Map of Gujarat

The Day in Question

Around 7am on February 27^th 2002, a train departing from Ayodhya, India (carrying over 5,000 Hindu activists returning from the Babri mosque site) was allegedly set on fire by a group of Muslim extremists. A mob of about 2,000 set the Sabarmati Express on fire by throwing kerosene containers at the moving train close to the Godhra train station. The fire consumed 4 out of the 5 train compartments -- resulting in the death of over 60 people with many more injured. This vicious train attack was the climax of the growing tension between Muslim and Hindus in Gujarat since the destruction of the Babri mosque in 1992. The train attack (as well as the atrocious events which occurred in its immediate aftermath) was a direct result of the government’s failure to alleviate tensions between the two religious groups.

HINDUVATA

Hindutva (or “Hinduness") is used to describe Hindu nationalism… and the belief that it is righteous to kill anyone who gets in their way.

• The Indian subcontinent is the homeland of the Hindus.

• "Hindus" are those who consider India to be their fatherland as well as their holyland.

• emphasize historical oppression of Hindus by invading forces like the Muslims and the Christians and the call to "reverse" the influence resulting from these intrusions.

• denunciation of British colonialism and Communism alike for a perceived weakening of Hindus.

• The irredentist call for the establishment of a "Hindu Rashtra" to protect Hindus and revive Hindu culture.

• A ban on cow slaughter in India.

GENOCIDE

“GENOCIDE means any of the following acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group as such:

• Killing members of the group;

• Causing serious mental or bodily harm to the members;

• Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part”

(source: UN convention on Genocide)

BABRI: the mosque that started it all

Timeline

1528: The Babri Mosque is built at today’s Ayodhya during the regime of Moghal Emperor Zaheeruddin Babar. After the regime of Moghal, the British colonized India. In the war against Islam and to strengthen their government, British used to resort to Hindu-Muslim riots (divide and rule policy) and spread trouble through their puppets.

1855: In 1855 British Government conspired Hindu-Muslim communal riots by setting forth the baseless claim by Hindus that the Babri Mosque was the birthplace of Ram and should be Ram Temple. Hindu-Muslim clashes at Ayodhya claim 75 lives.

(There is no proof that the Babari Mosque was built on the place where there existed any temple. There are a number of temples of Ram in Ayodhya and each temple claims that the birth of Ram had taken place in it. Archaeology studies report in 1976 states that, no human population existed in the period claimed as Ram's Birth time in Ayodhya.)

1857: A Hindu priest takes over a part of the Babri compound and builds an altar. Hindus and Muslims both visit the compound to worship peacefully.

1859: The British government builds a wall to separate the places of worship.

1934: During countrywide Hindu-Muslim riots, Hindus break parts of the Babri Mosque wall and damage its domes.

1949: An idol of the God Ram is secretly installed inside Babri Mosque. The government proclaims the location to be a disputed area and locks the building.

1983: The VHP begin a campaign to build a Temple at the Mosque site. The movement gathers momentum in the next few years.

1986: A police-case of Babari Mosque was referred to a Jan Sanghi District Judge, K.K. Nayer. With the assistance of the (corrupt) police, K.K. Nayer declares that Babri Mosque is a Temple. K.K. Nayer is forced to resign on account of his guilt, but is soon elected a member of Legislative Assembly and the Mosque is locked by court orders. In 1986, despite the pending case of ownership of the Babri Mosque in the Allahabad High Court, the Judge of Subordinate Court (while neglecting the application of the Muslims) grants permission of worship to Hindus and ordered unlocking.

1989: The pro-Hindu government allows groundbreaking ceremonies for the construction of a Hindu Temple near the Mosque. About 600 die in related Hindu-Muslim rioting.

1990: The National Leader of BJP (and current President of BJP) incites religious riots, endangering the lives, property and possessions of thousands of Muslims. More than 100,000 kar sevaks (Hindu militants) gather at Ayodhya; many storm the Mosque and 30 are killed by police. Hundreds more Muslims and Hindus die in sectarian violence.

July 1992: Construction ceremonies begin on the new Ram Temple, but the Mosque is not disturbed.

Dec. 6, 1992: [The leaders of the Sangh Parivar, Kar Sevaks, and Shiv Sainiks martyr the Babri Mosque (with the active support of the BJP government) and built a temporary temple on the site of the Mosque.] Muslim leadership in India remains silent, relying on law and justice; Muslim leaders asks their followers not to react. After the official martyrdom of Babri Mosque, Muslims start non-violent protests expressing their anger. Thousands of Muslims are killed, injured and thousands put behind bars. A mob of 300,000 Hindu militants and Hindu worshippers demolish the mosque, unleashing India's worst Hindu-Muslim riots to date: more than 2,000 people are killed.

January 2002: The VHP says it intends to build a Ram Temple on Babri Mosque... despite a Supreme Court order preventing construction. 15,000 Hindu activists and militants arrive to oversee that their Temple is built (and prevent any Muslims to enter the site of their new Temple).

Feb. 27, 2002: The worst communal violence in a decade erupts after Hindus go on a rampage in Gujarat in retaliation for a train fire that leaves 58 Hindu militants dead. The extremists were returning from the controversial Babri Mosque site. (It was never proven that Muslims were responsible for this fire.)

[Babari Masjid is not the only target of extremist Hindus. They actually have enlisted 3000 Mosques all over India and plan to convert them into their temples. The government has declared that Ram-Janam-Bhoomi (birth place of Ram) is beyond law and court; they aren't bound by court orders. Hindus announced that they will soon construct Ram Temple on the site of Babri Mosque under any circumstances.]

[The Muslims believe that mosques are the property of Allah and are always constructed on undisputed lands. Once a mosque is built on land, that place shall remain mosque until the ‘Doomsday’. Those responsible for ruining mosques and preventing worship of Allah are most ‘ruthless’.]

Dangerous Texts

A signed letter distributed among middle-class Hindus…

Dear Friends,

• Your life is in danger. You can be killed anywhere. Krishna had instructed Arjun to take to arms and kill all those who are against Hindus.
  
  
• The Muslim terrorist will kill you in your bedroom, drawing room, anywhere.
  
  
• Neither the police nor the military can save you.
  
  
• People who talk about Hindu-Muslim unity are only cheating crores of Hindus. How can we trust people who don't say 'Vande Mataram' or 'Bharat Mata ki jai'?
  
  
• Our ancestors were killed by Muslims.
  
  
• Muslims don't believe in family planning. They will be in the majority one day.
  
  
• Laden killed 5,000 Americans. The Americans killed 10,000 Afghans and correctly settled scores.
  
  
• Muslims have AK-47s, RDX, rocket launchers.
  
  
• Godhra was a trailer. The actual film is yet to begin. The Muslims are planning many Godhras.
  
  
• Two crore Hindus have been killed by Muslims so far.
  
  
• Muslims want to make non-Islamic countries Islamic.
  
  
• The Ram sevaks who have recently been arrested have made a great sacrifice for society.
  Their families have to be helped financially.
  
  
• Avail of 50% tax saving by contributing to the VHP.

Chinubhai Patel
Nidhi Pramukh
VHP



Wake Up, Hindus!!!!

• Don't go to Muslim shops l Don't purchase anything from Muslim shops.
  
  
• They earn from us and then use the money to attack us.
  
  
• If they don't come to our shops why should we go to theirs?
  
  
• Cut all business relations immediately.

Boycott! Boycott! Boycott!

(Another pamphlet distributed in Gujarat by the VHP)

planned Muslim genocide or pogrom?

Gujarat is a state that is 88% Hindu and 10% Muslim, ruled by a pro-Hindu government.

"Gujarat, the only major state in India to have a BJP government has, for some years, been the petri dish in which Hindu fascism has been fomenting an elaborate political experiment. In Gujarat, the initial results were put on public display.

Within hours of the Godhra outrage, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal put into motion a meticulously planned pogrom against the Muslim community. Officially, the number of dead in Gujarat is 1800. Independent reports put the figure at well over 3,000. More than a hundred and seventy thousand people, driven from their homes, now live in refugee camps. Muslim women were stripped, gang-raped, parents were bludgeoned to death in front of their children. Two hundred and forty dargahs and 180 masjids were destroyed—in Ahmedabad the tomb of Wali Gujarati, the founder of the modern Urdu poem, was demolished and paved over in the course of a night. The tomb of the musician Ustad Faiyaz Ali Khan was desecrated and wreathed in burning tyres. Arsonists burned and looted shops, homes, hotels, textiles mills, buses and private cars. Hundreds of thousands of Muslims have lost their jobs, families, homes and lives."

- Arundhati Roy is a female Indian novelist, writer and activist. She won the Booker Prize in 1997 for her first novel and the Lannan Cultural Freedom Prize 2002.

Burnt Dough

One Day: Two Views

I will never forget the day my brothers died for a cause. I had two uncles on the Sabarmati Express in compartment number 2. They were on their way back from Ayodhya when their train was set on fire by the zealous Muslims. All they wanted was for our temple to be rebuilt on its rightful ground. This is our country after all. India is supposed to be a Hindu State. Since the brutal slaying of 60 people that day on the train, violence has spread throughout Gujarat. My Hindu brothers are hungry for revenge. At night, I hear stories of people avenging those who died that day on the train. Stores are being robbed, riots are taking place, and buildings owned by the enemies are being burnt.

I will never forget my walk to work on March 1st. I smell of fresh bread filled the air. It made me so hungry I started to salivate. Then the smell of sweet bread quickly turned to burnt dough. A smell that made you want to run the other way. I looked at the morning sky, instead of being lit up with colors form the rising sun it was filled with dark and grey clouds. In the distance I saw 14 of my brothers dancing around a bakery. Chanting, singing, Hindutva, and rejoicing in the flames.

Family Bread

One Day: Two Views

These past two months have been difficult for my family here in the State Province of Gujurat. Every night before we go to bed daddy always looks out the window and locks the door. Ten minutes later he’s at the door again, checking to make sure it is still locked. He does this four times until he finally goes to bed. It’s been like this for the past two months, ever since the terrible train attacks in February. I won’t ever forget that awful day.

It was still early when the news reached my mother and I at the bakery. “Close the shop” dad ordered, “you’ll never know if they’ll come in here and want revenge.” The ‘them’ dad was talking about were the Hindus. As I overheard the bits of conversation between father and mother the story came together slowly for me. A train, Hindus, the Babri, a fire, 60 dead, Muslims responsible, unrest, Hindutva. The pieces started to fall together for me and formed a terrible picture. The extreme Hindu activists had been attacked by my people, the Muslims.

What followed next were riots all over our streets. The Hindu extremists wanted revenge. Girls in my neighborhood disappeared overnight. Businesses burned at night. Families were robbed. My best friend Elda went to fetch some water and never came back. Women especially were being targeted. The philosophy of Hindutva, that India should only be a Hindu state was re-ignited. Over the past two months, sources say 2,000 had been killed with the majority being Muslim women. It was no wonder my father checked the door four times every night before bed.

Then it happened, my family was targeted. On March 1st my family’s bakery was targeted by a mob of Hindus. I watched as it burnt to the ground. 4 generations of family bread making- burned in front of my eyes. “Run!” screamed by father. “Go to the police and tell them what they’ve done to our family”. I did as my father instructed, I went to the police. I found out 14 people had been killed that night. I survived but our bakery did not. I told the police, the officials, and anyone that would listen what had happened. “They” (the Hindus) were to be tried in court, but were found acquitted. My family dropped the charges after we received threats. I’d rather let our bakery burn than watch my father check the door more than 4 times before bed. This was our life in Gujarat after the train burning. We were Muslims in a “Hindu Country.”

See No Evil,Hear No Evil, Prevent No Crimes

The cartoon to the left depicts the horrors of the Gujarat violence of 2002. The fact that in the picture they are laughing and drinking the blood of the victims to me screams out planned event.The stars represent the fact that a enough people that stands for one belief leaves others helpless. And it just shows the nonsensical fact of how people who say they are religious could just stand by and watch something like this happen as the people scream for help. There was an overwhelmingly larger number of Muslims killed than Hindu’s. Throughout the years there have been successive events that have occurred and authority figures have not given their best effort to trying to alleviate the tension between both of these groups. The media has always set it up to make it seem like Muslims are the ones that always start these occurrences of violence when that is not always a fact. The media does not report what events happened before the single event to spark the riots and almost always never print the story in favor of the Muslim citizens. The spark of this terrible time was a train fire that killed 58 Hindu people. The media both was a positive and a negative during this time of terror. Covering the first major communal riots following in the advent of satellite television to India, television news channels set a precedent by identifying the community of those involved in the violence, breaking a long-standing practice. Critical reporting on the Gujarat government's handling of the situation helped bring about the Indian government's intervention in controlling the violence. The Gujarat government banned television news channels critical of the government's response. STAR News, Zee News, Aaj Tak, CNN as well as local stations were blocked. The unspoken rule about mentioning a victim’s religion was broken and as a result revenge killings occurred. However that was not the only effect, the accurate portrayal of the event made it possible for someone to intervene in the situation.

Hindutva is a belief that sees India as being a Hindu state. Pro-Hindutva bias has challenged the role of media as an agent of restraint. It was hard to cover riots because of attacks on the media by members who believe in this cause. For example, a number of Indian journalists were subjected to violent attacks by marauding mobs as well as policeman while covering the prolonged communal violence in Gujarat. This apparent aggression towards the media for recording events contributes to the improper representation of the riots in Gujarat and also implicitly states that the government (which is run by Hindus) really does not care about resolving apparent tensions because they allow inaccurate documentation to be aired.

It leads to the false documentation of events and the fact that the government actively takes part in it as well, shows that they just want these things to happen and don’t really care whether or not the truth is given to the citizens. Indian prime Minister said, “Do not let emotions sway you. The unity and communal harmony of India will have to be protected at all costs. “
A week before the train bombing there was trouble at a celebration for a Muslim festival. The media implicated that that Muslims had bombed the train and made it seem as though they were retaliating from this previous event. It was said by the superintendent of police that this was so. This stems from our argument that the authority figures did not do anything to lessen tension between the two groups.

"The press, especially some television channels, has been hailed for presenting the "true picture" of Muslims as the main victims of the riots while in many cases the police played the spectator's role" was said by one paper. However some television stations were banned due to their accurate portrayal of the events. I feel it was a very bold move to publish reports that were unbiased when the entire government was run by a Hindu organization. Not to mention that reporters were being killed and stoned for trying to get a story..

The government did nothing about it and the violence just continued. Here you have a government completely run by Hindus with the ideology of extreme Hindu nationalism and they basically have control over everything. The government was basically allowing the murder of the Muslim citizens obviously to satisfy their beliefs of Hindu superiority and an Indian nation that only includes the Hindu population. Television and newspapers was not allowed to print this because the government regulated everything. The government basically thought to turn the other cheek and let things be. The government didn’t want to make it seem as if they were just allowing things to happen however it seemed that way because they didn't do anything to put an end to it or anything that would prevent it.

The sad thing however is that although unbiased information was able to get out, there were very, very few who were actually convicted for the crimes and out of the 5000 cases brought to the courts at least 2000 were thrown out for lack of evidence. Truth that falls on deaf ears minds as well be a lie, because the government during the time of these riots made no effect to alleviate the tensions between these two groups of people.