujarat riots, the Best Bakery case has often come to symbolise the brutality of the carnage duringthe post-Godhara riots, in which 1,200 people were killed. The trial took many exasperating twists beforejustice was finally delivered by a Mumbai court. A day after the bakery was burnt down by a mob, theowner’s 18-year-old daughter Zaheera Sheikh lodged a police complaint against 21 accused. In June

2003, a fast track court acquitted all the accused citing lack of evidence as key witnesses, includingSheikh turned hostile. After the Gujarat HC upheld the verdict in December, the apex court termed theacquittal “miscarriage of justice”. It then ordered reinvestigation and retrial and moved the case toMaharashtra, saying justice would not happen in Gujarat. Indicting the Narendra Modi government onriots, the SC bench had observed, “When ghastly killings take place in the land of Mahatma Gandhi, itraises a very pertinent question as to whether some people have become so bankrupt in their ideologythat they have deviated from everything which was so dear to him (Gandhi).” In December 2004, a stingoperation by news weekly Tehelka had shown BJP MLA Madhu Srivastav admitting on camera that hehad paid Rs18 lakh to Sheikh to turn hostile. Also, while seeking retrial of the case, the Gujaratgovernment had cited, “lapses on the part of the state police in registering and recording of defective FIRsin the case and on the part of the prosecution in recording the evidence of witnesses”. Afterreinvestigation, the trial court in Mumbai convicted nine of the 21 accused and sentenced them to lifeterm. Eight other accused were acquitted while the remaining four are yet to be arrested. (The HindustanTimes 11/2/12)Gujarat HC issues contempt notice to Modi Govt in 2002 riots case (7)Ahmedabad, Feb 15: In fresh trouble for the Narendra Modi Government, the Gujarat High Court todayissued contempt notice to it for not obeying its order to compensate people whose shops were burnt downin the post-Godhra riots. The notice comes a week after the court indicted the State Government for nonrestorationof religious places destroyed in the communal frenzy. A Division Bench of Mr Justices AkilKureshi and C.L. Soni asked the Ahmedabad district collector to reply by March 14 as to why contemptproceedings should not be initiated, based on a petition filed by 56 riot victims whose shops were guttedduring the 2002 riots. The 56 shop owners, whose establishments had been burnt down in Rakhial areaof the city, had applied for compensation after the Centre announced additional relief package for the riotvictims in February 2008. As there was no response from the district authority, they moved the High Courtthrough NGO Jan Sangarsh Manch seeking direction to the collector to consider their applications andprovide compensation. Based on their application, the court had passed an order in September last yeardirecting the collector to examine their applications for compensation. The petitioners said early thismonth they received a communication from the collector’s office that all the 56 applications had beendismissed in August 2011 itself. Following the communication, the victims filed a contempt petition againstthe collector and the State Government for not complying with the court order. Alleging that the collector’soffice did not present full facts of the case to the court, the petitioners said since the court order issued inSeptember was subsequent to disposal of their applications, non-payment of compensation amounted tocontempt of court. In a scathing indictment of the Modi Government, the Gujarat High Court had onFebruary 8 termed the 2002 riots as “negligence of the State” and censured it for “inaction”, holding that ithad resulted in an “anarchic” situation. The court passed strictures against the Government while orderingit to pay for the restoration of 500 odd religious structures destroyed during the riots on a petition byIslamic Relief Committee of Gujarat. Keywords: 2002 riots case, post-Godhra riots, compensation,victims, Narendra Modi government, Gujarat High Court, contempt notice HBL 15/2/12)It's a spurious case to victimise Setalvad, says Supreme Court (7)NEW DELHI, February 22, 2012: The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed its displeasure at theGujarat government filing a “spurious” criminal case against social activist Teesta Setalvad for her allegedrole in exhuming the bodies of post-Godhra riot victims in 2006 at Pandarwada, and extended the stay ofthe proceedings against her pending before a lower court. Presiding over a Bench, Justice Aftab Alamasked senior counsel Pradeep Ghosh to go through the FIR dispassionately and advise the governmentnot to proceed with the case. Justice Alam said: “This is a 100 per cent spurious case to victimise thepetitioner. In other cases against the petitioner, there may be something but not in this case. This type ofcase does no credit to the State... in any way. You should show some responsibility and advise thegovernment not to proceed with the case.” When Mr. Ghosh said that the Gujarat High Court had notproperly considered the issue and pleaded that the matter be remitted back there, Justice Alam said: “Wewill not do that. We will hear it. We will keep it for final hearing.” The Bench posted the matter for finalhearing on March 23. Ms. Setalvad's appeal in this case was directed against the May 27, 2011 HighCourt order refusing to quash the FIR registered against her at the Panchmahal police station. (The Hindu22/2/12)

'Face' of Gujarat riots to launch Mumbai protest initiative (7)Mumbai, Feb 25: Qutubuddin Ansari, the famous 'face' of the 2002 Gujarat riots, will exhort Indians tomark as a black day the 10th anniversary of the carnage on Feb 28, an official said. "He will come andpersonally request all Indians to wear black badges, scarves or bands - to protest against one of the mostinhuman incidents ever in the history of independent India," Harmony Foundation President AbrahamMathai told IANS. Ansari, a tailor by profession whose teary-eyed photos begging with folded hands formercy from the mob had been flashed worldwide, will arrive here with his wife and six-year-old daughterfrom Ahmedabad. Soon after the riots, Ansari had shifted to Kolkata but returned to his native state twoyears ago, according to Mathai, former vice-chairman of Maharashtra Minorities Commission who coaxedhim to come for the Mumbai initiative this Monday and Tuesday. "He has still not recovered from the scarsof the riots and mostly keeps quiet, minding his business. But Ansari, like many others who have not yetovercome the nightmare that engulfed the people of Gujarat, reluctantly agreed to come and launch thecampaign for us," Mathai added. He said unofficial estimates pegged the number of riot victims at 2,000besides many others reported missing and many more grievously injured in the carnage let loose bycommunal forces. "Women were widowed and children orphaned when communal forces hounded outmembers of a particular community. It was perhaps one of the cruellest and most inhuman incidentswhich unfortunately had the backing of the state. Ten years later, the main perpetrators of this inhumancrime roam free, with no remorse and repentance. Enjoying a position of power, the next step for some, isthe post of the prime minister," Mathai said, referring to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. As areminder of what happened as a mark of angst and protest, Harmony Foundation and other organizationswill distribute black ribbons to people, urging them to stand up for the cause of justice, communalharmony and national integration. Prominent personalities, including Mahesh Bhatt, Tushar Gandhi, copSanjiv Bhatt and others shall join Ansari in the mission for solidarity, Mathai said. (IANS) (New Kerala25/2/12)Ten years on, no justice for Gujarat carnage victims, says Sanjiv Bhatt (7)NEW DELHI, March 5, 2012: “It has been 10 years but I do not see any justice for these people. It is amatter of shame for the Gujarat police and the administration. The State is rushing towards fascism andany form of dissent is being crushed…the people in Gujarat have built a wall of silence where nobodyspeaks because they are too scared of the consequences,” suspended IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt told aconvention held here on Sunday to mark the 10 anniversary of the Gujarat riots. The convention, “10Years of Resistance,” saw the participation of 200 victims of the 2002 carnage along with political leaders,social activists, academics and other people who sympathised with their plight. Lest we forget, acomprehensive book on the riots by P.G.J. Nampoothiri and Gagan Sethi was released along with Andmiles to go, an account of what the carnage, 10 years on, means to five Muslim Gujarati working women,followed by a panel discussion. The writers had an uphill task as they wrote the books based only onmemories as they had no access to any records or notes. Mr. Sanjiv Bhatt, who testified against GujaratChief Minister Narendra Modi, said: “The development of the State after Mr. Modi took over is talkedabout,” pointing out that Germany was the most industrialised and developed under Hitler. “But nobodytalks about the development when they talk about Nazi Germany now. Ravana's Lanka was made of goldbut nobody talks about the gold in his kingdom when they talk about Ravana,” he argued. He said justicewas an uphill task especially when there was a tyrant who ruled over the people. Congress generalsecretary Digvijay Singh said he was concerned about the infiltration of the RSS into the judiciary, civilservices and likened their ideology to Nazi Germany. “Gujarat was a laboratory for their ideology and theywere successful. Karnataka is next. In fact they would have been a success there too if the corruptionissue had not thrown them in the limelight. When I first started talking about the Sangh outfits havingbomb training, everybody called me a mad man but they have accepted that now. They have filed somedefamation cases against me. I will give answers in court, not to those useless people,” he said. Manyspeakers spoke about their experiences and their fears for Gujarat after all these years. “When there is adeath or some other tragedy in the family, there is no cure for the hurt that follows. But, the incident inGujarat is more than just the hurt, there was a certain politics that was involved that is dangerous as it isslowly overtaking the nation. It has invaded the judiciary, bureaucracy, the army and police,” said CPI (M)leader Brinda Karat. Film-maker Mahesh Bhatt said people had to get rid of their apathy if communalhatred and violence was ever to be stopped. “We should get rid of the attitude that even if the neighboursare dead, our shops should be safe,” he reasoned. (The Hindu 5/3/12)

SIT submits final report on Gulberg Society probe (7)AHMEDABAD, March 14, 2012: The Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) onTuesday completed the process of submitting its final report on the 2002 Gulberg Society riots in anAhmedabad metropolitan court — two days before the March 15 deadline set by the court. The SIT hadsubmitted its report, which it later claimed was its final report, in a sealed cover before metropolitanmagistrate M.S. Bhatt on February 8, but the report did not contain the related documents and evidencesabout the investigation made by it on the complaint filed by Zakia Jafri before the Supreme Courtaccusing Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and 62 other senior police and bureaucratic officers andpolitical leaders of complicity in the 2002 communal riots in the State. The court then had given the SITtime till March 15 to submit all the relevant documents. On Tuesday, SIT investigating officer HimanshuShukla and its advocate R.S. Jamuar submitted the documents before judge M.S. Bhatt. SIT sources saidthe evidences and documents — running into over 20,000 pages — were submitted in five big trunks.“This marks the end of the SIT's work in relation to Ms. Jafri's complaint about the 2002 riots unlessdecided otherwise by the court,” an SIT officer commented. Once the final report was submitted, themetropolitan court would have to take a decision whether to accept the report or ask for furtherinvestigation as directed by the Supreme Court. The sources said the materials submitted on Tuesdayincluded statements of the riot victims, accused, all the police and State government officials interrogatedby it, including that of Mr. Modi, and other evidences. The Supreme Court had on September 12 last yeardirected the SIT to forward its final report, along with the entire material collected by it, to a metropolitancourt in Ahmedabad. After the SIT submitted its report in the metropolitan court, Ms. Jafri, the widow ofslain former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, and some others had demanded copies of the SIT report, but thecourt turned it down stating that a decision on making the report public would be taken only after the SITsubmitted all the relevant documents to complete the process of submitting the final report. The plea for“reading out” the SIT report in the court, also made by Ms .Jafri, was also rejected by the court on thesame ground. There is so far no indication when the court would take a decision on the SIT report and thedemands for making the report public. (The Hindu 14/3/12)SC issues notice to Gujarat govt on summoning Modi (7)New Delhi, March 19, 2012: The Supreme Court today sought the stands of the Nanavati Commissionand the Gujarat Government on a plea for direction to the Commission to summon Chief MinisterNarendra Modi for questioning in connection with the 2002 riots. A bench of justices D.K. Jain and A.K.Dave issued notices to the Commission and the state government, asking them to file their responseswithin four weeks. The bench’s order came on a plea by non-governmental organisation Jan SangarshManch (JSM) of the Gujarat riot victims, seeking direction to the Commission to call Mr. Modi forquestioning after the plea was dismissed by the Gujarat High Court. Advocates Collin Gonsalves andShreeji Bhavsar, appearing for the NGO submitted that Mr. Modi should be summoned by theCommission as the role of the chief minister falls within the ambit of the probe panel’s inquiry. NanavatiCommission was formed in 2002 after post-Godhra train carnage riots. In 2004, the terms of reference ofthe Commission had been expanded to include in its purview an examination of the Chief Minster’s role inthe riots. In September 2009, the Commission had rejected JSM’s plea to summon of Mr. Modi and fiveothers for cross-examination with regard to the communal violence in which over 1,000 people werekilled. The Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) had earlier questioned Mr. Modion 2002 riots for over ten hours in 2010.(The Hindu 19/3/12)Gujarat riots: SC seeks Guj govt's stand on questioning Modi (7)New Delhi: The Supreme Court, on Monday, sought to know the stand of Nanavati commission and theGujarat government, on a petition seeking direction to the commission to summon Chief MinisterNarendra Modi for questioning in connection with the 2002 riots. The bench comprising of Justice DK Jainand Justice AK Dave issued notices to the commission and the state government, asking them to file theirresponses within four weeks. The court issued the notices on a plea filed by the NGO, Jan SangharshManch (JSM), seeking direction to the Nanavati commission to call Modi for questioning. Earlier, theGujarat high court had dismissed the NGO's plea. Advocates Collin Gonsalves and Shreeji Bhavsar, whoappeared for the NGO, submitted that Modi should be summoned by the commission as the role of thechief minister falls within the ambit of the probe panel's frame of reference. The Nanavati commission wasset up in 2002 to enquire into the Godhra train carnage and the subsequent communal riots across thestate. In 2004, the terms of reference of the commission were expanded to include within its purview an

examination of the chief minster's role in the communal violence. The JSM had filed the plea first beforethe commission itself in 2007 but, in September 2009, the commission rejected its plea. In November2009, the NGO had moved the high court for quashing of the order but a bench of Justice KS Jhaveri haddismissed its plea terming it as 'premature'. In 2010, the JSM filed an appeal before the high court'sdivision bench against the single judge order. Mukul Sinha, counsel for JSM, had argued that summoningModi and others was required for collecting evidence about the Godhra train burning incident and theriots. The state government had opposed the JSM's plea contending that the NGO had no locus standi toseek summoning of Modi. It had submitted that the NGO's petition was not maintainable under law as theCommission of Enquiries Act does not allow any third party to demand summoning of any person againstthe wishes of the probe panel. The high court said it was for the commission to decide whom it should callfor questioning. The Supreme Court-appointed special investigation team (SIT) had questioned Modi inthis connection for over ten hours in 2010. (DNA 20/3/2)Plight of Gujarat riot victims shocks UN rapporteurs (7)Ahmedabad: At a time when the world is witnessing the rise of Chief Minister Narendra Modi, two womenin the team of United Nations Special Rapporteur Christof Hynes were crying while Hynes himself wasshocked to see the alleged violation of human rights in the state. The team was shown the accusationsagainst Modi in the 2002 riots and the encounter cases. At the end of the presentation, Hynes said wasthat he was now in a position to put forward the cases of violation of human rights in the state at theinternational level. Modi is at the centre of many accusations about extra-judicial deaths in the state. Awoman, who is one of the key witnesses in the Gulbarg massacre, said that the police refused to considerher as a witness in the Gulberg massacre, even though she was present in Ehsan Jafri’s house and sawhim calling up the CM and begging for help again and again. Talking to DNA, activist Shabnam Hazmihighlighted the state’s role, especially the CM’s, when no prosecution has happened for a decade; thecustodial deaths and the arrogance that prevails in Gujarat, in an almost three-hour presentation. Hazmialso said that the UN has asked for permission from the central government to visit a few states inconnection with the violation of human rights and Gujarat is one such state. The others are Kashmir,Assam, Delhi and Kerala. The violation of Dalit rights and custodial deaths of tribals were also reported tothe rapporteur, giving him anidea about the violation of human rights besides the riot related cases.“I havepresented three different cases of deaths of the tribals either in police encounters or in police custody,”Roomaal Dhrangi, a tribal rights activist told DNA. Cases of Dalit atrocities and custodial deaths of theDalits were presented by Dalit and tribal rights activist Manjula Pradeep to the rapporteur. Other sourcessaid that the UN team went back with shocking revelations which they otherwise would never havewitnessed. Advocate Mukul Sinha presented the overview of the encounters, while Rauf Lala andShamima Kausar presented the case of Ishrat Jahan. Advocate Anand Yagnik presented the details ofSamir Khan Pathan’s encounter. The presentation was followed by an informal meeting with some civilrights activists and others at a dinner. The informal meeting of Hynes with civil rights activists and othersfocused on the killing through encounters in the state. Apart from that, details of the 2005 communal riotsof Vadodara and 2008 riots during Ganesh Visarjan in Vadodara, were also presented. (DNA 25/3/12)Life imprisonment for teacher for role in communal riots (7)BERHAMPUR, March 25, 2012: A school teacher Kartik Paramanik was sentenced to life imprisonmentby a Fast Track Court of Phulbani for his involvement in a murder during the communal riots inKandhamal district in 2008. This decision was made by judge of Fast Track Court I of Phulbani, SobhanDash. According to the charge sheet filed in the court against Paramanik, he had murdered Ramesh Digalof Petamaha village under Raikia police station limits on August 25, 2008. It was the time when largescale communal violence had erupted in Kandhamal district after the murder of VHP leader SwamiLakshmanananda Saraswati. According to the complaint filed by Naresh Digal the brother of thedeceased, Paramanik who served as a teacher at nearby Luhuringia village was the main accused behindhis brother's murder. Paramanik had hacked Ramesh to death. Examining the witnesses and evidencesfurnished against Paramanik, the court found the allegation to be true and convicted him and he wassentenced to life imprisonment. But on Saturday 142 other persons accused of involvement in arson andrioting during communal riots in Kandhamal district in December 2007 were acquitted by Fast Track CourtII of Phulbani in two cases. One case was related to communal violence in Brahmanigaon police stationarea on December 27, 2007. In this case 68 persons were acquitted. In the other case 74 personsaccused of arson and rioting were acquitted due to lack of evidence. (The Hindu 25/3/12)

Supreme Court: we cannot direct Nanavati Commission to summon Narendra Modi (7)NEW DELHI, March 27, 2012: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi got a breather from the SupremeCourt on Monday — it refused to direct the Justice Nanavati Commission to summon him for questioningin connection with the 2002 communal riots. A Bench of Justices D.K. Jain and Anil R. Dave dismissed aswithdrawn a special leave petition (SLP) filed by Amrish N. Patel, representing the Jan Sangarsh Manch,after indicating that it would not entertain it. On March 23, the Bench recalled the notices it had issued tothe Commission and the Gujarat government on March 19 after it was found that the subject of thepetitions was not related to the issues pertaining to the Commission. The Bench had posted the SLP forfurther hearing on Monday. Mr. Gonsalves, appearing for the petitioner, insisted that the Commissionsummon Mr. Modi as the role of Chief Minister fell within the ambit of its terms of reference. Since thegovernment itself had amended the terms of reference for inquiry into the role and conduct of the ChiefMinister and/or any Minister, it was necessary to summon Mr. Modi, he said, pointing out that theCommission was about to complete the probe without examining him. Justice Jain asked counsel: “Tell usunder which law this court can direct the commission to probe the role of somebody. It is for theCommission to determine its own procedure and decide whom it should summon as a witness and whatprobe it should conduct.” When Mr. Gonsalves said the court could interfere if the Commission actedarbitrarily, Justice Jain said: “Probe is not decided on the basis of personalities. If, after the submission ofthe final report, you find it [the report] …arbitrary, then we can understand. But you are asking us to judgea report [of the commission] even before it is submitted.” How the court could interfere to ensure thatsomeone was made a witness and conclude that the Commission was proceeding arbitrarily when it hadnot submitted its report, he asked. “The Commission has not closed the inquiry. We can't judge thecorrectness of the order till the final report is submitted. If the court starts interfering at every stage in the… Commission's functioning, no …commission can submit its report,” he said. When counsel said theCommission was conducting the probe for 10 years, Justice Jain said: “We have instances in which it hastaken 15 years for [an] inquiry commission to complete a probe. Once the final report is submitted, it is forthe Legislature or Parliament to accept or reject the recommendations. What happened to [the] reports ofhigh-profile inquiry commissions? How many buckets are full with reports of inquiry commissions?” “Wehear about judicial overreach. If we start monitoring the functioning of the inquiry commissions, will it notbe judicial overreach” he asked. When Mr. Gonsalves pointed out that the court had intervened earlier,Justice Jain said: “It [the 2002 riots] is an unfortunate event, very difficult to erase from our mind. We havere-opened the cases. Can a judicial body constituted under a statute be subjected to judicial review is thequestion. In this case, if we interfere, it will be a clear case of judicial overreach.” The Bench thenpermitted counsel to withdraw the appeal and dismissed it as withdrawn. (The Hindu 26/3/12)Gujarat riots: It took govt 10 yrs and a rap to table NHRC report (7)Ahmedabad: Ten long years after the Godhra incident and the subsequent riots that left a bloody trail inthe state, the Gujarat government finally tabled the National Human Rights Commission's 2002-03 reportthat makes a mention of the incident and what went wrong. Incidentally, like the CAG report, thegovernment tabled the NHRC report only on the last day of the budget session to prevent the matterbeing discussed at length in the assembly. It should be noted that the government bothered to table thereport only after it came under heavy criticism by the high court. The court was hearing the caseregarding compensation for religious structures damaged during the 2002 riots. While asking thegovernment to compensate for the damage to the structures the high court had criticised the governmentfor not tabling the report within six months of it being made. This was the first annual report of the NHRCafter the 2002 riots. The report had criticised the inadequate response from the Gujarat government onthe observation and recommendations made by the commission. The report further said that many of themisgivings expressed by the commission proved to be well-founded and that the initial failure of thegovernment to protect human rights was compounded by the failure to provide justice to those whoserights were violated. The report further said that despite the volatile situation the government had insistedon going ahead with the Gaurav yatra and Jagannath yatra in the month of July 2002. Both were laterpostponed due to pressure from the highest level. The commission in its report said that it hadrecommended giving prominent riot cases including the Sabarmati carnage, Gulbarg society, NarodaPatia, Best Bakery, and Sardarpura cases among others to be investigated by the Central Bureau ofInvestigations (CBI). "But the government refused on the ground that the probe was already going on andthe move will only delay it further," said the report. The commission also criticised the government for notresponding properly to queries relating to the riots and remedial measures taken by the government.(DNA 31/3/12)Gujarat govt transfers 50 IPS officers (7)Ahmedabad: Gujarat government has transferred 50 IPS officers, including Satish Verma, a member of

special investigation team which probed Ishrat Jahan encounter case. Verma, currently JCP (traffic) forAhmedabad city, has been now appointed as principal of Police Training College in Junagadh. As per thenotification issued late last night, six IPS officers have been promoted from the rank of Superintendent ofPolice (SP) to Deputy Inspector General (DIG). They include RJ Savani, accused of negligence by 2002Gujarat riots victims. Eleven police inspectors have been promoted as Deputy Superintendents of Police,and transfered. Seven existing DySP rank officers have been also transfered. Verma was a part of theGujarat High Court-appointed SIT in Ishrat case. The SIT concluded that the encounter was fake,following which High court handed over the case to CBI. Savani, accused of negligence during the post-Godhra riots by many of the victims and the NGO Jan Sangharsh Manch (JSM), has been promoted asDIG-Railways for Gujarat. Savani, at present SP of Mehsana, was DCP Zone (V) in 2002; Naroda Patiya,Naroda Gam and Gulburg society which faced large-scale communal violence were in his jurisdiction. AtulKarwal, a Gujarat-cadre IPS officer who scaled Mount Everest in 2009, has also been transfered fromcurrent posting of JCP Sector 2 in Ahmedabad to Joint Director, State Police Academy, Karai,Gandhinagar. Karwal will be replaced by SG Bhatti, at present Additional Police Commissioner (traffic andcrime), Surat. The police inspectors who have been promoted to DySP rank (class 1) will have to clearthe computer skills test within three months, otherwise they will be demoted to the PI level.(DNA 8/4/12)23 guilty in Gujarat riot case (7)Ahmedabad, April 9: A Gujarat court today convicted 23 of the 46 accused in a 2002 riot case in which amob torched a house where four families had taken shelter, killing 23 people. The court in Anand districtwill hand down the sentences on April 12 in the so-called “Ode massacre” or “Pirawali massacre”, one ofthe nine cases probed by the Supreme Court-appointed special investigation team (SIT). This is the thirdGujarat riot case whose verdict has been announced, after the Godhra train fire case and the Sardarpuramassacre in Mehsana district. Rights activists rued the 23 acquittals, saying the SIT had not pursued thecase “vigorously” enough. On March 1, 2002, a mob of 2,000 locked the doors of a house from outside atPirawali Bhagol in Ode, Anand. They threw burning rags and kerosene and petrol pouches inside thehouse. Six people who escaped by jumping off the roof said there were 23 others, including nine womenand nine children, inside. The remains of only two could be found; the remaining 21 were presumed dead.All the accused were from the powerful Patel community. Some among the convicts have served aschairmen of the village cooperative bank and credit society. Four were leading tobacco traders. Themassacre was followed by another killing a day later. By March 2, most of the Muslims had fled the villagebut Ghulam Rasool Saiyed, 80, was too weak to leave. Members of the funeral procession of Nishit Patel,a youth killed in police firing, threw Saiyed into the burning pyre. Of the 47 accused of murder, conspiracy,rioting, unlawful assembly and other offences, one died during the trial. All the 14 accused of Saiyed’smurder were acquitted of that crime but seven of them have been convicted of the Pirawali killings. All theaccused had been out on bail but the 23 convicts were taken back into custody today. Shoddy policeinvestigations had led the case to be handed over to the SIT, but the latter neither registered a fresh FIRnor collected new evidence, a rights activist alleged. “It is evident the SIT did not intend to pursue theinvestigation vigorously,” Mukhtar Ahmed said. But public prosecutor P.N. Parmar said: “This is a bigachievement for the prosecution. After all, 23 out of 46 means 50 per cent conviction.” He said theprosecution had itself told the court there was no evidence against 12 accused. The trial had begun inend-2009 and was on the verge of completion when the then judge resigned in May 2011 citing personalreasons. All the arguments had to be made afresh before the new judge. The first verdict in a riot casecame in February last year, with 31 convicted of torching the Godhra train. Eleven were sentenced todeath and 20 were handed life terms. In November, 31 people were convicted and given life terms forburning 33 to death in Sardarpura. (Telegraph 10/4/12)SIT finds no proof against Modi, says court (7)Ahmedabad: The Ahmedabad Metropolitan Magistrate on Tuesday declared that the Supreme CourtappointedSpecial Investigation Team had not found any evidence for prosecuting Gujarat Chief MinisterNarendra Modi and top bureaucrats and police officers and recommended that the investigation in the2002 Gulberg Society massacre case be closed. Though magistrate M.S. Bhatt did not pronounce thecourt's decision on the closure report, he ordered the SIT to give a copy of it, within 30 days, to thecomplainant, Zakia Jafri, widow of the former Congress MP, Ehsan Jafri, who was among the 69 killed inthe massacre. In his order on a batch of petitions seeking a copy of the report, including the one filed byMs. Jafri, Mr. Bhatt said the investigators had filed a closure report, having found no evidence to justifythe filing of an FIR against any of the persons named in Ms. Jafri's complaint in the Supreme Court,accusing Mr. Modi and 62 others of direct or indirect involvement in the communal riots. “According to theSIT, no offence has been established against any of the persons listed in Ms. Jafri's complaint. Therefore,

as per the Supreme Court's order and the principle of natural justice, the complainant has to be given acopy of the report and related documents,” the court said. No notice was needed to be issued to Ms. Jafrias she had already approached the court for a copy of the report. But the court did not make anyreference to the co-petitioners who sought a copy, including the Mumbai-based Citizens for Justice andPeace, which has been helping the riot victims in the legal battle. That the SIT had given a clean chit toMr. Modi and others was known in official circles for some time. But it was officially being confirmed bythe court for the first time. The State government spokesman and Health Minister, Jaynarayan Vyas, wasguarded in his reaction: the SIT report should put an end to the “canard” being spread against Mr. Modiand others by some NGOs in a “bid to defame Gujarat,” he said. The SIT's finding is a shot in the arm forMr. Modi and the BJP, given that the State is going to the polls by year-end, but is subject to confirmationby the trial court and, in case of an appeal, the Supreme Court. Ms. Jafri said she was pained to learn thatthe SIT had given Mr. Modi and others a “clean chit.” She vowed to continue the legal battle. CJP generalsecretary Teesta Setalvad said the report of the Supreme Court's amicus curiae, Raju Ramachandran,who had found enough grounds for trying Mr. Modi, would be crucial. “We are still not clear whether Mr.Ramachandran's report had formed part of the SIT's report…,” she said. Tanvir Jafri, son of the deceasedCongress MP, said he had apprehensions about the SIT filing a closure report. “The SIT says there is noevidence against Mr. Modi, but not the court. The SIT's decision is of no value if the magistrate decidesagainst it. It may take time, but we are going to fight it out.” (The Hindu 11/4/12)Religious leaders visit affected places (7)A delegation of leaders of different faiths on Saturday visited seven places of worship in the city that hadbeen desecrated by antisocial elements with a view to fomenting trouble. The delegation of the interfaithforum, an offshoot of the Confederation of Voluntary Associations, comprised Srinivas of Arya Samaj,Rev. Prabhakar Rao, Shah Hamed of Shuttari-Kul Hind Sunni Ulema Board, Syed Shah Muqtar ofQuadri- Bazme, Shahe Moosa Quadri and Omim Debara of Parsi Zoarastrian Anjuman. The team visitedthe Masjid E Azmi in Narayanguda, the Noor Alam Masjid in Nimboli Adda, the Masjid e Thaggi jail, theHanuman temple in Kurmaguda (where the first incident took place), the Hanuman temple in Mughalpura,the Masjid Ibrahim Kheelulah in Bahadurpura and the Pochamma temple in Nandi Muslaiguda. Meetingfaith leaders and members of the affected communities in these places, the leaders consoled them andexpressed their hurt and outrage at what had happened. (Asian Age 15/4/12)40 acquitted in Goa communal riots case for lack of evidence (7)A local court today acquitted 40 accused, including senior BJP leaders, in the first ever communal riotscase in the state, which had occurred in the twin towns of Curchorem-Sanvordem in 2006. The Sessionscourt at Margao acquitted 40 accused, including BJP general secretary Satish Dhond and senior leaderSharmad Raiturcar. The accused had been charged with unlawful assembly, mischief and criminaltrespass. Riots had erupted after a mob demolished a madrassa on March 2-3, 2006, which was allegedlyconstructed illegally on the outskirts of Sanvordem-Curchorem. The violence, which continued for threedays before the Central Industrial Security Force stepped in, saw property worth crores of rupeesdestroyed. Acquitting the accused, Justice Vikaya Pol said that the prosecution had failed to prove caseagainst the accused, including the individual role played by them. The judge also observed that merelybecoming a part of the assembly does not establish their crime. “The prosecution could not prove, beyondreasonable doubt, the act or commission on the part of the accused, which would make him a member ofthe unlawful assembly,” the judge ruled. The court also noted that the prosecution failed to prove that theaccused were a part of the assembly, which was responsible for communal violence. During the riots,which continued for two days, shops and establishments belonging to the minority community had beentargeted. Officially, this is the first ever communal violence witnessed by the state, which is known forpeace. Police had feared that the violence would spread in other parts of the state as well. However, thecommunal harmony meetings between both the communities had controlled the situation. (The Hindu19/4/12)Sardarpura massacre case acquittals challenged in Gujarat High Court (7)AHMEDABAD, April 20, 2012: The Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team has challengedin the Gujarat High Court a fast track court's judgment acquitting 31 people in the Sardarpura massacrecase witnessed during the 2002 communal riots in the State. (Thirty-three people were killed by a mob atSardarpura in Mehsana district on March 1, 2002.) This past November 9, Special Court Judge S. C.Srivastava sentenced 31 people to life imprisonment and exonerated 11 others for want of evidence. Heacquitted 31 people giving them the benefit of the doubt. The SIT, probing some of the gruesomemassacres during the riots, has not challenged the exoneration of 11 persons. The Gujarat Government

has already challenged the fast track court's acquittals, but neither the State nor the SIT has soughtenhancement of punishment for the 31 sentenced to life imprisonment. Some survivors have also filed anappeal in the High Court challenging the acquittal of 14 of the accused, claiming that there was clearevidence available against them. The High Court granted the State Government and other litigants“pardon” for the delay in filing the appeals on technical grounds, and fixed the next hearing for April 27.SIT sources said the Team was also likely to challenge the Ode fast track court's order last weekacquitting 23 accused, even as it sentenced 18 persons to life term and five others to seven years'imprisonment each for killing 24 persons in the village in Anand district. Meanwhile, Justice M. D. Shahrefused to hear a bail application by IPS officer Abhay Chudasma arrested in connection with theSohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case. The IPS officer, who then was Joint Police Commissioner ofAhmedabad, was considered one of the key players in the November 2005 fake encounter. (The Hindu20/4/12)Draft fresh anti-communal violence bill: Activists (7)New Delhi: Not satisfied with the draft of the Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence Bill, civilsociety activists on Saturday demanded that the government come out with a new version with provisionsthat enable reparative justice to victims and survivors of communal violence. Joining the debate on theCommunal Violence Bill, the activists claimed that the amendments made by UPA government in 2005made no change to the architecture of the bill and it still remains "deeply flawed and entirelyunacceptable".Addressing a press conference, civil society activist Niaz A Farooqi said it wasdisheartening to know that the government which boasts of being secular cannot understand that this billis not for the benefit of minorities but for entire nation "because anybody can be a target of communalviolence." The draft of the Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence Bill, 2011 submitted by NACcame under serious attack from political parties as well as large sections of the civil society. "The idea ofdisturbed areas, which paves the way for the accumulation of extraordinary powers in the hands of stateauthorities was included in proposed bill and was withdrawn due to criticism of civil society activists andlegal experts," said Usha Ramanthan, a former member of Drafting committee of NAC. The civil society isdemanding that the government draft a new legislation with primary focus on securing accountability ofpublic servants as well as provision for providing reparative justice to victims and survivors of communalviolence. Another former member of NAC, Advocate Vrinda Grover said: "We as members of civil societywill raise our demands but we will not get involved in the process of drafting the bill. It is the Law Ministry'swork, not ours". (DNA 21/4/12)Nine convicted, 32 acquitted for Gujarat riots case (7)Anand (Gujarat), May 4 : The Anand district and sessions court Friday convicted nine people andacquitted 32 for the killing of three members of a Muslim family in Ode village of Gujarat during the 2002communal riots. Judge R.M. Sharim gave the verdict in the case related to Malav Bhagol area of Ode inAnand district. Three Muslims - Kadar Vohra, Ayesha Vohra and Noori Vohra, all from the same family -were burnt to death inside a house near Malav Bhagol March 1, 2002, two days after the Godhra traincarnage. In April, a special trial court had acquitted 23 people, but also convicted 23 for the massacre of23 people in another case of communal killings in Ode village during the 2002 Gujarat riots. (IANS) (NewKerala 4/5/12)Ground to prosecute Modi for riots: Court adviser (7)Ahmedabad, May 7: A lawyer appointed by the Supreme Court to advise it has held there is a prima faciecase for prosecuting Narendra Modi over the 2002 riots, on charges such as promoting enmity betweenreligious groups and making assertions prejudicial to national integration. The July 25, 2011, report byamicus curiae (friend of the court) Raju Ramachandran points out that according to the CriminalProcedure Code, if there is a prima facie case against someone, the court should go ahead with a trialand weigh the evidence. Ramachandran’s advice, though, is not binding on the Gujarat magistrate’s courtthat has to decide whether the chief minister and 62 other politicians and officials should be prosecuted.However, if it decides to hold a trial, that itself will be a huge blow to Modi’s prestige. The amicus curiae’sreport, made public for the first time today, runs counter to one submitted by an apex court-appointedspecial investigation team (SIT) that gives a clean chit to Modi and the rest and advises closure of thecase filed against them by riot widow Zakia Jafri. Zakia, who says the accused colluded to prevent helpreaching the riot victims, had also demanded that Modi be charged with conspiracy to murder butRamachandran’s report is silent on that. Zakia was today given copies of both the SIT and amicus curiaereports. At the next hearing on May 10, she plans to seek two months to build her case against closingthe case. Legal experts said the magistrate may uphold the SIT report or he might ask the SIT to re-

investigate and plug the holes cited by the amicus curiae. Ramachandran’s report draws heavily on acourt affidavit by suspended Gujarat IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, whose testimony the SIT had dismissed asmotivated. Bhatt claims he attended a meeting at Modi’s home on February 27, 2002, where the chiefminister instructed police bosses to “let Hindus vent their anger” at the torching of the Sabarmati Expressin Godhra hours earlier. Ramachandran refers to Bhatt’s testimony to say: “In my opinion, the offenceswhich can be made out against Shri Modi, at this prima facie stage, are offences... under Sections153A(1)(a) & (b) of IPC (Indian Penal Code) which means promoting enmity among different groups ongrounds of religion and 153B(1), which... (relates to) assertions prejudicial to national integration.” “He(Modi) should also be prosecuted” under Section 166, which relates to a public servant disobeying the lawwith intent to causing injury to someone, and Section 505(2), which deals with statements that create orpromote enmity, hatred or ill-will, he adds. Ramachandran also refers to a piece of “circumstantialevidence” against Modi: the presence of two ministers — I.K. Jadeja (urban development) and the lateAshok Bhatt (health) — at the police control room during the killings. “While there is no direct material toshow how and when the message of the chief minister was conveyed to the two ministers, the verypresence of political personalities unconnected with the home portfolio at the police control rooms iscircumstantial evidence of the chief minister directing, requesting or allowing them to be present.” Zakia,whose husband and former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri was among 69 people killed at Ahmedabad’sGulbarg Society, says Ehsan had called the police and the chief minister’s office for help but they didnothing. The Supreme Court had asked the SIT to probe the charges and assigned Ramachandran tomake his own independent assessment of the case against Modi. Several senior police officers havealleged that Bhatt was not present at the meeting at Modi’s residence. Ramachandran cites the absenceof the meeting’s minutes to say: “There is no documentary material of any nature whatsoever which canestablish that Shri Bhatt was not present at the meeting. Therefore, it is the word of Shri Bhatt against theword of other officers senior to him.” He says whether Bhatt was present and whether Modi made such astatement can only be decided by a court of law. However, “it would not be correct to disbelieve theversion of Shri Bhatt at this prima facie stage”. (The Telegraph 8/5/12)Curfew relaxed for 12 hours (7)Shillong, May 14, 2012: With normalcy returning to Meghalaya's West Garo Hills district borderingAssam's Dhubri district, authorities Sunday further relaxed the curfew. The curfew was relaxed from 6a.m. to 6 p.m. It was imposed in Phulbari, Rajabala, Bhaitbari, Singhimari and other adjoining areas May8 to prevent communal clashes between Garos and Muslims after some people circulated text messageswith a communal flavour. IANS (The Hindu 14/5/12)PSI among 6 injured in communal rioting in Karjan (7)VADODARA: Communal rioting broke out in Karjan taluka late on Saturday night after members of twocommunities clashed with each other. Five persons suffered injuries as the mob resorted to stone peltingand some even brandished sharp weapons. Police arrested six persons from both sides on Sundaymorning. Tension prevailed in Jalaramnagar that is considered one of the sensitive areas in Karjan onSunday. Police said a police sub-inspector was injured during the rioting as the mobs even targeted thepolice and its vehicles. "The rioting occurred over a very minor dispute. The mob suddenly got violent andresorted to stone pelting. The police have registered an offence against people from both sides andinvestigations are on," said IG (rural) S S Trivedi. Sources said that minor argument had happenedbetween an individual and an auto-rickshaw driver, belonging to different communities, a couple of daysago. The argument was settled but on Saturday night mobs members of both communities again clashedwith each other for reasons unknown. The mob resorted to stone pelting and within a matter of fewminutes hundreds of people gathered in the area. The cops reached the spot and tried to take control ofthe situation. But, the angry mob turned its ire towards police too. A police vehicle was damaged and ashop was also ransacked. A police sub-inspector suffered injuries during the stone pelting. The cops hadto resort to lathi-charge for dispersing the mob. Soon after, the police began combing operation to trackdown the accused. (Times of India 20/5/12)Anti-Sikh riots: Court rejects Sajjan Kumar’s plea (7)New Delhi, June 2, 2012: A Delhi court today dismissed Congress leader Sajjan Kumar’s plea to use inhis defence a 1984 anti-Sikh riots victim’s statements to judicial commissions, allegedly contradicting hertestimony to trial court. The witness’ statements to judicial commissions cannot be used for any purpose,including that for discrediting her or to impeach her, District Judge J. R. Aryan said. The Congress leader,in his application, had said the earlier affidavits and statements of complainant and key witness JagdishKaur to the judicial commission be allowed to be used to confront her with her recent testimony in the

ongoing trial. “It is clear that without going into the wider questions, even a plain reading of section 6 ofthe Commissions of Inquiry Act will prohibit the use of the previous statements at the trial either for thepurposes of cross examination to contradict the witness or to impeach his credit,” the court said. Theformer Outer Delhi MP had filed an application saying that CBI prosecutor R. S. Cheema on July 12,2010, had told the court that affidavits and statement of complainant and key witness Jagdish Kaur,recorded by G. T. Nanavati and Ranganath Mishra Commissions, cannot be used because ofcontradictions. The CBI had said as per the provisions of the Commission of Inquiry Act, the affidavits andstatements of a witness given before any Commission cannot be used against her for the purpose ofquestioning her testimony. Sajjan Kumar, Balwan Khokkar, Kishan Khokkar, Mahender Yadav, GirdhariLal and Captain Bhagmal are facing trial in the killings of six people in Delhi Cantonment area during the1984 carnage which had broken out after the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi onOctober 31, 1984. They are accused of instigating a mob to attack and kill the Sikhs. (The Hindu 2/6/12)After riots, Kosi Kalan simmering with tension, rumours (7)Mohammad Sarfaraz stood in front of his burned-down store almost reduced to tears as he spoke of thecommunal violence that tore apart his town on Friday, claiming four lives and destroying hundreds,including his own. “I had invested my life in this shop, which was turned into ashes,” the scrap dealer said.“I do not have a single penny to start my life again.” The store in front of Mr. Sarfaraz's business, alsoburned down, belonged to a Hindu — testimony to the close ties which bound together the life of Hindusand Muslims in Kosi Kalan. But two days after communal canards sparked Friday's murderous riots, freshrumours about imminent attacks and hidden massacres are continuing to sweep through this smallMathura-district town, raising fears of further violence. Local residents' accounts of the violence point todeep divisions between the town's religious communities. Baldev Chowk resident Kuldeep Singh, amember of the Gujjar community, accused the administration of playing a partisan role in the violence.“Had it not been for our brothers from the nearby villages whom we called to save us, we would havebeen dead by now.” He said a large number of people were mobilised from the nearby Jat-dominatedvillages after rumours were spread that seven girls belonging to one community had been raped bymembers of another community and that two of them had been killed. No factual basis exists for therumours, authorities say, and none has so far been put forward by any independent group. Members ofthe minority community also accused the administration of being a “mute spectator” of the violence. Localsocial activist Maqsood said the minority community was afraid and did not trust the local administration.Three of the four killed were Muslim, according to local authorities. District authorities relaxed curfew fortwo hours on Sunday, for the first time since it was imposed in the wake of the June 1 violence, whichclaimed four lives and left 25 injured —the first large communal riots in the town's recent history. Thebreak in curfew passed off peacefully. Mathura district magistrate Sanjay Kumar told The Hindu that“rumours had a tremendous role to play in aggravating the already communally charged situation.” Heclaimed the problem began with a petty fight on Friday afternoon, when a Hindu boy was slapped bysome local Muslims for washing his hands from the water drum kept outside the local mosque after heused a nearby urinal. The two communities were pacified after Senior Superintendent of Police DharamvirYadav reached the spot at 2 p.m. However, rumours about the supposedly-kidnapped girls soon led tomobilisation of mobs from the adjoining countryside. “The real problem started when we had to face alarge armed mob from outside the town. We did not have sufficient force to fight it. So we tried toconvince the mob that the rumour about cases of rape and murders of girls of the majority communitywere not true. But before we could do anything, the rioting mob had created havoc.” An official in theadministration said the riots were politically motivated with an eye on the coming Assembly by-electionand the local municipal elections. Police have made several arrests related to rioting, but there is still noclear account of precisely who spread the lethal rumours — and why Kosi Kalan's residents proved sowilling to believe them. (The Hindu 5/6/12)Former Minister, MLC booked for riots (7)Mathura, June 5, 2012: A former Uttar Pradesh Minister and his MLC brother were among 156 peoplebooked for the Kosi Kalan communal clashes, which claimed four lives. Choudhary Laxmi Narayan,Agriculture Minister in the previous BSP regime, and his brother Lekhraj Choudhary have been chargedwith armed assault, incitement to violence, loot, arson, attempt to murder and conspiracy. But Mr. Lekhrajsaid: “Normalcy cannot be restored by implicating innocents. It is surprising that I have been implicated,because I was attending the Assembly at the time of riots.” (The Hindu 6/6/12)Motorbike accident sparks communal riots in Mogulwada (7)VADODARA: Heated arguments between people from different communities after a minor vehicle

accident sparked off heavy communal rioting in the sensitive Mogulwada area of the city late on Saturdaynight. The mob pelted stones at each other and even at the police that rushed to the spot to control thesituation. The cops had to lob teargas shells and resort to lathi-charge for dispersing the rioters. Fivepolicemen including Wadi police inspector P Arya suffered minor injuries during stone pelting. Six personswere rounded up on Sunday for questioning and more arrests are expected in next couple of days. "Theincident occurred when two bikers met with a minor accident near Mogulwada restaurant. Both the bikerswere from same community. They entered into arguments following which one of them left the spot.However, sometime later he again came to the same spot with his group and started damaging vehiclesparked there," said a police official. "They suddenly started pelting stones at the vehicles and locals. Itsoon snowballed into riots as mobs from different communities clashed with each other. The policeimmediately rushed to the spot. The area where riots happened is very sensitive as it has mixedpopulation," the official added. The police lobbed 14 teargas shells to disperse the mob. "We are inprocess of identifying people who were involved in the riots. Strict action will be taken against theaccused. We have upped security in the sensitive areas of the city to avoid such incidents in future," saidcity police commissioner Satish Sharma. This is one of the several incidents in the city where vehicleaccidents have triggered riots. A couple of months ago, mobs had resorted to rioting in Karelibaug areaafter a similar argument between two people over road accident. (Times of India 11/6/12)Police arrest 13 in communal rioting case (7)VADODRA: The city police has made 13 arrests in the communal rioting that took place in Mogulwadaarea last week. The cops had earlier arrested six persons in the rioting that happened on night of June 9.Those in custody were then questioned about the involvement of other persons. Investigations revealedthat many more people staying in the locality had resorted to stone pelting and damaged vehicles. Theincident had occurred when two bikers met with a minor accident near Mogulwada restaurant. Both thebikers were from the same community. They entered into arguments following which one of them left thespot. However, sometime later he again came to the same spot with his group and started damagingvehicles parked there. It soon snowballed into riots as mobs from different communities clashed with eachother. The police immediately rushed to the spot. The area where the incident took place is a sensitivezone. Five cops including Wadi police inspector P Arya were injured in the incident. The cops had to lob14 tear gas shells and resort to lathi-charge for dispersing the rioters. A couple of months ago, mobs hadresorted to rioting in Karelibaug area after a similar argument occurred between two people over roadaccident. (Times of India 15/6/12)Communal strife was a conspiracy to malign party image, says Mulayam Singh (7)Lucknow: Samajwadi Party national chief Mulayam Singh Yadav said on Tuesday that the recentcommunal strife in Pratapgarh and Mathura were ‘part of a larger conspiracy’ to malign the stategovernment and to create a wedge between party and minorities. Yadav gave this statement when adelegation of farmers from Asthanagarh in Pratapgarh led by Imam of Jama Masjid, Delhi MaulanaAhmed Bhukari met him in Lucknow on Tuesday. He assured them that strict action would be takenagainst the policemen who did not take action against the people who burnt the houses of minorities atAsthanagarh area of Pratapgarh recently. Yadav admitted that communal riots at Kosikala in Mathuraand then at Pratapgarh were part of a bigger conspiracy to distance the Muslims from the SamajwadiParty before the Lok Sabha elections.” The SP is committed to protecting the life and property ofminorities and would not go back on its promise,” he said. On his part, Maulana Bukhari held theCongress responsible for the conspiracy against the SP. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has also assuredthe delegation that a high-level team would be sent to Asthanagarh to assess the loss of property. Thegovernment had given a compensationof Rs 50,000 each to the owners of 46 houses which were razedduring the violence. Communal clash broke out in Asthanagarh when some youths of the minorities rapedand murdered a 11 -year-old dalit girl. The state government had suspended DM and SP of Pratapgarhalong with lower rung officials. (Pioneer 26/6/12)Naroda Patia accused has a Muslim wife (7)AHMEDABAD: Suresh Dedawala is accused of killing the most number of Muslims in the Naroda Patiamassacre on February 28, 2002. Yet, when it came to defending himself in the court of law, Dedawalaalias Richard alias Langado took refuge in a relationship with a Muslim. Dedawala's wife, Seema, followsIslam - an argument his lawyers have put forth. Dedawala was caught in a sting operation bragging abouthis 'heroics' during the fateful day when 97 people were killed by marauding mobs in Naroda. But, duringthe trial, he argued he would not participate in any violence against Muslims since his wife belonged tothe minority community. He has also told the court that he was falsely implicated because Muslims in the

neighbourhood did not like him marrying agirl from their community. The charges framed by the specialcourt describe how he led a mob that burnt alive Zarina, Nasim, Khairun, Bilkis, Sharif, Iqbal and Salim.He is also charged with killing three children. Eyewitness accounts also accuse him of torching seven ofAbdul Majid's family alive in their house. Dedawala has been named by 63 witnesses who described hisaggression throughout the day. Even other high-profile accused like Maya Kodnani and Babu Bajrangiwere named by only 10 and 14 eye-witnesses, respectively. When contacted, Richard and his wiferefused to talk. The couple lives with a 14-year-old daughter, Richelle, and eight-year old Richardson. Aspecial court is likely to pronounce final verdict in the Naroda Patia case, wherein 97 Muslims were killedin the aftermath of Godhra carnage, on Saturday. Sixty-one persons, including former minister MayaKodnani and Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi, were tried for the offence. The prosecution examined 327witnesses, including 174 injured people. Prosecution claimed that this was a pre-planned conspiracy. Theinvestigation was handed over to SIT by the Supreme Court and trial lasted for more than two-and-a-halfyears. (Times of India 1/7/12)High Court hikes Best Bakery witnesses’ relief to Rs 3 lakh (7)Mumbai: Terming as “inadequate” the compensation of Rs 2000 given by the Gujarat government to fourkey witnesses in the Best Bakery riot case of 2002, the Bombay High Court on Tuesday hiked the amountto Rs 3 lakh, considering their “ordeal”. The High Court had heavily relied upon the testimonies of the fouremployees of the bakery, who had received grievous injuries during the riots, to uphold life sentence tofour accused in the case in which five others were acquitted for want of evidence yesterday.“Compensation given to these witnesses is inadequate taking into consideration the ordeal they haveundergone. Hence we direct the Gujarat government to deposit compensation of Rs 3 lakh each to thesefour eyewitnesses,” a division bench of justices V M Kanade and P D Kode ordered. Apart from these foureyewitnesses, the bench also ordered a compensation of Rs 3 lakh to key prosecution witness YasmeenShaikh. Noting that a number of witnesses had turned hostile in the case, the court said it was high timethat the state government developed a mechanism for providing protection to witnesses. Relying onstatements of four injured eyewitnesses —Tufil Ahmed Siddiqui, Raees Khan, Shahzad Khan Pathan andShailun Khan Pathan — the court upheld the conviction and life sentence awarded to four accused —Sanjay Thakkar, Bahadur Singh Chauhan, Shanabhai Baria and Dinesh Rajbhar. The court reversed theconviction of five other accused — Rajubhai Baria, Pankaj Gosavi, Jagdish Rajput, Suresh Vasava andShailesh Tadvi — after observing that no witnesses identified them as part of the mob that attacked BestBakery and no specific role was attributed to them. (Indian Express 11/7/12)Godhra train carnage convict dies in Vadodara Jail (7)Ahmedabad: A convict in the 2002 Godhra train burning case, where 59 people were burnt to death aftera mob attack on Sabarmati Express, passed away in Vadodara Central Jail today following heart attack,police said. "Shaukat alias Bhano Farooq Patadia (33) complained of chest pain this afternoon and wasrushed to the Sayajirao Gaekwad hospital. He died of heart attack," Jail Superintendent, VadodaraCentral Jail, R F Sangada said. He was awarded life sentence in March 2011 by designated judge P RPatel. His appeal, with other 31 convicts, against the judgement was pending in the Gujarat High Court.Shaukat was arrested on August 12, 2003 by Gujarat police and charged with offences under differentsections of IPC including 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 120b (criminal conspiracy). In thewee hours of February 27, 2002, a violent mob attacked Sabarmati Express train which resulted in thedeath of 59 people, mostly karsevaks who were returning from Ayodhya, and triggered communalviolence across Gujarat that claimed the lives of over 1200 Muslims. Eleven people have been sentencedto death and 20 others, including Shaukat, given life imprisonment by a trial court in the case. (IndianExpress 15/7/12)Gujarat riots: Teesta Setalvad's plea for SIT report rejected (7)Ahmedabad: The Ahmedabad metropolitan court on Monday rejected a petition by Teesta Setalvad andAmrish Patel to inspect the Special Investigation Team (SIT) report on the Gulbarg Society massacreduring the 2002 Gujarat riots. While dismissing Setalvad and Patel's petition, the court allowed ZakiaJafri's lawyer to inspect the 25,000-page long SIT report for five days from Tuesday. The SIT has alsobeen directed to file an affidavit whether it has any document which had not been provided to the court orcomplainant Zakia, widow of slain Congress MP Ehsaan Jafri. Zakia has been handed over a copy of theSupreme Court-appointed SIT report, which found no prosecutable evidence against Gujarat ChiefMinister Narendra Modi. The report had sought a closure in the probe as it found no evidence againstModi. Former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri who was among 69 persons killed in the Gulbarg society carnageand Zakia She had named Modi and 57 others for alleged criminal conspiracy in the 2002 riots. Zakia has

also been given a copy of the amicus curiae report filed independently by Raju Ramachandran… (CNNIBN 16/7/12)Army called out in Assam as violence escalates (7)Kokrajhar, Assam: The Army was called out in Assam on Tuesday after the situation in the violence-tornKokrajhar, Chirang and Dhubri districts deteriorated. The rail link between the State and the rest of thecountry got snapped and miscreants among Bodos and Muslims torched houses in a large number ofvillages. In a serious humanitarian crisis, more than 1,70,000 people have taken shelter in 121 reliefcamps. Assam Home Secretary G.D. Tripathi told The Hindu that the Defence Ministry had cleared thedeployment of the Army in the three districts after the State made the request, as sought by theadministration of these districts. He said the death toll had gone up to 32, including five who were killed inconfrontation with the police. Of the 121 relief camps opened in the three districts, 88 were set up inKokrajhar district. In another incident, miscreants stoned the Guwahati-bound Rajdhani Express atSrirampur in Kokrajhar district, damaging four coaches. The train was pulled back to New Coochbehar inWest Bengal. The rail link was snapped, what with the escalation of violence and the lack of adequatesecurity along the 54-km stretch between Srirampur and Salakati in Kokrajhar. Thousands of passengershave been stranded at six stations in West Bengal and six others in Kokrajhar district, besides inGuwahati. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhispoke to Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and assured him of all assistance from the Centre. Mr. Gogoi alsospoke to Defence Minister A.K. Antony and Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram; both promised tosend more troops to the State, an official release said. Inspector-General of Police (Bodoland TerritorialArea Districts) S.N. Singh said five persons were killed in Kokrajhar, when the police opened fire at thosewho tried to indulge in violence. Railway Minster Mukul Roy spoke to Mr. Chidambaram and Mr. Gogoiand requested them to provide adequate security, especially in the “badly affected” stretch between theSrirampur and Salakati stations, so that the trains held up in the region for more than 24 hours could runto their destinations, said a release from the Press Information Bureau. Till 5 p.m. on Tuesday, 26 trainswere cancelled and 37 trains regulated. All-Bodo Students Union president Pramode Boro alleged thatthough the student body identified 27 vulnerable places and urged the State government to deployadequate forces, their presence was not visible in most of these places, resulting in people fleeing theirhomes and miscreants continuing with violence. Mr. Boro said the ABSU was ready for talks with the All-Assam Minority Students Union and the All-Bodoland Minority Students Union, if a meeting was facilitatedby the district administration. (The Hindu 24/7/12)Assam riots: Community no bar in ethnic clash (7)CHIRANG/ KOKRAJHAR: In the relief camps set up for the victims of the recent ethnic violence that hasrocked the twin districts of Chirang and Kokrajhar in Western Assam, bordering Bhutan, the gloomy facesof the relief camp inmates are darker than the overcast skies, and tell the story of their sufferings. Thespate of violence has spared none in these two districts, irrespective of community. This is an apparentsign that the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) - a Sixth Schedule administrative arrangement in whichthe two districts fall - and the state government have not learnt any lessons from the ethnic clash that bledUdalguri district in 2008. Over one lakh people were displaced and many killed in the 2008 ethnic violencein Udalguri, which is also under BTC. The BTC covers four districts - Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa andUdalguri. If Shahadat Ali (35) of Besorbari village in Chirang lost everything in the mindless violence,Durga Basumatary of Malgaon in Kokrajhar had to run for safety leaving behind her home and property. Itwas a cloudy Monday evening when Shahadat, an autorickshaw driver, was preparing for Iftar with hisfamily, that a horde of miscreants gutted his house. "We could not save any of our belongings. We rushedto the relief camps for safety with empty hands," he said. At least eight minority-dominated villages inChirang were gutted by miscreants on Monday. The arson continued even on Tuesday, with more villageswith Muslim populations being attacked. About 5,000 people from different villages neighbouringBesorbari are currently put up in three relief camps at Nangalbhanga, also in Chirang. About 150 houseswere gutted in these villages. On the other hand, the Bodos tell similar tales of suffering. DurgaBasumatary's village, Malgaon, in Kokrajhar was set on fire by miscreants on Tuesday morning. About 50houses were gutted in the village. The fear hangs heavy in Durga's words: "We ran for our lives when ourvillage was set ablaze. I didn't know where I was going when I left my village. My husband went inanother direction." While the Muslims are upset the violence has disrupted their holy month of Ramzan,the Bodos are no longer upbeat about the forthcoming post-harvest Nangalkrah festival as the current ricecultivation season has been spoiled by the turmoil. In Kokrajhar, more than 25 villages belonging to boththe Bodos and the Muslims have been gutted since Monday night. Tension prevailed at Sishubari inChirang till Tuesday noon when miscreants, armed with firearms and sharp weapons, came onto the

anks of River Huthoti, which divides Bodo and Muslim-dominated villages. The standoff was clearedafter both sides assured that they would not enter into each other's villages. "Both sides have agreed notto enter the other community's villages. We are much relieved after our discussions," said All BodolandMinority Students Union (ABMSU) leader Shahjahan Ali Ahmed. While Sishubari is relieved for the timebeing,in other villages across Chirang and Kokrajhar, fear and suspicion prevail. All outsiders andunknown faces are being chased out. Even journalists are not allowed to enter some of the villages. Amidfear of arson and attacks, people continued to rush to the 50-odd relief camps in Chirang and Kokrakhardistricts on Tuesday. People also fled the BTC area to safety. About 600 Bodos have taken shelter inKajalgaon relief camps, while over 5,000 Muslims have left their villages from different parts of Chirang.Since Friday, over 60,000 people have been displaced and at least 32 killed so far. Unofficially, though,three persons were killed at Sapkata in Kokrajhar and one in Chirang on Tuesday. As the violencecontinued, sane voices clamouring for peace and harmony started emerging from both the communities."We've had enough bloodshed. We want peace among the different communities in the BTC area. I don'tunderstand why the government is failing in its duty to ensure security to common people," said SopraMushahary of Kokrajhar. ABMSU Chirang working president Shah Kamal Khondekar said, "We want tolive in peace and harmony. We want an end to this violence as it brings no benefit to anyone." (Times ofIndia 25/7/12)Violence continues in Assam, indefinite curfew imposed (7)New Delhi: The Army continued to stage flag march in the violence affected areas of lower Assam onWednesday following a clash between Bodos and Muslims which has claimed 40 lives. An indefinitecurfew has also been imposed in two districts of Assam's north-west. On the sixth day of the ethnicviolence, the number of people packed into relief camps reached 180,000 even as train services resumedin the disturbed areas. Early on Wednesday, rioters fired on a group of people, killing three. Apart fromthis, three bodies were found in Chirang district and two in Kokrajhar. However, in Chirang no freshoutbreak of violence was reported through the day, showing signs of some improvement in the law andorder situation. "No fresh incident of violence occurred since the morning. One column (70-90 soldiers) ofthe army staged a flag march in some sensitive areas in Chirang," said superintendent of police KumarSanjib Krishna. In Kokrajhar, curfew was relaxed for four hours – from 8 am to noon. Amid rumours thatBangladeshi agencies had a hand in the clashes, the Centre ruled out the possibility. "The internationalborder is sealed. It is simply impossible for any organised group crossing over to India from across theborder," home secretary RK Singh said in New Delhi. The deployment of the army, which staged a flagmarch in trouble-torn areas of Kokrajhar and non-Bodo areas, apart from Chirang, led to the resumptionof train services, bringing relief to about 35,000 stranded passengers. Joint secretary (in charge of thehome ministry's northeast affairs) Sambhu Singh, said in Kokrajhar, "Two companies of the RailwayProtection Special Force will be deployed in the affected areas." (Hindustan Times 26/7/12)Church slams Centre, Assam govt for Kokrajhar violence (7)Shillong: Accusing the Union and Assam governments of lacking in "political will" to prevent influx,National Council of Churches in India has said the "disaster" in the northeastern state could have beenaverted had infiltration of migrants been properly checked at all levels."We believe that this disaster(Assam violence) could have been averted, if both the Centre and the Assam government would havetaken careful steps, with a strong political will, to check the infiltration of migrants to India, especially toAssam," NCCI general secretary Roger Gaikwad said in a letter to the Union Home Minister PChidambaram yesterday. Gaikwad said, "About 10,000 sq km land have been occupied by the migrantsand they are now spreading over to other districts. Such influx and occupation will definitely create a fearpsychosis among the indigenous people; being helpless, they are bound to retaliate." He said the ongoingethnic violence in Assam, especially in the districts of Kokrajhar, Dhubri and Chirang since July 19, was a"repetition" of the 2008 carnage in Kokrajhar where 55 people were killed and thousands othersdisplaced. Gaikwad expressed "regret" that leaders were not able to read early warnings. Expressingconcern at the relocation process of the displaced people, he said, "It is also a matter of great concernand upsetting to see that this unwanted episode is being repeated, displacing people, destroying property,and annihilating human lives." (DNA 28/7/12)Modi says he should be ''hanged" if found guilty of criminal conduct (7)In an interview to an Urdu weekly, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi defended his handling of thepost-Godhra violence by saying he should be "hanged in public" if found guilty of lapses. He'd have donebetter to regret the cloud his administration has come under for its tackling of the 2002 riots. And he'dhave won more goodwill had he, in all these years, proactively provided a healing touch. Rhetoric won't

change the fact that the carnage occurred under his watch. Nor do sound-bytes substitute for justice thatstill eludes many riot victims and their families.Modi's statement is too disingenuous to carry muchcredibility. Everybody knows the wheels of justice grind slowly, when it comes to establishing culpabilityfor communal riots in India. At best a few among the small fry are punished; top politicians are never heldto account. In any case India has stopped hanging people in public since colonial times. For Modi to usesuch colourful rhetoric is sound and fury signifying nothing - tantamount to emotional manipulation of thesort politicians are fond of. State polls are coming up, and Modi's opponents will yet again find electoralfirepower in the secularism issue. Plus, there's talk of him seeking a bigger national footprint with an eyeto 2014. His remarks are being viewed as an attempted image makeover, a bid to shed the Hindutvahawk tag and court Muslims. The problem isn't with the attempt but with its appearing more gimmicky andexpedient than sincere. True, Modi's got good press as a development-oriented CM. But he should haveworked as persuasively and tirelessly to counter serious allegations about his government's conduct in2002 and stonewalling tactics since. Nor is it too late for him to show he means it about delivering justiceand succour. (Times of India 29/7/12)Gujarat may repair riot-hit shrines (7)NEW DELHI: After taking a constitutional high ground that compensation to religious structures damagedduring 2002 communal riots was opposed to the tenets of secular governance, the Gujarat governmenton Monday told the Supreme Court that it was contemplating framing a scheme for repair of suchstructures harmed during breakdown of law and order. Gujarat's additional advocate general TusharMehta faced a tough situation — both legally and politically — before a bench of Justices K SRadhakrishnan and Dipak Misra as senior advocate Harish Salve argued for NGO Islamic ReliefCommittee of Gujarat that the high court's order directing assessment of damages to the religiousstructures due to riots for payment of compensation was a "healing touch" approach. Salve said when theHC said the state did not discharge its constitutional obligations during the riots adequately; it was not anindictment but a finding on constitutional tort warranting compensation for repair. "The order was inFebruary and now we are in end of July yet nothing has been done. The exercise by the HC was to makesome one who had waited for nine years to feel that some forum was hearing his grievance. Let theexercise go on. This is only a healing touch," he said. Salve's response came when Mehta sought a stayon the proceedings before the District Judges, as directed by the HC, for assessing of the damages.Mehta said, "Earlier we had accepted the liability of repairing the damaged religious structures before theNational Human Rights Commission. But later, we find that it was against the ethos of seculargovernance."….. (Times of India 31/7/12)Assam for CBI probe in communal violence (7)Guwahati: Hinting that some "external forces" were behind the communal clashes in three districts, theAssam government Tuesday said it has decided for a CBI probe in the violence, which left 73 peopledead and over four lakh people displaced. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi told media persons here that therewere external and internal forces behind the violence between Bodo tribals and Muslim settlers. Theclashes started in Kokrajhar and Chirang districts of the Bodoland Territorial Area District (BTAD) andlater spread to contiguous Dhubri district. "Some external forces have always been active in Assam tocreate some sort of disturbances in the state," said Gogoi and added that the government has alreadystarted the process to hand over the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The chief ministersaid that the situation has improved in the violence-affected areas but he also expressed concern overthe recent fresh incidents of violence in Kokrajhar district. "We are worried over the recent incidents ofviolence. I have instructed the chief secretary and other officials to deal with the situation strictly," saidGogoi. "We have to deal with the situation strictly. Police have already arrested 170 people for indulgingin the violence. I have also instructed the police in BTAD to seize all the illegal arms and ammunition, iffound in possession with civilians and other anti-social elements," he said. Police have also beeninstructed to go for preventive arrests if required, he added. Gogoi said that the deaths in the violencehave gone up to 73, including 15 killed in relief camps and four in police firing. Of the 15 killed in reliefcamp, seven were children, he said. The chief minister said that 65 companies of para-military forceswere deployed in the affected districts at present and that a total of 1.17 lakh people have alreadyreturned to their houses from the relief camps. Gogoi also said that 95 police pickets have already beenset up in all the sensitive areas of the districts and that the remaining pickets will be set up soon. (IANS)(New Kerala 7/8/12)Assam violence: Death toll climbs to 65, locals block NH 31 (7)Guwahati: Four more persons fell victim to the fresh wave of violence in lower Assam districts, triggering

protest by locals who blocked National Highway 31 at Beltoli on the Kokrajhar-Dhubri border on Tuesday.With four more people being killed, the death toll in the ethnic violence in Assam has climbed to 65. In theworst-affected Kokrajhar district, three persons were killed and two others injured when some personsopened fire on a group of people at Ranibuli village late last night. The two injured were rushed toGuwahati Medical College and Hospital. Assam IGP (Law and Order) L.R. Bishnoi said that the deadbelong to Lakhiganj in Dhubri district. To protest the killing of the three persons who allegedly belong tothe minority community, a group of 500 people blocked National Highway 31 at Beltoli. Indefinite curfewhas been reimposed in Kokrajhar district while round-the-clock curfew continues in neighbouring Chirangdistrict where one more body was found early this morning. The body was recovered from a field inRajapara area, senior police officials said. A few houses were burnt down in Chirang but the timely actionof police prevented any major violence last night, Bishnoi said. A person has been arrested in thisconnection. "Security arrangements are in place to ensure that no more untoward incidents occur,"Assam Police IGP (Bodoland Territorial Area Districts) S.N. Singh said on Tuesday. The Army continuedflag marches this morning in the three districts of Kokrajhar, Chirang and Dhubri, hit by clashes betweenBodo tribals and the minority community. Meanwhile, a five-year-old in the Chhatipur LP School reliefcamp in Chirang died allegedly due to lack of timely medical attention, camp inmates said. The child hadbeen unwell for the past five days. With this, the number of people who have died in the relief camps hasrisen to 14. (Asian Age 8/8/12)LK Advani's remarks on Assam violence added fuel to fire, says Digvijaya Singh (7)NEW DELHI: Congress leader Digvijaya Singh alleged that BJP leader LK Advani's comments on Assamviolence were like adding "fuel to the fire". Singh said Advani's comments on illegal migration was "illtimed".Hewas referring to Advani's remarks at Kokrajhar that was in the grip of ethnic strife. Advani, whohad visited the area on July 31, had said that he hoped that Kashmir, where a "whole population wasrendered homeless", was not repeated in Kokrajhar. Accusing Advani of abetting violence in Assam bymaking provocative statements at Kokrajhar when the area was in the grip of ethnic strife, the Congressleader said "these (the comments) are like adding fuel to the fire".Singh, who was speaking on "Sarokar"programme on Rajya Sabhha television, also took strong exception to "BJP's love for Jinnah", when theopposition party's national executive member Seshadri Chari quoted late Mohammed Ali Jinnah toemphasise the seriousness of the crisis in Assam, maintaining that the latter had told his staff that "within10 years Assam would come to Pakistan on a platter".Singh said the Assam accord was the result of along-standing tribal strife in the area and is not a communal issue. The issue is extremely sensitive andneeds to be addressed with utmost care, a press release by the Rajya Sabha channel quoted theCongress leader as saying. BJP, which had moved an adjournment motion on the Assam violence inParliament last week, had blamed Congress policy and its "vote-bank politics" for the situation in Assam.On Sunday, BJP attacked the Maharashtra government saying the authorities there have a lot to answerabout the hooliganism at Azad Maidan in Mumbai. A delegation of senior BJP leaders, which metMaharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan in Mumbai, also demanded the resignation of home ministerRR Patil on moral ground. Congress retaliated saying it was inappropriate for any party to gain politicalmileage out of the Mumbai violence. "Whatever has been happening in Assam is unfortunate. It is highlyimportant not to take political mileage out of the situation and, on the contrary, work collectively to takecontrol of it. It is important to restore peace and law there," said Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi. Twopersons were killed and 14 were injured when a protest in Mumbai's Azad Maidan against Assam riotsturned violent on Saturday. (Economic Times 14/8/12)Islamic scholars ask rioters to surrender (7)MUMBAI: A delegation of Islamic scholars and community leaders that called on the chief minister onMonday asked the perpetrators of violence to surrender to the police. Minority affairs minister NaseemKhan and Samajwadi party legislator Abu Azmi also participated in the meeting with Chavan. "This is adastardly act. Swift action should be taken against the perpetrators," said Haroon Mozawala of the AllIndia Personal Muslim Board. The delegation asked the CM to ensure that innocent people are nottargeted during the probe. The chief minister also met a group of editors of Urdu newspapers andappealed to them to maintain restraint in reporting and editorializing the investigations. Chavan assuredthe editors that he had directed officials not to harass the innocents while tracking down the rioters. "I amaware of the concern of the Muslim community that some innocents might be picked up. But assure yourreaders that action will be taken only against those whose culpability is proved," Chavan told the seniorUrdu journalists. Shahid Latif, editor of The Inquilab, told the CM that the Urdu dailies had maintainedutmost restraint and appealed for peace. Saeed Hameed of Urdu Rashtriya Sahara pointed out that theculprits of Saturday's violence might have been engineered by drug mafia in the city. Sunni ulema, led by

Moin Ashraf Qadri, has launched a campaign against the drug dealers and it is suspected that the drugmafia wanted to defame Sunni ulema. (Times of India 14/8/12)First 5 months of Samajwadi Party rule witness 5 communal riots (7)LUCKNOW: Even as tension prevailed in riot-hit Bareilly, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav stressed that thedistrict magistrates and senior superintendents of police will be held accountable for failure to curbcommunal clashes. The CM had made a similar statement shortly after he came to power in March 2012.But, it does not appear to have made any impact at the ground level, as the state witnessed fivecommunal clashes in first five months of the SP government. Take the example of Bareilly. Earlier, curfewwas imposed in the city on July 22 following clashes between two groups which claimed four lives. TheDM and SSP were removed on July 30. The curfew was lifted on August 7. However, riots broke again onAugust 11, when route of Janmashtami processions were changed in Baradari and Kalbari area leadingto brick batting and firing by an angry mob, which left 18 persons injured. More than 200 persons havebeen arrested so far. Like Bareilly, four people were killed at Kosi Kalan, Mathura, on June 1 afterviolence broke out between two communities outside a place of worship over the sharing of a watertanker. On June 4, the DM and SSP of the district were replaced, but situation continues to be tense inKosi Kalan. Pratapgarh has also seen two communal clashes since June. The first clash took place atAshtan village on June 23 after kidnap, rape and murder of a minor dalit girl. In retaliation, over 40 houseswere set afire by the victim's kin and their supporters. On June 26, the DM and SSP were suspended bythe government. However, on August 7, violence broke out again in the district, this time at Sanahi village,following a petty dispute between members of two communities over fare charged by a tempo driver. Aperson was killed in the clash. Though on every occasion, chief minister took action against officials, hedid not visit any of the riot-hit places. In his place, two senior ministers Azam Khan and Shivpal Yadavvisited Mathura and Bareilly respectively. Despite Akhilesh's tough talk, what is putting the rulingSamajwadi Party (SP) government in poor light is that communal clashes were negligible during Mayawatiregime in UP, which has had a history of communal flare-ups. Further, the moral of the police force is saidto be down because of Akhilesh Yadav government's decision to withdraw cases lodged against criminalsand rioters. Sample this: The government has started process to withdraw cases against 40 accused whowere booked for attacking police in Moradabad on July 6, 2011 following an alleged incident of disrespectto holy Quran. The then Moradabad SSP was also injured in the attack. "In such a scenario, no officer willput his/her life to risk and act against perpetrators," said an officer. The opposition parties describetransfers of DM and SSP as cosmetic exercise which has failed to act as a deterrent for the real culprits.After Mathura and Bareilly riots, the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) accused the SP government of favouringMuslims as a part of its appeasement policy. And, after Pratapgarh violence, the Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP) described Akhilesh Yadav government as anti-dalit. A few senior SP leaders described thegovernment actions so far as "too little too late" and "insufficient". On one hand, it will help BJP executeits communal agenda and on the other it will infuse a sense of insecurity among Muslims, thereby spoilingSP's prospects in 2014 Lok Sabha elections, they feared. They pointed out that Shahi Imam of DelhiJama Masjid Maulana Ahmed Bukhari openly criticised chief minister and his father Mulayam SinghYadav for not visiting riot hit areas. (Times of India 15/8/12)Assamese Muslims slam Ajmal for 'communalizing' violence in BTC areas (7)GUWAHATI: Assam's indigenous Muslim communities, the Gorias and the Morias, have accused All IndiaUnited Democratic Front (AIUDF) chief Badruddin Ajmal of communalizing the violence in BodolandTerritorial Council (BTC) areas, leading to mass exodus of northeast people from different states in India.The indigenous Muslim communities, under the banner of Sadou Asom Goria Moria Deshi JatiyaParishad (SAGMDJP), equally blamed Hindu, Muslim and Christian fundamentalist forces for trying towedge differences among different indigenous communities during the BTAD conflict. SAGMDJP alsodemanded the arrest of Ajmal, alleging that he took the initiative of giving the Bodo-Muslim conflictcommunal colour. "When one says that the conflict in BTAD is between Bodos and Muslims, we, asindigenous Muslims, are also dragged in. But this is not true. We are not involved in the conflict. Ajmalhas no right to dub the conflict in BTAD as a Bodo-Muslim clash. We also don't want people like L KAdvani to talk on behalf of people of Assam. It is because of these communal forces that today NE peopleare leaving other cities like Bangalore and Hyderabad out of fear," SAGMDJP president Sahiruddin AliAhmed said. Ahmed also said that the NE people are leaving their places of study or work in other statesin fear only because of the handiwork of fundamentalist forces which termed the BTAD violence as Bodo-Muslim conflict. "Even indigenous Assamese Muslims who are studying and working in cities outside thestate are having to return to Assam. Our community has suffered equally because of the communalgameplan of fundamentalist forces," SAGMDJP general secretary Hafijul Ahmed said. AIUDF has

categorically denied that Ajmal was involved in provoking communal sentiment in the BTAD violence andtermed the conflict as an ethnic clash. "In no way was BTAD chief Badruddin Ajmal involved in provokingcommunal sentiment or giving communal colour to the BTAD violence. Our chief is ready to face anyinquiry. But it is unfortunate that different political parties and organisations have already given theirverdicts even before any inquiry could be done," AIUDF general secretary Aditya Langthasa said.Langthasa also demanded a CBI inquiry into the incidents of harassment of NE students and asked thegovernment to take strong action against rumour-mongers. Shah Sultan Alam, an indigenous AssameseMuslim working as senior software engineer in Bangalore, said the Mumbai violence was an outcome ofcommunalization of the BTAD violence. "The non-resident indigenous Assamese Muslims are of theopinion that since the violence is confined to a certain part of Assam, it should not be viewed ascommunal violence of any sort. Our community is very concerned by the tendency to communalize theviolence in some pockets of BTAD," Alam observed. SAGMDJP and organisations representing non-Muslim indigenous communities including Moran, Motok, Sonowal Kacharis and Dimas had a daylongmeeting here on Friday for cementing the ties between the ethnic groups and fight against the communalelements working against the interest of indigenous Muslims. "Even indigenous Muslims had sufferedearlier in BTAD conflict primarily because of mistaken identity. We as indigenous Muslims are alsothreatened by the unabated influx from Bangladesh. Indigenous communities should not allow anydivisive forces to work against our interest," added the SAGMDJP president. (Times of India 18/8/12)Gujarat riots: 4 accused acquitted in Best Bakery case return home (7)Vadodara: The four accused acquitted in the Best Bakery case arrived in Vadodara on Sunday andreunited with their family members here. The four who came to Vadodara, namely, Rajubhai Baria,Pankaj Gosai, Suresh alias Lalo Vasava and Shailesh Tadvi refused to talk the media waiting outsidetheir houses. Their family members said that they were happy on their release in the case. The BombayHigh Court on July 9 had acquitted five accused while upholding the conviction of four in the 2002 BestBakery case. However, there was no information available about Jagdish Rajput who was also acquittedin the case. Fourteen people in the Best Bakery premises in the city were burnt alive on March 1, 2002during the post-Godhra riots. In 2004, rapping the Gujarat government for its handling of the case in thelight of acquittals, the Supreme Court ordered a retrial and transferred the case to Mumbai.(DNA 19/8/12)20% of banned hate sites put up by Hindu groups (26)NEW DELHI: The clamour over Pakistan fanning communal passions in India through social networkingsites has missed a crucial detail. Around 20% of the web pages — blocked by government agencies —were uploaded by right-wing Hindu fundamentalists seeking to polarize the country on communal lines. Inthese posts doctored images or videos showing alleged atrocities against tribal Bodos by Muslims havebeen tagged with provocative captions and point to extremist Hindu groups trying to fish in troubledwaters to target minorities and fan tensions. Sources in agencies involved in scanning internet andblocking inflammatory web pages say several posts had pictures or videos of Tibetans self-immolations inprotest against Chinese occupation. These posts were, however, captioned as atrocities against"Assamese Hindus" by "illegal" migrant Muslims. "Several images had been cropped in a way to obliteratethe background that could have revealed the actual context of the pictures," said an official. Agencieshave also found clues indicating a large number of SMSs that spread panic among the northeast Indiansliving across the country were also generated by fringe Hindu groups. The panic led to a mass exodus ofpeople from the north-east from several cities, including Pune, Bangalore and Chennai. "Everyone istrying to ride the Assam conflict bandwagon for their own parochial and political gains. Right-wing Hindugroups have played a major role in spreading panic among the north-easterners," said the official. Theirportrayal of all Bodos as Hindus is also inaccurate as some are Christians. Sources said days before theexodus from Bangalore began, rabid SMSs about killing of four persons from the north-east and a fatwabeing issued against people from the region started doing the rounds. These messages are suspected tohave been spread by right-wing groups too. A recent input from Bangalore about three women planning tobomb a train turned out to be a red herring. Later, the input was traced to an activist of Bajrang Dal.Videos allegedly showing unfurling of a Pakistani flag on August 15 in Hyderabad were uploadedquestioning the integrity and patriotism of Muslims in the Indian city. The video was found to be that ofPakistan's Hyderabad. Another right-wing group, inspired by Dara Singh, the killer of Australianmissionary Graham Steins, called the Assam conflict a handiwork of Christian missionaries who haveallegedly armed Bodos. "Several right-wing groups are trying to increase their influence in the north-east.Some mainstream groups too have been trying to woo tribals across the nation and so have openlypledged support to Bodo struggle. They see the present conflict as the best situation to make inroads inthe north-east. The attempt is also at polarizing the entire nation as Indians versus immigrant Muslims to

gain political ground," said the official. Several Hindu groups have also come forward to help fleeingnorth-easterners. RSS and certain other Hindu outfits arranged for food and other services for northeasternersfleeing Bangalore. They even exhorted them to not to flee as the group would protect them.The ABVP even set up 24-hour helplines in 20 cities across India for students from the north-east.Bajrang Dal too called bandhs in riot-affected districts in Assam. (Times of India 23/8/12)Protests in Kokrajhar as Bodo MLA held for riots (7)GUWAHATI/KOKRAJHAR: The tentative peace in Kokrajhar was abruptly broken on Thursday with thearrest of Bodo MLA Pradeep Brahma on charges of rioting, criminal conspiracy and intimidation, inconnection with the violence that broke out between Bodos and Bengali-speaking Muslims on July 20.Nearly 80 people have died in the clashes so far and more than four lakh from both communitiesdisplaced. The district immediately erupted in protests, with Brahma's supporters blocking highways andrail routes, carrying banners saying 'Deport Bangladeshis'. The local administration declared curfew andimposed section 144 of CrPC, preventing movement of people and goods in Kokrajhar indefinitely. Bodoleaders, who were huddled in deliberations all day, set a deadline of 24 hours for Brahma's release. "Wewent by the law," said Assam DGP J N Choudhury. "There were allegations against the MLA andevidence based on statements of witnesses. It is now for the court to take the decision," he added.Brahma will remain in judicial custody for 14 days. Several Muslim bodies claimed to have mobile footageof Bodo MLA Pradeep Brahma allegedly wielding an AK 47 rifle and leading rioters at Juramari village inGossaigaon in Kokrajhar on the night of July 23. Copies of this footage were presented to UPAchairperson Sonia Gandhi and former home minister P Chidambaram during their visits to the affecteddistricts. Bodo leaders reacted in anger and asked why no action has been taken against those involvedin the killing of four Bodo youths on July 20 in Kokrajhar. It was this incident that sparked off the clashes.The DGP said, "The government will leave no stone unturned to bring to book every culprit involved in theclashes." He added that the home department would write to the CBI to include the MLA's case in itsinvestigation. The CBI has already taken up seven other cases for probe. Brahma's arrest has alsorocked the two-term coalition between Congress and the Bodoland Peoples Front, to which he belongs,with party vice-president Pramila Rani Brahma threatening to review the partnership with its senior ally."There is no proof against the MLA and I know he would be able to prove himself innocent," the formerminister said. "The arrest is uncalled for and is likely to hurt the sentiments of the Bodo people who werethe first victims of the communal clash." CM Tarun Gogoi took a tough stand and said if the BPF wantedto withdraw support, it was up to them. "But no one from BPF has talked to me about it," he added. TheCongress, which did not have enough numbers to form a government on its own in 2006, had taken thehelp of the Bodo front then. The relationship continues in the current term where the Congress despitehaving an absolute majority in the House has not parted ways with the BPF. (Times of India 24/8/12)Ex-BJP Minister among 32 convicted of Naroda-Patiya massacre (7)Ahmedabad: Mayaben Kodnani, a senior BJP leader and former Minister in the Narendra Modi Cabinet,and the former Bajrang Dal convener, Babu Bajrangi, were among 32 persons convicted on Wednesdayin the Naroda-Patiya massacre case, in which 97 Muslims were killed. Special court judge Jyotsna Yagnikacquitted 29 persons, giving them “the benefit of the doubt” because of insufficient evidence; but she didnot pronounce them innocent either. The court will announce the quantum of punishment on Friday. Allthose convicted were found guilty of murder, attempt to murder, conspiracy, spreading enmity andcommunal hatred and unlawful assembly under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and theBombay Police Act. Some of them, including Suresh Chara, were also found guilty of rape andmolestation. Kishan Korani, a BJP member of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, and BJP and VHPleaders Bipin Panchal and Ashok Sindhi are also among the convicts. The conviction of Ms. Kodnani, whowas Minister of State for Women and Child Welfare and now MLA representing Naroda in Ahmedabad,sparked the demand for Mr. Modi’s resignation on “moral grounds.” But Cabinet spokesman JaynarayanVyas rejected it, saying Ms. Kodnani, a practising gynaecologist, was not a Minister at the time of themassacre and was only an MLA, and her individual action could not be construed as a “cumulativeresponsibility of the Cabinet.” The Naroda-Patiya massacre was the most gruesome of all post-Godhraviolent incidents, claiming the highest number of casualties. On February 28, 2002, when the VishwaHindu Parishad called a State-wide bandh to condemn the Godhra train carnage which took place theprevious day, a 5,000-strong mob, allegedly instigated by the BJP and the Bajrang Dal, attacked themembers of the minority community, burning many of them alive and throwing their bodies into a dry well.Many women were allegedly molested and raped before being killed, and their bodies hurled into the fire.Over 30 others were injured. The police recovered 94 bodies and three others were reported missing, butwere declared dead later. (The Hindu 30/8/12)

SIT conducted meticulous probe: Official (7)New Delhi: A senior member of the SIT, while expressing satisfaction on the sentencing in the infamousNaroda Patiya rioting case, said the SIT had come under severe criticism after Gujarat chief ministerNarendra Modi got a clean chit in another case. With this court order in which a former minister and asenior sitting MLA has been convicted, people will realise that SIT conducted meticulous investigations,he added. Maya Kodnani has been sentenced for 10 and 18 years respectively under different sections ofthe law and her 18 years sentence will come into effect only after she has spent the first 10 years in jail.The court described Maya Kodnani as the “kingpin of the entire riots” saying, “she led the mob and incitedthem for violence. She even abetted and supported the violent mob”. SIT sources told this newspaper thatapart from the statements of witnesses the technical evidence in terms of the cellphone locations of MayaKodnani and Babu Bajrangi were of “immense help” during the trial. “The technical evidence against thetwo was very strong as it confirmed their presence in the Naroda are when rioting was at its peak,” an SITofficial said. While coming down heavily on the issue of communal riots, Judge Jyotsna Yagnik describedthem as “cancer on constitutional secularism and the incidents that happened in Naroda Patiya are ablack chapter in the history of Indian Constitution”. “Acts of communal violence are brutal, inhuman andshameful. It (Naroda) was a clear incident of human rights violation as 97 people were killed brutallywithin a day which included helpless women, children, aged persons. The climax of this inhuman andbrutal act of violence was reflected in murder of an infant, who was 20-day old,” the order states. In animportant observation, the court noted that the Naroda violence was a pre-planned strategy and trashedthe defence argument that it was in fact a fallout of the Godhra train burning incident. The court said noone can be allowed to take law in their holds as India is country which upholds the rule of law. The courtalso directed the Gujarat government to pay a compensation of `5 lakhs to a victim of gang rape thoughnobody could be charged with this heinous crime in absence of any concrete evidence. (Asian Age1/9/12)Six killed during protest against desecration of holy book in Ghaziabad (7)LUCKNOW: Curfew was imposed in Dasna area of Ghaziabad after six people were killed and 12 injured,including two critically, in violence and arson during a protest against alleged desecration of the Quran.This is the sixth incident of communal violence in six months rule of Samajwadi Party so far. The UttarPradesh (UP) government has ordered an inquiry into the incident and announced a compensation of Rs5 lakh each to the kin of those killed, Rs 50,000 each to those seriously injured and Rs 25,000 to thosehaving minor injuries. The protest was triggered after torn pages from a holy book were found atAdhyatmik Nagar station platform late on Friday night. Irate mob set a police station afire. The incidentoccurred after police allegedly ignored their complaint instead of taking action. "A member of ourcommunity saw pages of the holy Quran on which objectionable words were written along with a mobilenumber. He showed the pages to senior community members in the town, who took the pages to thepolice station," said Ayub, a local advocate. "Instead of taking action, the police ignored the complaint," headded. Following which an angry mob set the Masuri police station on fire. Four police vehicles, six busesand some other vehicles were also damaged in the incident. As the situation remained tense, prohibitoryorders continued to be in place in Masuri police station area on Saturday and a large number of personnelfrom Rapid Action Force and Provincial Armed Constabulary were deployed. Police registered a caseagainst unidentified people in connection with the desecration of the holy book. A senior police officialsaid they were in the process of identifying the rioters and once they are identified, case will be registeredagainst them. Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav termed the incident as unfortunate and has said that sternaction will be taken against guilty officers. On the direction of the chief minister, divisional commissioner,Meerut has been asked to conduct an inquiry. Ghaziabad district magistrate Aparna Upadhyay and seniorsuperintendent of police Prashant Kumar told reporters that six persons were killed in the violence. A subinspectorand a head constable suffered serious injuries and are in critical condition. Asked whetherprotesters died in police firing, officials said it was a matter of investigation and they were awaiting postmortemreport to ascertain the cause of deaths. Earlier, communal violence and tension were reportedfrom Bareilly, Pratapgarh and Mathura. In Bareilly and Pratapgarh two incidents of communal violencetook place within last six months. While four people were killed on June 1 during clash in Kosi Kalan inMathura, around 40 houses were set afire on June 23 in Pratapgarh's Asthan village following gang rapeand murder of a minor dalit girl. Communal violence in Barielly on July 23 and August 11 had left threedead. (Times of India 15/9/12)Kandhamal riots probe panel likely to seek extension (7)Berhampur: The Justice Basudev Panigrahi commission inquiring into the 2007 communal riots inKandhamal district is likely to seek more time to submit its final report. "I will examine around 100 more

people. Several of them are government employees. Moreover, I will take at least six months to write thefinal report before submitting it to the government," retired high court judge Justice Panigrahi said here onThursday. "I will need at least one more year to prepare the report," he added. The inquiry commissionwas here to conduct a sitting, where at least six persons have deposed since Tuesday. The commissionwas set up by the state government to inquire into the riots which had erupted on December 24, 2007.The government notification was issued in January 2008. The commission was expected to submit itsreport in four months initially. The commission had submitted its interim report in April 2008. (Times ofIndia 13/10/12)SP Govt promoting communalism: Madni (7)Lucknow: The Rashtriya Ulema Council has charged the Akhilesh Yadav government with promotingcommunalism in the state to get the support of the minorities in the next Lok Sabha election. Demandingaction against Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Gorakhpur, Yogi Adityanath, for his recent provocativespeeches in Balrampur and Faizabad, Rashtriya Ulema Council's president, Maulana Ameer Rashi'Madni' said in a statement here on Sunday that the UP government was not at all interested in takingaction against people involved in pushing the state towards communal violence. "Samajwadi Party'ssupremo Mulayam Singh Yadav has always promoted communalism so that his party gets full support ofMuslims in elections and it appears that his son is following the suit," he added. Maulana Madni said theSamajwadi Party would not be able to fool Muslims further now as the community knows that they havebeen taken for a ride by the leaders of the ruling party. He said this time too the Samajwadi Party hadcome to power on the support of Muslims but the present government had so far done nothing for theminority community. "BJP leaders have always helped the SP to strengthen its Muslim vote bank andtherefore the Akhilesh Yadav government is allowing leaders like Mahant Adityanath to pour communalvitriol. This is not a good sign and the last six months rule of Akhilesh Yadav has seen seven communalriots," the Ulema Council president said. Giving a stern warning to the state government, Maulana Madnisaid if the state government failed to take action, the Council would be forced to counter these forces andthe entire responsibility of it would be of the Samajwadi Party and its government. (Pioneer 14/10/12)Kandhamal riots: Commission issues notices to 55 people (7)Bhubaneswar: The one-man justice A S Naidu Commission probing into the 2008 killing of Hindu religiousleader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati in Kandhamal and the subsequent communal riots in thebackward Odisha district has sent notices to as many as 55 individuals to appear before it and recordtheir statements. They commission said can make their appearance either personally or through theirlawyers. These individuals included senior Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Ashok Singhal, twoformer Members of Parliament (MPs) - Radhakanta Nayak and Nakul Nayak, two former DirectorGenerals (DGs) of Odisha Police - Gopal Nanda and Manmohan Praharaj, former state home secretaryTarunkanti Mishra, a former state minister and a senior leader of the ruling BJD Padmanav Behera, stateBJP vice-president Ashok Sahu as well as two former Collectors and one former Superintendent of Police(SP) of Kandhamal. Besides, notices have also been sent to a few Odisha based Christian leaders.The commission has summoned the individuals under section 8-B of the Judicial Commission Act. JusticeNaidu, a former judge of the Odisha High Court was recently appointed by the state government to headthe commission after the demise of justice S C Mohapatra who was heading the commission since 2008.Justice Mohapatra, who died in May this year due to illness, could not complete the inquiry and failed tosubmit his final report though he had given an interim report in 2009. The unprecedented communal riotsin Kandhamal had claimed more than 40 lives besides rendering thousands homeless. Many who fled thebackward district during the communal frenzy are yet to return home. The crime branch of the state policehad also conducted an investigation into the killing of Saraswati and the subsequent riots separately. Thecrime branch had held Maoists operating in the district responsible for the killing which had triggered theriots. Many people were arrested in connection with the riots on the basis of the crime branchinvestigation. The trial on the riot cases are still on in two special courts set up in Kandhamal. (DeccanHerald 22/10/12)Conspiracy charge invoked over riots (7)MUMBAI: The crime branch on Monday invoked criminal conspiracy charges against those involved in theAzad Maidan violence on August 11, hinting at more arrests this week. Crime branch officials havecollected phone records of Yusuf Ahmed Khan, a Myanmar national who allegedly told some Mumbaikarsabout alleged atrocities on minorities in Myanmar. Khan, an illegal immigrant living in Behrampada, wasarrested on Sunday. He is a disciple of Maulana Nyamatullah Noori, one of the 17 community leaderspresent at Azad Maidan on August 11. "Noori spoke to Khan's contacts in Myanmar to confirm whether

the attack claims were true. Khan then forwarded the text messages to many others," said an officer.Noori allegedly used this SMS-based information in his speech at the protest rally at Azad Maidan, whichcops believe was provocative. "A group of protesters who had come prepared with material like petrol,kerosene, bamboos, swords and unlicensed weapons got charged up after hearing the provocativespeech and vented their anger on the police and the media," said the officer. But community leaders havedenied this claim and maintain that the purpose of the protest was to highlight atrocities on minorities andthe failure of the government and the media to give it importance. "The meeting was called to mark apeaceful protest and pray for those suffering in Assam and Myanmar. But due to the acts of a fewnotorious youths, the city's peace was destroyed, disgracing the community," said one of the leaders.During the course of the investigation, it has transpired that Salim Anwar Passa alias Lightwala, the otheraccused in the case who was arrested from Mysore, has over two dozen complaints against him.Lightwala, who was on run from the police, was arrested from Mysore on Saturday. With Khan andLightwala's arrests, the total number of those arrested touched 62. The police believe that it was Khanwho first got the message about three lakh minorities being thrown out of their homes and 30,000 of thembeing killed, robbed etc. Khan forwarded the text to Rizwan Khan alias Dayawan, the main organizer ofthe protest. The police also believe that Khan further forwarded the SMS to a few community leaders andorganizers of the protest. (Times of India 23/10/12)Curfew imposed in Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh after communal clashes (7)The administration on Wednesday late night clamped curfew in Faizabad town in Uttar Pradesh followinga series of communal clashes and burning of shops at several places in the district. Chief MinisterAkhilesh Yadav held a late night meeting with senior officers of the department of home and police anddispatched home secretary RN Srivastava and DGP AC Sharma to the spot to take stock of the situation.Badri Prasad Singh, IG of police, law and order, said the situation was under control. "The violencestarted following an incident of eve teasing during a Dussehra procession headed towards the Saryu riverfor immersion of the idol of goddess Durga. Some people tried to communalise the atmosphere but thepolice managed to control the situation in the night and the idols were immersed," he said. A largenumber of police and paramilitary force has been deployed and flag march was going on continuously inFaizabad. The communal violence also spread to Rudauli, bordering Barabanki district. Sharad Sharma,spokesperson of Vishwa Hindu Parishad said, "There were youths with the procession who were wearingsaffron coloured clothes. So people can draw inference that they were from the Hindu Yuva Vahini andBajrang Dal but whatever is happening here is alarming. Nobody should try to stop the procession ormisbehave with girls." Hashim Ansari, the oldest surviving plaintiff in Ram Janmbhoomi-Babri Masjidcase, alleged that it was the handiwork of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, VHP and the BJP. "Theyhad been distributing CDs of communal speeches and clippings of alleged attacks on Hindus in Jammuand Kashmir for the last one month. The RSS men were also holding meetings all over the district andasking their members to get ready for a war against the Muslims. I appeal to the common men of both thesides for calm because the saffron brigade is prepared to communalise the atmosphere before the 20thanniversary of demolition of Babri Masjid which was razed by them on December 6, 1992," Ansari said.(India Today 26/10/12)Curfew relaxed in violence-hit Faizabad (7)FAIZABAD: With no fresh untoward incident been reported after last week's communal violence, theadministration on Monday announced a six hour-relaxation in the curfew imposed in trouble-torn areas ofthe district. The curfew was initially relaxed for four hours but with normalcy persisting during the period, itwas extended for two more hours. A similar six-hour relaxation will be given in the curfew tomorrow also,DM Deepak Agrawal said, expressing hope that the situation will be back to normal within next couple ofdays. Agrawal said essential commodities are being distributed in the violent-hit areas at controlled rates.Meanwhile, city MLA Pawan Pandey today met Agrawal with a group of persons whose properties weredamaged during violence. He said a list of shops and business establishments damaged during theviolence has been forwarded to the government. "I have personally asked the Chief Minister forimmediate payment of some amount as interim relief," Pandey said. (Times of India 29/10/12)Over 30,000 leave relief camps in Assam (7)Guwahati: Over 30,000 inmates have left relief camps of their own accord to return to the districts ofKokrajhar, Dhubri and Chirang over the past five days. The Bodoland Territorial Council objected to theAssam government’s ‘pro-forma’ list of displaced families that do not possess land documents even as itrejected land documents of around 13,000 displaced families whose papers were cleared by theadministration in Kokrajhar and Chirang. During the first phase of rehabilitation, the district administration

forwarded the cleared forms, along with copies of land records, filled up by 19,000 families taking shelterin relief camps, to the BTC authorities for verification. However, the BTC rejected the forms of around13,000 families on the grounds that a single land document had been shown against multiple forms.Several families who had produced copies of the same land document informed the authorities that theybelonged to the same family or were descendents, extended family members of the land owner. A seniorofficial of the Home and Political Department said there was a general understanding regarding therehabilitation process between the BTC and Group of Ministers (GoM) — that those bearing common landdocuments may be allowed to return to the plot or plots of land against which the documents were foundto be genuine by the BTC. The official claimed the mass exodus from the relief camps was thanks to thisunderstanding and an improvement in the security situation. Most of those families had fled their homes inKokrajhar and neighbouring districts in July during clashes between miscreants among the Bodos andMuslims in July and August and taken shelter in the relief camps. The official told The Hindu that he washopeful that the return of families from camps was expected to continue for the next few days until thenumber remaining in the relief camps reached around 20,000 — the number of families whose house hadbeen burnt down and did not possess land documents, including encroachers of the tribal belt or forestland. The GoM and the BTC would be reviewing the entire process after two weeks and decide on theirrehabilitation, the official said. The BTC had insisted that inmates be rehabilitated only after their papershad been verified as the tribal councils and other Bodo bodies had alleged the presence ofundocumented migrants among the displaced families. (The Hindu 2/11/12)Urging end to Myanmar unrest, EU pledges aid (7)YANGON: European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has called for an end to communalkillings in Myanmar following talks with President Thein Sein, while pledging aid. More than 1,00,000people have been displaced since June in two major outbreaks of violence in western Rakhine State,where renewed clashes since last month between Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims have uprooted about30,000. Dozens have been killed on both sides and thousands of homes torched. "The EU stands readyto mobilise four million euros ($5 million) for immediate humanitarian needs, provided access to theaffected areas is guaranteed," he said, according to a copy of his speech released in Brussels. Barroso,the latest in a series of Western officials to visit Myanmar after a quasi-civilian government led by TheinSein took charge last year, was speaking at a newly established peace centre in Yangon. The EU hascontributed 700,000 euros to set up the peace centre, which is designed to facilitate "dialogue between allthose concerned by Myanmar's ethnic peace processes", a separate European Commission statementsaid. Meanwhile Aung San Suu Kyi has declined to speak out on behalf of Rohingya Muslims and insistedshe will not use "moral leadership" to back either side in deadly communal unrest in west Myanmar,reports said. The Nobel laureate, who has caused disappointment among international supporters for hermuted response to violence that has swept Rakhine State, said both Buddhist and Muslim communitieswere "displeased" that she had not taken their side. "I am urging tolerance but I do not think one shoulduse one's moral leadership, if you want to call it that, to promote a particular cause without really lookingat the sources of the problems," Suu Kyi told the BBC on Saturday. "If people are killing one another andsetting fire to one another's houses, how are we going to come to any kind of reasonable settlement?"she said. Myanmar's 800,000 Rohingya are seen by the government and many in the country as illegalimmigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh. They face severe discrimination that activists say has led to adeepening alienation. The Rohingya, who make up the vast majority of those displaced in the fighting, aredescribed by the UN as among the world's most persecuted minorities.AFP (The Hindu 5/11/12)UP on a short communal fuse (7)Faizabad: What the demolition of the disputed structure at Ram Janmabhoomi could not do in 1992, strayrumours did in Faizabad 20 years later on October 24 this year. It was Dussehra day and the processionscarrying Durga idols for immersion were passing through the city at their usual pace. Then suddenlyrumours of a stone being thrown at idols spread like wildfire. Within hours, it singed the temple town, andFaizabad, known for religious tolerance and amity, was in the grip of a full-blown riot. One person waskilled and property worth crores was gutted. A week down, the temple town is limping back to normal withcurfew being relaxed, but people are stunned that the place, which remained peaceful even when thewhole country burned after the Babri demolition, should break into riots now. And Faizabad is only thelatest episode. Communal riots, unheard of during Maywati's five-year rule, have occurred in quicksuccession at Mathura, Pratapgarh, Bareilly and Ghaziabad too. Lucknow and Kanpur saw minorskirmishes as well. Since May, eight major cases were reported in UP in which at least 15 persons werekilled. Clearly these are not stray incidents; instead they point to an alarming pattern of one communalclash after another, slowly spreading out across the state and making it vulnerable to the ugly politics of

polarization. In Mathura violence broke out on June 2 following a dispute over using drinking water keptoutside a place of worship in the Kasi Kalan area. Then, on June 24, there was large-scale arson inPratapgarh after a Muslim boy allegedly raped and murdered a minor dalit girl. This was followed byanother communal clash in the same district when one person was killed following a dispute over payingrichshaw fare. Next month, on July 23, three persons were killed in Bareilly following a dispute overremoval of loudspeakers from places of worship. On August 12 once again curfew was imposed in partsof Bareilly following fresh violence over a dispute during a religious procession. After that, Ghaziabadsuddenly erupted. On September 16, at least 6 persons were killed in clashes following reports of asacred book found desecrated. One thing stands out in all the cases. While there was always a trigger -be it a rumour or an act by some people - such large-scale violence along communal lines cannot beattributed to that immediate provocation alone. There are a whole host of factors combining to make adeadly communal cocktail and leading to a tinder-box situation where only a rumour is enough to start ablazing fire. Take the case of Faizabad. Both Hindus and Muslims there were apprehensive for monthsabout what actually happened on Dussehra day. "It started when the two communities came face to faceover a place of worship in Mirzapur village of the district. The saffron brigade staged a series of protestsaccusing the district administration of favouring Muslims," says Dr Abdullah. A private medical practitionerin Faizabad, Dr Abdullah believes restlessness in the two communities had been palpable since theassembly elections. The general perception among Muslims is that the saffron brigade has been restlessever since it lost the Faizabad assembly seat to the Samajwadi Party (SP) in the 2012 assembly polls forthe first time since 1991. "With the 20{+t}{+h} anniversary of the Babri demolition barely two months away,the idea possibly was to polarize the two communities for political gains in the future," said a professor atSaket University in Faizabad. (Times of India 6/11/12)Indefinite curfew on in Kokrajhar (7)KOKRAJHAR: Kokrajhar wore a deserted look on Saturday as indefinite curfew in the district entered thethird day. Many people, including former MLA Hemendra Nath Brahma, have been picked up for violationof curfew in the district. Hemendra was released later. Despite the curfew, the Janajati Suraksha Manch(JSM), an organization of different tribal communities of the state, has decided to organize a mass rally inKokrajhar town on Monday seeking protection of land of tribals and to clear the belts and blocks from theoccupation of foreign nationals. President of the manch, Bijan Kumar Brahma, said the state governmentis forcing the Bodoland Territorial Council to accept its proposal to rehabilitate all Muslims who had leftBodo areas following the violence back to their respective villages to appease the Muslim leadership toensure support of their vote bank. "We have decided to organize a mass rally in Kokrajhar on November19 to pressure the administration to fulfill our demands to protect the notified villages in tribal belts andblock mentioned in the government notification, to free forest , khas, grazing and riverine land encroachedby illegal migrants. Their alarming growth rate has outnumbered the population of original inhabitants andit becomes a serious threat to the existence of indigenous people of the area. The government shouldtake immediate measures to free all these areas from the occupation of illegal migrants," he said. Themanch also wants that the scheduled tribes and traditional forest dwellers recognition of Forest RightsAct, 2006, should be immediately be implemented, ensuring full security to affected villages by providingfix security posts for the life and property of the villagers. (Times of India 19/5/11)Muslim bodies gear up to take on SP govt over Faizabad riots (7)Lucknow: The Akhilesh Yadav government is likely to face the heat of Muslim organisations over recentcommunal riots at Faizabad. Already several Muslim organisations have visited the riot-affected area andapproached the president of All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) Rabey Hasan Nadwi forraising the issue in an effective manner. The Samajwadi Party government is already on the backfootafter its Maharashra unit president and MLA Abu Asim Azmi vented his ire against the government statingthat Muslims are not safe under SP rule. Even the Shahi Imam of Delhi’s Jama Masjid Syed AhmedBukhari, who had supported the SP during the Assembly elections, has asked Muslims to reconsider theirdecision during Lok Sabha elections. After the violence subsided in Faizabad, several Muslimorganisations visited Faizabad and even the Muslims of the area arrived in Lucknow to meet Muslimclerics. Blaming the Akhilesh government, a joint front is being planned to corner the Chief Minister overthe issue. “I had visited Faizabad and adjoining areas, including Bhadarsa, which were affected byviolence. We have some demands which will be raised before the CM Akhilesh Yadav,” Arshad Madani,the chief of Jamaat-e-Ulema-e-Hind stated. Madani was accompanied by at least 40 clerics and Muslimleaders who visited the area. He also stated that the demands mainly include a high level enquiry of theviolence, adequate compensation to the victims and also stopping the arrest of innocents. The clerics alsostated that victims who have suffered loss of several lakhs of rupees are being given meagre Rs 30000.

(Indian Express 20/11/12)'Over 100 communal clashes in UP this year' (7)New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh has earned the dubious distinction of witnessing over 100 communal clashesthis year that left 34 people dead. The towns where incidents of such violence took place are Kosi Kalanin Mathura, Faizabad, Pratapgarh, Sitapur, Ghaziabad and Bareilly. More than 450 people were alsoinjured in these clashes which took place from January till October 31, Home Ministry officials said. Therewere 84 incidents of communal clashes in the state in 2011 in which 12 people lost their lives. Thecountry witnessed 560 incidents of violence this year till October end, which claimed 89 lives, while in2011, 580 clashes took place that left 91 people dead. UP was followed by Maharashtra where 83incidents were reported so far this year in which 13 people were killed and 88 incidents in 2011 whichclaimed 15 lives. Madhya Pradesh saw 78 incidents of communal violence so far this year in which 11people were killed and in 2011, 81 incidents of communal clashes were reported that left 15 dead. InKarnataka, there were 54 incidents of communal clashes in 2012 and 70 incidents in 2011 in which threeand four people lost their lives respectively. Rajasthan had witnessed 42 incidents of communal clashesin 2011 leading to death of 16 people while this year the state has witnessed 30 incidents of suchviolence and six dead. There were 47 incidents of communal clashes in Gujarat in 2011, in which threepersons lost their lives, and 50 incidents so far this year in which five were killed. Andhra Pradesh saw 33communal clashes in 2011 in which one died and so far this year, 45 clashes took place in which twowere killed. There were 30 incidents of communal clashes in Kerala in 2011, in which one died, and 46incidents in this year in which one was killed. Bihar witnessed 26 incidents with four deaths last year and17 incidents this year in which three persons were killed. Tamil Nadu saw 21 incidents of communalviolence and two deaths in 2011 and 11 incidents with two deaths this year so far. There were 15incidents in West Bengal in 2011 in which three persons were killed, and 22 incidents in this year, inwhich eight persons were killed. (Hindustan Times 9/12/12)Akhilesh hands over cheques to riot victims of communal violence (7)FAIZABAD: Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday distributed Rs 1 crore to victims of October 24communal riots. This amount is in addition to Rs 40 lakh that was distributed as an interim relief to thevictim on October 30 by the then Faizabad district magistrate Deepak Agrawal. According to the districtadministration officials, the city has incurred loss of about Rs seven crore and nearly 100 shops andbusiness establishments were torched by the rioters during the violence. After the incident of violenceChief minister Akhilesh Yadav had announced that full compensation will be given to all victims at theearliest, but after almost 50 days, the government is successful in distributing compensation to only 20%of the victims. Apart from it, the CM also distributed about Rs 60 lakh to 93 victims from Sohawal, Bikapurand Milkipur tehsils of the district. In different areas of these three tehsils, violence erupted on October 24and rioters torched many houses and shops mainly in Bhadarsa and Shahganj. Cheques of Rs 4.5 lakheach were given to Anamika and Sajjul Nisa, widows of Nageshwar Prasad and Abdul Rauf respectively,who died in riots as 50 thousand each have already been paid to them as interim relief before. (Times ofIndia 12/12/12)Narendra Modi strengthened communal forces, won’t let him become PM: Mayawati (7)BSP chief Mayawati has said that her party will do all it can to stop Narendra Modi from becoming thePrime Minister. In an interview to The Indian Express Saturday, Mayawati made light of the BJP’s attemptto project Modi as the PM candidate by highlighting the absence of communal strife in Gujarat in the past10 years of his rule. “But post-Godhra riots cases are still being inquired into,” Mayawati said to aquestion on BJP’s bid to project Modi for PM. On Sunday, she again invoked the post-Godhra riots toassert that the BSP will never let Modi become the Prime Minister. “BJP is dreaming of making Modi thePrime Minister of this country. My party will never let their dream succeed at any cost. Especially, it willnever let this kind of person, who strengthened the communal forces after the Godhra episode in Gujarat,become the PM,” said a press statement issued in her name by the BSP central office here. She assertedthat the BSP will not extend support to the BJP if it backs Modi for the post. Mayawati’s unprovokedattack on Modi holds significance in the wake of BJP’s defeat in Himachal Pradesh polls, which reflectedpoorly on the saffron party’s capacity to ride anti-Congress plank without alliances in the next Lok Sabhaelections. “Our defeat in Himachal exposed our vulnerability to go alone in the next elections. For us, it isalso a lesson that the party will have to strike alliances for the Lok Sabha polls,” said a BJP leader. “Evenin Punjab, which went to polls earlier this year, it was Akali Dal’s performance that got NDA re-elected.Similarly, we cannot hope to ditch alliance with Nitish Kumar in Bihar.” (IndianExpress 24/12/12)

Gujarat extends Nanavati panel’s term by 6 months (7)Ahmedabad: The Nanavati Commission probing the 2002 riots has been granted extension of six monthstill June 30, 2013, for the 19th time, officials associated with the commission said. The term of thecommission comprising retired justices GT Nanavati and Akshay Mehta was previously extended inMarch this year and was to get over today. “The state government has extended the term of thecommission by six months up to June 30,” the commission secretary CG Patel said. The riot panel in2008 had submitted one part of its finding with regard to the Godhra train burning incident, where it hadconcluded that the burning of S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express near Godhra railway station was a preplannedconspiracy. The commission was appointed by the state government in 2002, under theCommission of Inquiry Act and comprised of Justice KG Shah. In May 2002, the state governmentappointed retired Justice GT Nanavati as chairman of the commission. Initially the terms of reference(TOR) of the commission was to inquire into facts and course of events that led to burning of the S-6coach of Sabarmati Express. The TOR was further amended in June 2002 and the commission was alsoasked to inquire into the incidents of violence that took place after the train burning. (Hindustan Times31/12/12)