Leftist propaganda website The Wire published an article by Revati Laul on 31st January 2023. The article is based on BBC’s recently banned controversial documentary on PM Narendra Modi – ‘India: The Modi Question’. Pretending to criticize the BBC propaganda documentary, this article casts aspersions on Godhra carnage. However, the questions raised in this article published by The Wire only show that the leftist propaganda, as usual, relies on baseless accusations when the answers to the posed questions are available on basic internet search,
About the Godhra Carnage, the root cause of the subsequent Gujarat riots in 2002, The Wire article mentions, “First, the 59 karsevaks were travelling ticketless in the train that caught fire. There were many that had bought tickets and got out alive. What did they see? Why are their accounts buried? If indeed Muslims had set the bogey on fire, there should be no fear in calling them out. Why the silence?”
It adds, “Further discomfort could have been brought by sharp-focusing on the train bogey that burnt. One investigation into the burning was carried out by the BJP-led government of the day and the other, a few years later, by the opposition leader Lalu Yadav when he was railway minister. Both are therefore seen as partisan. Could not the BBC play a non-partisan role here and throw up some basic questions that could really open up a can of worms? Here are some questions that come to mind. Why was the chain pulled and the train stopped before the designated station? Was a Muslim girl molested? What happened to these stories and why have they vanished from our midst?”
It is shocking that when Indian courts have convicted several people for the Godhra carnage, Wire is suggesting that it was biased and BBC is playing a ‘non-partisan’ role.
The answers to the questions raised on the train stopping at signal Falia cabin A and the coach S-6 catching the fire are concluded in the report by the commission of inquiry consisting of Justice GT Nanavati and Justice Akshay H Mehta. The questions about the chain pulling were raised by Jan Sangharsh Manch – a so-called civil rights organization by the late Mukul Sinha. Their submission claimed that the chain pulling from 4 different coaches took place at Godhra and the train stopped because the chain pulling problem was not set right and not because some mob was pelting stones at the train.
However, the accounts of the guard of the train, the driver, and the assistant driver of the train differ from this. They have maintained that while chains were pulled from four coaches, the problem was solved by releasing the brakes and after that, the train left the Godhra station. At signal Falia that is cabin A, the chain was pulled again and before it could be set right, a mob from outside the train started pelting stones on the train, and then they set the coaches on fire. The same record is also noted in the train driver’s log book and it was held authentic by the commission. This also disproves the theory that Karsevaks abusing some vendors on the platform was the reason for the violence as the train coach caught fire outside the station.
The commission report states that there are two versions of why the chains were pulled to stop the train. One version says that passengers had pulled the chains because the train had started to leave the station leaving some passengers who had got down from the train. The other version says that the chains were pulled under conspiracy to attack the karsevaks in the train.
The commission says in its report, “From which coaches the alarm chain was pulled, would not have been a material issue but for the fact that a point has been raised for our consideration by the Jan Sangharsh Manch and some other parties that Sabarmati Express train was not stopped near ‘A’ cabin by some persons pulling the alarm chain in pursuance of the conspiracy alleged by the State, but it had stopped there because it could not go further as a result of continuous application of the brake, as chain pulling from coach no.90238 or some other coach was not set right before the train had started from the station. The reason suggested for not set right the chain pulling from that coach is that by the timing chain pulling from two coaches was set right, pelting of stones on the train had again started and therefore, that work was left incomplete and the assistant driver who was doing that work had immediately rushed back to the engine. This fact has been suggested by Jan Sangharsh Manch as the reason for the assistant driver to leave the work of resetting the chain incomplete. The version based upon the evidence of the railway staff is that chain pulling from all four coaches was set right and after confirmation of completion of that work, the driver was told to proceed ahead.”
Justice Nanavati-Mehta Committee report [pdf] talks about how the Godhra carnage took place. Right after the Godhra platform and boundary, there is a road and a locality named ‘Signal Falia.’ “It extends up to the culvert and goes further towards A cabin. It is a locality mainly inhabited by Ghanchi Muslims,” the report mentions. When the train arrived, a lot of unauthorized vendors, mainly Ghanchi Muslims, would come on the platform and sell snacks, cold drinks, bidis, etc.
The report further states that the train arrived at the platform at 7:43 AM as it was running about 5 hours late, and there was a halt of about 5 minutes. The train started to leave Godhra at 7.55 AM, and by that time a mob had started collecting near the station on the signal Falia side. The mob started running along with the train and throwing stones at it, forcing the TTE and passengers to close the doors and windows on that side, the report states.
However, the chain was pulled again, forcing the train to stop near A cabin. By this time, the engine and some coaches of the train had crossed the cabin but the other coaches were still in the station. After this, the mob started to attack the train with stones, and the size of the mob also swelled. The Assistant Station Master who was at cabin A came out to see what was happening, but went back after seeing the mob, informed the staff at the station about what was happening and called for help.
The mob targeted the S6 coach specifically. The report states, “Its windows were broken and through those open windows, stones, burning rags and some inflammable liquid contained in pouches and bulbs were thrown inside the coach.” The report says that as a result, the seats had caught fire and the coach was filled with smoke, reducing visibility and causing breathing problems. After that, the mob opened the door connecting S6 with S7 by cutting the vestibule, entered the coach and threw petrol inside the coach. This caused a big fire which spread rapidly leaving no time for the passengers to escape.
When police arrived at the station, they had to resort to firing to stop the attack. But there was a second attack at 11 AM, when the mob attacked the train, passengers and even the police. “The impact of the incident was so much and widespread that it had led to communal riots in Godhra immediately and throughout Gujarat within a short time,” the report mentons.
In its evidence portion, the report cites media reports from February 28, 2002, the day after the carnage, where leading mainstream media had reported that a mob had set Hindus on fire. They mentioned how Hindus were returning from karseva and how the mob set the train coaches on fire with petrol. The report states for that a long time it was accepted that the train was attacked by a Muslim mob, and this version was not questioned. There was no suggestion that coach S6 caught fire due to some other reason and it was not torched by the mob, and such claims started to appear much later.
Further, the report has given detailed testimonials of witnesses, including Railway staff and policemen, which make it clear that the train was attacked and set on fire by the mob.
In the guise of criticizing the documentary, The Wire article ends up only casting such aspersions which have no solid proof. It also ignores the report by the commission. It also disregards the fact that all such speculations have been dismissed by the Indian courts including the Supreme Court.
The Wire article further suggests to BBC what could be the proper way to depict particular scenes so that Narendra Modi and his supporters could not take an advantage of playing the victim by pointing fingers at this documentary. The Wire article also says that BBC lacked in basic Google searches but the fact remains that Revati Laul, who calls the propaganda website The Wire to be one of the last standing independent press spaces, has not searched anything about the carnage that claimed the lives of 59 innocent Hindus before making blatant aspersions based on some plea filed by the late Mukul Sinha and his organization.
It is notable that there were a number of actors playing their role in changing the outlook of the horrifying incident that sparked the riots. It has been over 20 years since the train carrying Karsewaks from Ayodhya was burnt in Godhra, Gujarat, by a Muslim mob. 59 Hindus were burnt alive, including women and children. The propagandists tried their level best to paint the incident differently to save the murderous Muslim mob from facing any action. Mukul Sinha and Nirjhari Sinha were among the frontline propaganda peddlers who spread the lies.
The trial court which heard the Godhra carnage case ruled that the incident was a planned conspiracy, and 31 persons were convicted for the same. The court had acquitted 63 others due to a lack of evidence. The convicted persons were convicted of murder and conspiracy charges, and 11 of them were awarded the death penalty. The Gujarat High Court also accepted that it was a planned conspiracy, however, the court commuted the death sentences to life sentences.
