MINORITIES - 2002 - Indian Social Institute

communal tension in the state. The incident took place this afternoon when some local people blocked a
road outside a temple in the town to stop the Muharram procession. The 1,000-strong crowd were
chanting mantras when the local police urged them to give way for the procession. (Statesman 26.3.02)
26 th March
Modi punishes good officers (7)
Ahmedabad, March 25: All IPS officers with "anti-VHP and anti-BJP" stances are being quietly removed
from sensitive postings. The Gujarat government's covert threat to police officers in the state is clear —
either fall in line or get sidelined. While Gujarat burns and the police force has been complaining of not
having a free hand, the Modi government has rewarded all pro-saffron officers and has surreptitiously
punished all those who have "dared" to go against them. In a decision made without taking the police top
brass into confidence 27 IPS officers in Gujarat have been reshuffled. State home department sources
confirmed to The Asian Age that "this is the worst ever case of a politically-motivated administrative
decision taken by any government in Gujarat so far." (Asian Age 26.3.02)
27 th March
Video footage on Gujarat violence throws up vital evidence (7)
NEW DELHI, MARCH 26.: Appalling video footage from amateur film-makers, private individuals and
even from surveillance cameras in the shops providing an uncanny report of the gruesome incidents in
Gujarat has generated a chunk of valuable evidence on the violence. An NGO — Concerned Citizen's
Initiative — has some 22 hours of footage from various sources, which also contains interviews with
around 30 eyewitnesses and survivors of the riots. This video footage will become vital in any further
debate on the subject. But, it also throws up important questions on the kind of dangers involved in
making films from such trouble spots as also their market value. "We have got at least three live coverage
of the riots by eyewitnesses, and it will be admissible evidence in any further litigation on the subject,"
according to Ashim Roy of the Concerned Citizen's Initiative. (Hindu 27.3.02)
27th March
Non-Gujarati Muslim officers await an exit (7)
AHMEDABAD/VADODARA: Zafar Masani (name changed), a Central government official in Ahmedabad,
has seen his world go topsy-turvy in recent weeks. He said he got a shock of his life when a subordinate
employee told him to pray to Allah to allow a Ram Temple in Ayodhya. "The entire atmosphere in my office
is vitiated, I can see people huddled together discussing the riots but they all fall silent and give me
side-glances if I happen to pass by."
Masani's compulsions to stay in Ahmedabad at least for two more years, to give time to his son to finish
his studies, may not be true for a large number of Muslim officials of other Central government
organisations. A senior official of ONGC said three Muslim officials had already formally sought transfers.
ONGC had in fact flown its Muslim officials out of Gujarat for their safety and some of them have come
back, only to seek transfers. Another official belonging to Varanasi who works for a Central PSU here
says: "I have already moved my application for a transfer. I don't want to bring up my children in this
atmosphere of hostility." (Times of India 27.3.02)
27 th March
Twenty Six days later, Modi gets the summons (7)
NEW DELHI, MARCH 26: PRIME Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has summoned Gujarat Chief Minister
Narendra Modi to the capital on Wednesday morning and to apprise him of the steps he is taking to bring
normalcy and peace in the violence-torn state. Modi is slated to meet Vajpayee at 12.30 pm. The idea of
summoning the Chief Minister is to keep the pressure on him. Though Vajpayee has sent some tough
messages to Modi in recent days, it does not appear to have made an impression on Modi (IE 27.3.02)
27 th March
One killed in Ahmedabad, firing is on (7)
AHMEDABAD/VADODARA: One person was killed in police firing and two others were seriously injured
as violence escalated in the Astodia Chakla area of the Walled City on Tuesday. Police fired at least 70
rounds and lobbed teargas shells when mobs emerged from the Ma-joorgam area near Gita Mandir and