Bharuch City

Crime Against Humanity 
Volume I An inquiry into the carnage in Gujarat 
List of Incidents and Evidence 
By Concerned Citizens Tribunal -Gujarat 2002

Incidents of Post-Godhra Violence

Bharuch City

ANKLESHWAR
GIDC area
RAJPARDI
ANDADA
MANDWA

The Tribunal recorded the evidence of 53 witnesses from Bharuch district of which18 pertained to Bharuch city. The written statements of 29 other witnesses were alsoplaced before the Tribunal. Violence erupted in Bharuch city from the morning ofFebruary 28, 2002. The Tribunal recorded testimonies from many of the victim-sur-vivors on May 13 at Ankleshwar. The attacks within Bharuch city werecharacterised by massive destruction of Muslim properties and businesses, tar-geting of Muslim homes, terrorising Muslim populations into fleeing and a clearand close nexus between the police and the criminals belonging to the VHP/RSS/BD/BJP. The nexus was apparent in the open sloganeering of the VHP’sBharuch president, Viral Desai, which was telecast on the local Narmada chan-nel on February 28: “Yeh andar ki baat hai, Police hamare saath hai” (“The insidestory is, The police are with us in this”). The local police did not seem to thinka denial or contradiction was in order. Desai was named by many witnesses asleading the mobs that indulged in loot and arson, in many cases during curfewhours. The blatantly communal behaviour of the Home Guards, who accompa-nied the local police and shot dead local Muslims, was also part of the patternnoted in the district.

At 8 a.m. on February 28, Sayeed Ahmed Mohammed Pathan, a businessman fromBharuch who deposed before the Tribunal, was informed by one of his employeesthat his fancy garments’ showroom was being set on fire. The latter rushed to ask forpolice assistance. When he spoke to PI Buch of the ‘B’ Division, the reply he gotshocked him: “We cannot help you. If you need help take some Muslim people withyou and save your shops. We don’t have policemen for your protection.” This despitethe fact that, at the time, there were 400-500 policemen present. The witness thereaf-ter contacted the DSP, Manoj Antani, who was reasonably prompt. However, Pathan’sshop was not saved; the estimated damage being Rs. 22 lakh. The shop was burnt anddestroyed by a mob led by Desai of the VHP and another Bajrang Dal leader.

The mob broke open the showroom, trashed the place, and sprinkled some chemi-cals before torching the place. Some of the arson was shown on TV. The mobs whowere attacking shops belonging to prosperous Muslims carried a detailed list withthem. The Keo Fashion shop was the next to be targeted by the mob. Thereafter,other Muslim-owned shops were also selectively burnt: China Saree, Labella Empo-rium, Golden Shoes, Peter England, etc. In all, about 40-45 Muslim-owned shops andshowrooms all over Bharuch were destroyed in such a manner — even the RCC slabshad cracked — that it could take up to six months to rebuild. With no help from thestate government or from financial institutions – banks, insurance companies – theaffected businessmen were completely helpless.

Many witnesses who deposed before the Tribunal, showed the panel remnants of achemical powder that was used to ignite their establishments. Besides being armedwith trishuls and swords, some in the mob also carried big cans of petrol, kerosene,packets of the powder and implements to force open closed premises.

The witnesses, testifying two months after the violence, said that the atmospherein Bharuch was still vitiated. A prominent businessman, who requested anonymity,said he was in no position to resume his business. There had been no compensationfrom the government; and no insurance claims had been passed; so no repairs hadbeen carried out. This witness lost Rs. 15 lakh worth of stock and Rs. 6 lakh worth offurniture; miscellaneous damages added up to another Rs. 1 lakh. His showroom,opened only two-and-a-half years ago, was inaugurated with much fanfare and pub-licity. Though his total losses amounted to Rs. 22 lakh, because of the high premium,insurance was only for Rs. 9.5 lakh. Investigations relating to his insurance claimswere on when the Tribunal recorded this witnesses’ evidence. He complained bitterlyof the offensive attitude of the Oriental Insurance Company. Though a police com-plaint was filed, no action had been taken against the marauders.

Witnesses from different parts of Bharuch city named the VHP’s Viral Desai asone of the main instigators of the mobs. Many people had watched him on TV on thenight of February 28, publicly declaring his intention to defy the law, and openlychallenging the police. He said they (VHP) had warned the police that if they tried tostop them, “We would reply with bricks and stones.” Peace-loving citizens of Bharuchwere aghast, watching Desai shouting slogans and challenging the police in front ofTV cameras, while a whole bunch of policemen standing around him said or didnothing. What’s more, Desai and his supporters brandished unsheathed swords at thetime. This episode, telecast by local TV channels, was seen on Citi Channel, by awitness who deposed before the Tribunal. Despite Desai’s incitement of, and directinvolvement in, serious crimes, the police FIR did not list him among the accused.Panchnamas were prepared by the police on their own without calling the witnesses.On March 1, soon after the afternoon namaaz, stone throwing started in anotherpart of Bharuch, Barelikho. Witnesses from this area who deposed before the Tribu-nal said that throughout March, they received phone calls every night, telling Muslimsthat their locality would be burnt down. Because of the terror so created, 80 per cent of the 150 Muslim families living there and another 90 families living in an adjacentarea fled to safety. Even as late as May, just two days prior to the Tribunal’s visit toBharuch, threats had been issued to residents of Barelikho to vacate the locality.(Several witnesses pointed to the close nexus between the police and the localcable TV channels. Whenever the police were called to an area where trouble brokeout, the TV crew would be there even before the police arrived. This was especiallytrue of another local channel, the Narmada channel.)

The area was attacked on four different occasions, always at night, while curfewwas in force. How the police allowed huge mobs to assemble, defying curfew, is amoot question. On the last occasion, the locality was targeted in the presence of thepolice. The gang leaders of the mob belonged to the VHP/BD, which have theirshakhas (cells) in nearby areas and operate without any hindrance.

Most Muslims from Barelikho and the neighbourhood had run away fearing furtherattacks, harassment and arrests by the police. Despite written complaints, police tookno action. On the other hand, the Tribunal noted the illegal detention of 14 Muslimsby the police and their violent and offensive behaviour with Muslim women.

One witness, Irfan Lakdawala from the Barelikho area of Bharuch, gave a searingtestimony concerning the violence on February 28, when shops were looted, brokenand burnt at Panch Batti. He said that he saw Muslim shops being broken into, liter-ally in front of the eyes of the collector, Anju Sharma and the DSP Bharuch, ManojAntani. They sat there without a care in the world, eating cashews and almonds froma dry-fruit store that was being looted and destroyed along with about 25 other shops.He said that the incident was telecast live on the local Narmada channel. Lakdawalamade a fervent plea before the Tribunal regarding the location of the collector’s officeand the mamlatdar’s office, both of which had been deliberately moved to a Hindu-predominant part of the city a few months earlier, to deny Muslims easy access tothese government functionaries. He applauded the conduct of PI Ajit Shinde, whowas punitively moved out of this locality for his impartial behaviour. Another wit-ness, Munir Ahmed Pathan, complained about PI GM Chawda, who repeatedly toldMuslims that they did not have the right to live in ‘Hindustan’.

The testimony of a vegetable vendor from Bahar Ki Undai detailed the bla-tantly partisan role of the Home Guards. At about 1 p.m. on March 19, 2002, amob of over 5,000 descended on the area. They had come with policemen andHome Guards, and the latter opened fire on the Muslims in the locality. A bulletfired by Home Guard Bharat Sunderlal Bhatia killed a Muslim youth, SyedSirajuddin Jibbo. Another witness present at the hearing of the Tribunal lost hiswife, Najma in the firing. She was killed by a bullet fired by another Home Guard,Deepak Samardas Rana. Shabbir Khan, who was injured in the same firing, alsoappeared before the Tribunal. The killers were part of a small contingent of HomeGuards, who advanced towards the Muslims living in Undai from the direction ofDandiya Bazaar. The advancing mob was literally provided cover by these guard-ians of the law.

Rana, who was posted at a police point in Gaulipur, resides in Dandiya Bazaar, alittle distance away from Undai. He was stationed at a police point about 200 metresaway from Undai. He left his point to lead the mobs against Muslims in Undai. WhileRana fired at the Muslims, the mob following him pelted stones. No one from the mobwas injured.

This witness (the vegetable vendor) testified to the shocking behaviour of the DSP.He said that Antani ordered the breaking down of doors of Muslim homes and pickedup 16 youth from the area. The arrested youths, who were still under detention whenthe Tribunal visited Bharuch, were regularly beaten, the witnesses complained. Whilehiding from the rampaging police, the witness heard DSP Antani say, “Yeh sab kshanMuslim hain, unko jala do aur khakh kar do!” (“These Muslims are filthy people, burnthem to ashes”).

The second round of violence took place in Bharuch on March 18-19, 2002. (Thecity had not returned to normal even when the Tribunal visited it in May). One wit-ness who deposed before the Tribunal gave details of how on the morning of March18, a crowd of about 50-70 people assembled at Bhupendra Manilal Gandhi’s housein Chhipad Galli. Fifteen minutes later, the armed mob emerged from his house andattacked the Taiba mosque, about 100 metres away.

Another witness, Muzzamil Khan Pathan, (62), a businessman from Haji KhanaBazaar, also testified before the Tribunal. According to him, in the second round ofviolence, on March 19, a mob of 4-5,000 came to the Haji Khana mosque at 1 p.m. inthe afternoon and started heavy stone pelting. The mob included Viral Desai, oneDarbar and his wife. Darbar, who carried a revolver and a sword, was shouting,“Musalman ko maro, kato, sab ke ghar jala do!” (“Kill the Muslims! Cut them up! Burn alltheir homes!”). From here the mob proceeded to Undai, accompanied by the police(led by PI Chawda), whom they had brought with them. They went to the house ofthe trustee of the mosque and demanded that the Muslim boys be handed over. Whenhe denied that there were any boys in his house, they pulled his beard and Desaithreatened to rip it off. The same mob then went to the Hindu-predominant Bahar kiUndai locality and attacked Muslims living there.

“Even though our locality (Haji Khana Bazaar) was peaceful at the time, the DySPHarikrishna Patel, who arrived later, abused us a lot, ordered the breaking down ofdoors to our houses and took away our boys. He locked us inside our houses and wentaway.” The seven Muslim youths who were arrested that day were still under deten-tion two months later, when the Tribunal visited the city. They have been chargedunder section 307 (attempt to murder) even though in this Muslim-predominant area,no Hindu shop was looted or burnt, no one was injured. When witness Imtiaz Pathanwent to get them released, he was told that the youths were being charged under sec.144. The VHP leader, Desai, who was there with magistrate Trivedi, threatened Pathanfor trying to get the boys released. Pathan believes that Desai influenced the policeand the magistracy into altering the charge against the detained youths, from the rela-tively harmless sec. 144 (unlawful assembly) to sec. 307.

Several applications were filed for the release of the boys, including one in theGujarat High Court but, because they were booked under sec. 307, even the HighCourt had refused to order their release. The charges have been slapped on 23 Mus-lims in all — 16 from Bahar Ki Undai and 7 from Haji Khana Bazaar. Youths from thetwo different localities were clubbed together and named in the same FIR even thoughthere is a sizeable distance between the two localities – you have to pass throughareas/localities to get from one to the other. DSP Antani, DySP Harikrishna Pateland PI Chawda were all subsequently transferred.

Other witnesses from different areas in Bharuch, who deposed before the Tribunal,spoke of Muslims being terrorised by the Sangh Parivar cadre in their respective locali-ties. One such witness spoke of Muslims from Kharvawad being targeted for sixweeks by corporators and other members of the BJP/RSS/VHP/BD. Muslim homeswere stoned every night to simply not let the minority areas be in peace. Ranjan Mistry,Champak Mistry, and Satish Mistry (a corporator and a Bajrang Dal/RSS man) wereidentified as the main culprits.

Many areas of Bharuch were traumatised in this fashion for weeks after the Godhratragedy.A recurring complaint from many victims from Bharuch who deposed beforethe Tribunal was the misconduct of the Home Guards. One witness said that on theone hand ‘RSS people’ had joined the police service, including at the lowest level ofHome Guards, with a definite intent. On the other hand, sure of police complicity,while attacking Muslims, even those not in service had simply donned the uniform ofpolice constables or Home Guards. The witnesses detailed how at the RSS and BajrangDal shakhas in the neighbourhood, secret meetings were held daily and training givenin the use of lathis. Following this, its members took out processions, brandishingarms and shouting slogans like, “Finish off the descendants of Babar, send them toPakistan or Kabrastan (graveyard)!”

All this terrifies the minority community and heightens their feeling of insecurity.One witness said, “We have been hearing things like this for years now, especially onVijayalakshmi Divas, when the RSS takes out processions, openly carries weaponsand raises anti-Muslim slogans. The number of members at their shakhas is increasing.They have started inciting Harijans, Adivasis and OBCs also. Should not the policebe doing something about this?”

ANKLESHWAR

Immediately after the Godhra tragedy, there were several peace committee meetingsand Sadbhavna (communal harmony) meetings in different parts of the town, to pre-emptany violence in Ankleshwar town. Some BJP leaders also attended these meetings. How-ever, every evening there would be an attack on some Muslim shop or establishment. Aconsistent complaint of the witnesses before the Tribunal was that the police did notregister complaints, and on occasions even alleged that Muslims had done this themselves.Between March 1 and April 4, 2002, about 45 Muslim-owned shops and homes orproperties, including handcarts and cabins, were targeted in this manner. They were first looted, then burnt. Unlike elsewhere in Gujarat, most incidents of violence inAnkleshwar town did not involve mobs. At work, instead, was a small group of 5-7men who moved around on two-wheelers carrying petrol, fireballs (kankda) and wa-ter-pistols (pichkaris, for spraying kerosene). Their targets were Muslim-owned shopsin Hindu-predominant areas.

Witnesses who deposed before the Tribunal named 5-6 BJP men who seemed to bewell-trained for their task: Pintu, Janak Shah, Jeetu Patel, Ganesh Agrawal, PravinMaster, Harendra Solanki, Dinesh Solanki. The police refused to take down any de-tails of the complaints or note the names of those accused for the crimes. They sim-ply wrote that a mob came and set such-and-such place on fire. In view of this, writ-ten complaints were also addressed to the DSP, naming the main offenders and askingfor action against them.

On March 27, eight men entered homes in Vohrawad, a locality of Dawoodi Bohras,and harassed their women. They also threatened to burn them alive if they did notvacate their homes. Responding to complaints, the police arrived but refused to arrestthe accused that were named. On the morning of April 1, 2002, some people from theadjacent Hindu-predominant locality started pelting stones on Vohrawad. The policewas called and DySP Shastri reached Vohrawad with a posse of policemen, but thestone throwing continued. Repeated pleas, that instead of standing around inVohrawad, which was being targeted, the police should go and restrain those indulg-ing in violence met with no response. While the DySP was in the area, nine houseswere burnt in Tekra Falia in the Surti Bhagal area. When the fire brigade arrived, themob prevented it from reaching the burning houses, and these were totally gutted as aresult.

At 11.30 p.m. the same night (April 1), the house of municipal councillor NajmabenGhulam Mulla in Ganga Jamuna Society was attacked by a mob. And in Goya Bazaar,a number of Muslim shops were looted and burnt. Mulla, who belongs to the Con-gress party, deposed before the Tribunal along with others from her locality. Her housedirectly faces an Adivasi settlement. While the mob continued stoning her home, asmall group armed with swords entered the house. She and her family members es-caped by hiding in a neighbour’s house, but not before her son’s head was split and sheherself was injured on the leg in the volley of stones. The stoning started at around11.15 p.m.; later, her home was broken into, looted and ransacked. But the policearrived only four hours later, around 3.30 a.m. And its action was limited to the arrestof her two sons and four supporters. DySP Shastri charged that shots were fired fromher house. (Mulla emphatically denied the charge while testifying before the Tribu-nal.) She finally returned to her house at 5 a.m. to find that every bit of property hadeither been looted or destroyed.

When some Hindu-owned shops at Mulla Bazaar (Mullawad) were burnt down onApril 4, Mulla and another councillor, also a Muslim, were named in the FIR by oneof the affected shop-owners as the instigators of looting and arson. Witnesses toldthe Tribunal that she had been falsely implicated; that it was inconceivable that, with curfew in force, any group of Muslims would dare break into and loot Hindu shopsover a period of two hours (as claimed in the FIR), in a Hindu-predominant localitybarely 50 metres away from a police station and finally burn them; that, followinginvestigations, the police itself had ruled out any looting and concluded that thefire started from inside one of the shops. However, in view of the prevailing anti-Muslim climate and the attitude of the police, Mulla said she had chosen to stayin hiding while her application for bail was pending in court. According to thesewitnesses, the Congress party has a majority in the Corporation and the BJP isusing its power at Gandhinagar to settle political scores against elected represen-tatives of the Congress party.

On May 2, Ganesh Agrawal, a prominent businessman and a BJP representative,was shot at, as a result of which the city came to a standstill. In the afternoon, somesword-wielding persons in Chauta Bazaar attacked Amjad Khan, the nephew of oneof the witnesses; his bike was smashed and burnt down. No one, including the police,knows who was behind the unsuccessful attempt to kill Agarwal, whose activities aresuch that he is involved in dealings with hoodlums (taporis) from both communities.Leaders from the minority community had demanded a CBI investigation of the case.

GIDC area

Alam Khan, the treasurer of a trust that runs a college with 2,500 students in theGIDC area of Ankleshwar, where 2,500 youngsters study deposed before the Tribu-nal. It appears that rivals of Khan in the faction-ridden trust saw, in the prevailingatmosphere, a good opportunity to settle scores with Khan and attacked him on March1, 2002, the lone Muslim with a bungalow on the campus. The witness told the Tribu-nal that with the gun he owned, he fired four bullets, “purely in self-defence as other-wise, my entire family, including children, would have been burnt alive”.

The witness testified that when the police arrived on the scene, he heard DySPShastri addressing the group outside his bungalow, “Now I’ve come and these peoplehaven’t been burnt or killed as yet. So I have no choice but to take them away fromhere, alive. After I’ve taken them away, you can loot their house, burn it, do whateveryou want. I give you time until 5 p.m. to do what you like.” This was a deputy superinten-dent of police speaking!

So the police took the witness and his family away from there and dropped them atthe house of relatives who live in the village nearby. Some 10-15 minutes later, he gota call on his mobile phone, informing him that the bungalow was being looted; aboutan hour later, he was informed his house was up in flames. A bungalow of 4,500square feet, they sprinkled petrol and set fire to every room in his house. Khan’s wasthe only house on the college campus that was attacked.

The list of the properties, shops, businesses destroyed in the GIDC area reads asfollows: Master Hardware, Atik Food Products, Jaanu Plastic, Priti Ice, Mayur Marble,Mahadevia Brooms, Art Gallery and a footwear shop in Sardar Park. All these eightestablishments were destroyed on February 28 and March 1, 2002. Several Muslim– owned bungalows or flats in the GIDC area were also robbed, looted and destroyed.These include the bungalows of Shamim Ahmed Siddiqui (Atik Food Products), BashirMalik and Fakhre Alam, and flats belonging to Salimbhai (United Glass) and AdambhaiMansuri (government official).

Another witness, KH Siddiqui, who is in the hotel business and is also coordinatorof the Congress party, deposed before the Tribunal. On the morning of February 28,one of his tempos was set on fire. By noon, the bakery he owned was also torched.His repeated calls to DySP Shastri elicited the promise of police help every time butnone was, in fact, forthcoming. For Siddiqui, the burning down of the bakery alonemeant a loss of over Rs. 12 lakh. In the complaint lodged with the police, the primeaccused were identified and named. But the local police would not give him a dulysigned copy of his complaint with all the details therein. Hence, the witness alsosubmitted a copy of the original complaint to every official concerned — the chiefsecretary, IG police, DSP Bharuch and the DM Bharuch, wherein the accused werenamed. The witness has since taken the matter to Court.

RAJPARDI

Abdul Ismail Khatri, (46), the owner of a hotel and a rice shop at Rajpardivillage in Bharuch district, deposed before the Tribunal. The total population ofRajpardi village is 12,000, of which around 10 per cent are Muslims. On February27, 2002, Rajpardi village observed a local bandh to protest the slaughter of acow in Tankariya village. Coinciding, as this did, with the reprehensible Godhraincident the same day, and with the VHP/BD having declared a state and all-India bandh for the next two days, the Muslims of Rajpardi were terrified thatsomething or the other would happen.

Late on the night of February 27, advocate Rohit D Shah, who belongs to the BJPand the VHP, and others, paid a visit to the witness and other Muslims from thevillage, all of whom had stayed awake, to assure them that there was nothing to worryabout. In less than half an hour after the promise of peace, the gong rang out from thelocal school building, announcing that it was midnight. It turned out to be a signal foran all-out attack on local Muslims. In the first act of violence, a Muslim house on theeastern edge of the village, adjoining the hotel owned by the witness, was bolted fromoutside and set on fire. Had the head of the household not run out of the backdoorand raised an alarm which had other Muslims running out to help, the nine personstrapped in the house would have been roasted alive.

Almost simultaneous to the torching of the house, another group of assailants,comprising of local Hindus and others from the neighbouring Avidha village, launchedan assault on the mosque that is to the west of the village. Meanwhile, in the villagebazaar in the north of the village, 7-8 Muslim-owned shops were set on fire. And tothe south, a poultry farm belonging to a Muslim was set aflame. In what could onlyhave been the result of pre-planning, groups numbering 300-400 men had launchedsimultaneous attacks on the Muslims of Rajpardi from all four directions.

Two of the miscreants, who had put the shops in the bazaar on fire, were nabbed bythe Muslims and handed over to the police. Both were Patels from Avidha village.When they made inquiries two hours later, it was found that PI Ninama of JhagadiyaPolice Station had already released the culprits. Meanwhile, the attacking mobs hadalso broken down the house of Dawoodbhai Memon situated near the mosque, butthat was the last act of violence that night.

Having unitedly warded off the late night attacks, in the course of the next dayabout 20 per cent of the Muslims moved out of the village. With continuing instancesof mounting violence, the situation in the area became progressively worse. Awarethat there were at least 40 unlicensed revolvers with the Patels of Rajpardi village,Muslims felt increasingly insecure. Women and children started fleeing the village,moving to Bhalod Tarsali village, 7 km away, which has a higher Muslim population.By the night of March 3, most of the Muslim population had fled because of therepeated threats that all Muslim homes would be burnt down. That very night, all 18Muslim homes in Bakkanagar colony and the kaccha houses in Diwan Falia locality ofRajpardi village were all burnt. A few cabins at Char Rasta and a few shops near therailway crossing were also burnt. Through that night, the police arrested 8 men, 7 ofthem from the BJP plus a Congressman — the former village sarpanch and talukapramukh, Bhupatsinh Kesrola. But the rest was to follow the next day.

In the morning, Yogesh Kanti Patel contacted the Muslims who had stayed behindand threatened that if they failed to procure the release of those arrested (the previ-ous night) by 11 a.m., every Muslim home in the village would be burnt down. Panic-stricken Muslims made desperate appeals to the police; even the state’s home minis-ter, Gordhan Zadaphiya, was contacted on his mobile phone, from the residence ofadvocate Ranjitsinh Parmar. The chairman of the Police Aavasth Nigam, BharatsinhParmar also spoke to Gordhan Zadaphiya from the Jhagadiya police station in thepresence of the witness. But even Zadaphiya, a BJP minister and a VHP leader, saidthat since the FIR had already been filed, those arrested could only be released after abail application was heard in the sessions court.

As the Muslims came out of the police station and faced the assembled mob, SunilPatel, a friend of the witness, took him and three others to his car, telling the crowdthat he was taking them to Rajpardi to bring back the 200-300 Muslims who were stillthere for a satyagraha outside the police station, to press for release of those detained.Once in the car, he informed the witness that messages had already been sent out tovillages as far as 60 km away and the threatened attack was imminent.

And at 11 a.m. sharp, the attack was launched, starting with the hotel owned by thewitness, Abdul Ismail Khatri. They first looted goods from all Muslim business estab-lishments and homes. Tempos, trucks and jeeps were piled up with the loot; the rest wasthen consigned to flames. The loot and arson continued until the evening but there wasno sign of the DM, the SP, the DySP or the policemen lower down the hierarchy.It was all carefully planned. They had allotted 10-15 minutes per structure. Eachgroup of marauders, about 500 strong, would loot and destroy some 20 homes in one area and then, after about 30 minutes, move to the next block. In this manner, dividedinto four squads of around 500 each, the assailants set upon the village from differentdirections simultaneously. In a matter of approximately five hours, they had wipedout the entire Muslim locality in the village. It was all a matter of precise planning –loot all you can, burn what remains. A small group in each case was assigned the taskof breaking the locks; the looters followed; and then came the arsonists for the finalact. The attackers were armed with 3-litre petrol pouches. Specially crafted nozzleswere fitted to spray gas from cooking gas cylinders at high pressure, then petrol pouchesand fireballs (kankdas) were flung from a distance to ignite the place. Some chemicalpowder was also used to intensify burning.

Though no remnants of chemicals were retrieved, the special fireballs (kankdas)that had been used to burn down the mosque were. One man from the village led eachmob, acting as a guide to point out which was a Hindu-owned structure and whichone was Muslim-owned. In some places, Muslim structures had been marked withchalk. By evening, the Muslim localities in the village were completely looted andburnt. The cumulative loss of Muslim property in Rajpardi village alone was esti-mated at Rs. 5-6 crore. The destruction was so thorough that they didn’t leave somuch as a glass for drinking water or a pair of slippers intact.

The witness saw the identity markings on the structures when he came to the vil-lage the next day under police protection. All the Hindu buildings were untouchedwhile the Muslim ones were finished. The attackers, many of them outsiders, mayhave had a list ready earlier, because even during the attacks on previous days theyknew exactly which shops and structures were Muslim-owned.

Gas cylinders had been used to blast 10-15 of the buildings, including the mosque.They also used the gelatine sticks that are normally used for blasting in stone quarries.The witness could recognise the gelatine sticks because he has run a quarry for 13years. Yogesh Patel, the mastermind, is a quarry owner himself. The 3-litre petrolpouches were prepared in the home of cobbler Nilesh Chiman Solanki. And the fire-balls (kankdas) were readied at the Mani Nageshwar temple, by the river in Ekantvillage, about 3-4 km away.

When Khatri and other residents phoned DySP Shastri on March 4, he said, “It is outof our hands. Whatever Narendra Modi says will happen; you phone Narendra Modi.”When the witness phoned PI Ninama, he replied, “Let whoever’s property is burningburn. What can you or I do?” (“Jiska jalta hai usko jalne do. Tu aur main kya karenge?”)The police arrived only at about 6 p.m. that evening, after all the damage had beendone. Though frantic calls were made repeatedly to the DySP through the day, heneither came himself, nor did he send any police, although there were about 50 po-licemen at the Jhagadiya Police Station at the time. When they finally arrived, curfewwas imposed on the village. For nearly two hours, the mobs prevented fire enginesfrom reaching Rajpardi.

The witness and other local Muslims were aware that the VHP/BD had held a fewmeetings, either in one of their homes or in the high school, in the recent past. But they had not noticed any difference in people’s attitude towards them, no souring ofrelations until D-day. However, they now recall an incident that took place about 8months prior to the attacks, when there was trouble after a Muslim boy had a lovemarriage with a Bania’s daughter. At that time, some 4-5 handcarts were burnt and theVHP-BD people had threatened that, one day, Muslim presence would be wiped outfrom the village. The couple, who got a court ruling in their favour, live in Bharuch.Rohit Shah, an advocate, called another bandh in Rajpardi on April 19, after rumoursabout an impending attack on him were circulated. At a peace committee meetingthereafter, he directed Muslims to stop all prayers (namaaz) in the mosque constructedin Bakkanagar about two years ago, and where regular prayers had been held eversince. At no point were loudspeakers ever used in the mosque, but that in itself wasno longer enough. On the few occasions when the local Muslims assembled there forprayers, about 100-150 youth would surround the mosque. So, as demanded by Shah,from April 22, Muslims stopped holding prayers at the mosque constructed on a plotof land commercially purchased and about which there was no dispute.

Thereafter, Muslims were also pressurised to relocate the handcarts that they usedfor petty business, but this was being resisted. Shockingly, the police and administra-tion did not intervene despite 14 appeals and fax messages. The victims from thisvillage had bitter complaints about inadequate compensation for property loss, in-cluding many complaints about discriminatory compensation. Though it is Muslimswho suffered the most damage, they received much less from the government thanthe few Hindus whose business establishments or homes were affected because oftheir proximity to targeted Muslim properties.

ANDADA

The total population of Andada village, situated just outside Ankleshwar, is about 15,000,of which about 450 are Muslims. There is no police station in the village; it is under thejurisdiction of the police station at GIDC Ankleshwar, around 6 km away. MehmoodbhaiMossabhai Multani, a primary school teacher from the village, who testified before the Tribu-nal, spoke of the age-old communal amity that had existed in this region of Gujarat.The witness averred that violence first erupted in his village on March 1, 2002. Atabout 11 p.m. that night, some 15-20 men attacked his house, smashed some of hisbelongings and then ran away. Soon thereafter, he and others discovered that his wasnot a solitary case; several other houses had also been similarly attacked. The terrifiedMuslims stayed awake the whole night. From the accounts of other residents of thevillage, it is clear that the attacks first began on the houses near the cemetery (kabrastan),where five Muslim families lived. After some persons were injured in the heavy stonethrowing, they had to run away from there, leaving their homes. After that, the house,vehicles, flourmill and milk shop of Nasrullahbhai Abdullahbhai Multani, situatednear Andada bus stand, were completely burnt. The family ran out of the backdoorand took shelter in the house of their neighbour, Bhogilal Shivlal Modi. Modi wasthreatened by the mob and told that if he did not get rid of his Muslim neighbours, he too would suffer. When he refused to oblige, the 3-wheeler tempos and motorbikethat belonged to Modi were also destroyed.

Early the next morning, a mob of about 400-500 entered the mosque. The mobfirst started destroying the mosque property – even the Koran was not spared — andlater set the entire place on fire. By 5.30 a.m., the house of the witness was destroyed.The grain shop owned by his parents was torched but, fortunately, the fire was quicklycontained. Despite phone calls to the police soon after the first incidents, the mobswere on the rampage throughout the night, and the police were nowhere in sight. Bymorning, as many as 74 of the 110 Muslim homes in the village were completelydamaged. The next night, women were sent away while the men stayed with Hinduneighbours who gave them shelter. Again, all through the night, the same atmosphereprevailed as on the previous night. Mobs numbering 100 and more entered Muslimhouses, destroying whatever they pleased. The attackers belonged to the same vil-lage, but they were residents of a newly developed locality.

One of the culprits identified by the witness was Naresh Nagji Patel, who works inthe postal department. The other accused identified by witnesses are: PrakashbhaiRameshbhai Patel, Anilbhai Ramanbhai Patel and Dineshbhai Bhikabhai Patel. De-spite repeated complaints, not a single person was arrested throughout March. On thenight of April 1-2, 2002, a luxury bus belonging to Jamada Transport was burnt in thevillage. It was only when the proprietors of the transport company started puttingpressure that the police made inquiries and arrested 12 persons. Though many ofthose arrested for the luxury bus arson were also involved in the attacks in the villagea month earlier, the charge against them was limited to the latest incident, and thosedetained were released a day or two later.

Out of fear, the villagers had not named any one of the accused in their first FIR,but they went back to the police station later to name the accused. Though a police-man registered a fresh complaint including names of the accused, the complainantssubsequently found the names missing. Thereafter, the police simply refused to enter-tain any further statements from the victims. However, many appeals recording thisfact were sent by registered (A/D) to the DSP. Yet, until early May, no investigationshad been started by the police, nor had any arrests been made.

About 250-300 Muslims from Andada had initially sought refuge in relief campsbut later they moved to Ankleshwar and villages like Kosamdi, Kosamba, Panoli,Jitali, Bharuch, Segva. As of early May, only 3-4 families had returned to their village.Witnesses from Andada highlighted the plight of Andada’s Muslims, who had, perforce, got scattered all over while their means of livelihood remained rooted in theirnative village. The survivors who deposed before the Tribunal said that they weretired of refugee life but that conditions were still not conducive for their return.One of the motives for the attacks was political. Prakashbhai Rameshbhai Patel ofthe BJP, who had lost in the local elections, was upset that Muslims had not voted forhim. His wife is currently the village sarpanch. That is why he and his outfit specifi-cally targeted Congress leaders like Yunus Ismail and Khalid Mohammed.

One Muslim woman witness spoke of the cordial relations that existed betweenthe communities in the village until very recently. In January 2002, when both her sonand daughter got married, special arrangements were made for the nearly 3,000 Hinduguests. She said she was on excellent terms with the Hindu residents in the societywhere she lived. When a temple was to be built a few years ago, in the interests ofamity, Muslims had contributed more generously than the Hindus. Muslims, she said,also made contributions towards Ganpati and Navratri celebrations, even though theHindus from the village did not contribute towards Muslim celebrations and festivals.But focussing on their present plight, another woman witness from the village spokeof the abusive threats being received by mothers about the fate of their daughters andyoung women if they dared return to the village. The threat of sexual violence wasbeing used as a special weapon to dissuade Muslims from returning to Andada.

MANDWA

In their all-consuming hatred of Muslims, the leaders and cadres of the Sangh Parivardid not make any exception, even in case of landless agricultural labourers, depen-dent entirely on the landed for their humble existence. Agricultural labourers fromMandwa, deposing before the Tribunal, said the attack in Mandwa village nearAnkleshwar, took place on the night of March 2, 2002. One witness, SalimbhaiKaderbhai Mughal, (30), said that in the mob of about 200-250 that targeted them,he recognised Hindus from his own village who owed allegiance to the Bajrang Dal.He said the leaders of the mob were Mahesh Shankar, Bipinbhai Gunwantbhai Pandya,Mahesh Dalpat Parmar, Khushal Chiman Machhi Patel, Thakore Jina, ChandubhaiBhikhabhai Machhi Patel, Bhikha Sardar, all belonging to the Bajrang Dal.

This witness was badly injured in the attack and underwent treatment at the PatelWelfare Hospital for four days. His house was also burnt down. In Mandwa village,there are 65 Muslim houses in a total population of around 20,000. It was MaheshShankar Patel of the BD who had first threatened Muslim villagers the previous day,telling them to run away or else the Bajrang Dal would gun for them.

The witnesses were saddened by the fact that the same Jaikantbhai, who had beenhelpful to them earlier, was also the one who got the accused, who had been arrested,released on bail. And now these very persons were threatening the villagers yet again,saying things like, “Last time, it was houses that we burnt, but now, we will kill you.”Witnesses said they were physically attacked and their homes looted and burnton March 2, in the presence of police who did nothing to protect them. When awater tanker was brought to the village, it was not used by the police to save Mus-lim homes from the raging flames; instead, the water was selectively used to put outthe fire in the few neighbouring Hindu homes which had caught fire due to theirproximity to Muslim ones.

Despite their pleas for security to enable their return to the village, the police re-fused to oblige. Nonetheless, economic compulsions had forced a few of them toreturn to their villages a few days before the Tribunal heard them (May 9), only to be told by their earlier tormentors that if they did return, they would be killed. Thewitnesses had not been rehabilitated in the least, when the Tribunal recorded theirevidence. On May 8, Dilawarbhai went back to his village. But he fled again the samenight, with his small children, because his house was stoned. Despite it being a largevillage and despite the recent incidents of violence, no police point has been situatedat Mandwa.

In the panchayat elections held on May 7, all the Muslims voted en masse for anAdivasi candidate. Even then, the VHP-BD followers had threatened them – “If youdon’t vote for us, we’ll burn the rest of your houses and won’t let you come back tothe village.”

The badly-off labourers have received a mere pittance in compensation. SalimbhaiMughal received Rs. 2,000 while Dilawarbhai Ahmedbhai Mughal got only Rs.1,250;some others have only received Rs. 500.