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
Vadodara
The Tribunal visited Vadodara and its surroundings between May 8-13, 2002and recorded detailed evidence of the violence in these places. During the sameperiod, the Tribunal also paid a field visit to Ankleshwar and Bharuch and con-ducted detailed investigations there. Vadodara is barely two hours from Godhra,where 58 persons had been killed in the torching of coach S-6 of the SabarmatiExpress on February 27.
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The violence in Vadodara city occurred in three distinct phases. The first phase,which started on February 27 itself, lasted until March 2, with the worst incidenthaving taken place on March 1, when 14 persons were burnt alive at the Best Bakeryin Hanuman Tekri. Thereafter, there was violence between March 15-20 and, follow-ing this, between April 25-May 2, with some incidents taking place in the interveningperiod, on March 25.
In terms of loss of life, the incidents in Vadodara do not compare with Ahmedabad.However, assaults on Muslims living in different pockets of the city, especially thoseinflicted by the police of Vadodara, were widespread. The most shocking aspect wasthe violence and sexual misconduct of the Vadodara police directed at Muslims inseveral places, particularly in the two latter phases of the violence. Sexual abuse andthreats were a common feature of police behaviour. Numerous witnesses, who werevictims of the most unspeakable brutalities by policemen from different police sta-tions in Vadodara, deposed before the Tribunal. Many had serious injuries on theirperson, inflicted by drunken policemen who beat them mercilessly. From the accountsof the numerous witnesses who appeared before the Tribunal, the police emerge asthe worst perpetrators of atrocities against Muslims, in general, and Muslim women,in particular, as far as Vadodara city is concerned.
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Soon after February 28, a patrika (pamphlet) was widely circulated among Vadodara’sHindus, exhorting them to an economic boycott of Muslims: “Don’t give them work,don’t sit in their autos and don’t buy anything from their shops.” The anonymouspamphlet appeared to have had its effect on the ground. When the situation improvedand Muslims started returning to work, their employers told them not to come to work any more. Many of those who deposed before the Tribunal said Muslim employ-ees were dismissed from service after being told by their bosses, “If we employ you, itcauses problems for us; so you can’t work here.” Those who thus lost their jobs wereschoolteachers, as well as women working in nursing homes, shops, hardware stores,etc. A lady teacher employed by Navratan School was told she couldn’t keep her jobon any longer, “You are a Muslim, so don’t come back here.” In another case, thedoctors in charge of a nursing home informed the parents of an employee that theyshould not send her to work any longer.
PHASE I: Feb 27-March 2Tension built up from February 27 itself, when a Muslim bystander was stabbed inthe presence of the police after the return of the kar sevaks in the Sabarmati Express.By the evening of February 28, vulnerable Muslim pockets in different parts of thecity were targeted for attack.
Around 120 Muslim homes were destroyed at Kisanwadi after residents’ belong-ings were looted. There was no loss of life here, thanks largely to the efforts of RamdasPillai, who kept them safe through the night, and at great risk to himself, reachedthem to the Quraish Jamaat Khana the next day. (See section on Evidence—Witnesses,Volume I). About 500 Muslims took shelter with the Pillais that night. A builder byprofession, Pillai and his wife Lakshmiben, his brother and a friend named Kanubhaiopened their doors to the Muslims of Kisanwadi. Together they, along with anautorickshaw driver and a tractor owner, Mohanbhai Savalia, helped to whisk theMuslim residents of Kisanwadi away to safety. Were it not for their timely removalfrom Kisanwadi, the murderous mob may well have burnt them alive in the verytractors that were used to whisk them away.
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The attacks started on the evening of February 28, when a mob shouting, “Destroytheir shops! Kill them!” pounced on Muslim homes, shops and vehicles. Several wit-nesses from the area who deposed before the Tribunal said that about 100-150 peoplewho appeared, armed with swords, sickles, etc. could be easily recognised as workersof the Bajrang Dal, whose office was located nearby. The mobs made repeated tripsto Muslim houses, looting or destroying whatever they could lay their hands on: ves-sels, clothes, tape recorders, TVs, refrigerators.
A young witness from Kisanwadi, whose home and family belongings werelooted, told the Tribunal that her mother had been assaulted and was badly in-jured. The mother was in no condition to go to work any more, her brother andfather had both lost their jobs, at Kirit Hotel and Gurukul Vidyalaya respectively,and the entire burden of the family had fallen on her. She herself had not returnedto work at the clinic where she was employed out of fear, since residents ofKisanwadi were still being threatened with dire consequences; young women, inparticular, were threatened with rape.
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In his testimony before the Tribunal, Pillai said that even two months afterKisanwadi’s Muslims were forced to flee their homes, the situation continued to begrim. The local goons were still stealing whatever little was left of Muslim homes —doors, tin roofs, etc. There was no safety for the Muslims who might want to comeback. The terror-stricken Muslims themselves told the Tribunal they needed land insome other place to rebuild their lives. No political representative of any party hadvisited the victims, not even the local Muslim councillor.
And the police was of little help. Following some token arrests, the accused, alongwith the local police, had been pressurising the Muslims to withdraw their complaints.According to Pillai’s testimony, on April 4, PI Kanani picked up his brother,Krishnamurthy Swaminathan, on a false pretext, and subsequently arrested him oncharges of attempt to murder (section 307). While Muslim complainants insisted thatSwaminathan was, in fact, one of those who had saved them, police officer JD Ranawas pressurising them to name Swaminathan as an accused!
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The Ajwa area, close to Kisanwadi, was also severely affected in the post-Godhraviolence.
The Sama area of Vadodara is a relatively new part of the city with a predomi-nantly Hindu population. This area had not experienced disturbances in earlier com-munal riots in the city. During the Gujarat carnage, however, there were a series ofincidents where Muslim homes, businesses were looted and torched.
It is in this area that on the morning of February 28, a mob of around 20 peopleattacked the residence of Prof. JS Bandukwala, a well-known and respected figure inVadodara and an active member of the PUCL, who has consistently opposed bothHindu and Muslim religious fanaticism over the years. Prof. Bandukwala and his daugh-ter managed to take shelter in the house of their Hindu neighbours. But one car in hiscompound was completely burnt and the other damaged by the mob. The attackersfled after about 10 minutes, when people from the neighbourhood came out onto theroad. However, on the following day, March 1, a bigger mob armed with gas cylindersamong other weaponry, launched a second assault and succeeded in torchingBandukwala’s house. When the fire brigade arrived to put out the fire, they wereprevented from doing so by the mob. The Hindu neighbours of Prof. Bandukwala,who had sheltered the people trapped in his house, went into hiding for three or fourdays, fearing an attack for having sheltered their Muslim neighbour. After their returnhome, they were “interrogated” about why they had been so helpful to Muslims.
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On the evening of February 28, a few persons living in Sama went to meet theBJP’s local municipal councillor, Pradip Joshi, to appeal to him for peace in the area.Joshi raved and ranted about the “unpatriotic” and “criminal nature” of the Muslimcommunity, “their habit of abducting Hindu girls”, and dwelt on the desirability ofMuslims going and living in “their own areas”. He also produced a list, to show how inthe recent Assembly by-election, Muslim localities had voted against the BJP. Joshi spent some time describing how he had earlier dealt with Muslim “anti-socials” fromNavayard. (Navayard saw serious attacks on Muslims in the days to follow.) On beingrepeatedly asked whether he could assure residents that there would be no furtherviolence in the area, he replied that he could not do so. One of his associates ex-plained that what had happened that day (February 28) was “only a sample”, and thatit was better to be prepared for what would follow the next day.
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March 1 saw more intense rioting activity, with larger, well-prepared mobsroaming the streets, looting and burning Muslim shops and houses. InMadhavnagar II, near Abhilasha Chowki, though a Hindu friend of the Safreefamily helped them escape, the mob attacked their house, taking everythingthey could carry, including cash, jewellery, clothes and electrical gadgets, be-fore setting the house on fire. Later the same day, Amin Transport, the businessowned by Abdulrrehman Safree, at Maruti Complex, was also broken into, lootedand burnt. The house was left to smoulder for three days. When the family vis-ited their house many days later, they found their neighbours and friends ofmany years distant, unresponsive, and inclined to disassociate from them andall that had transpired. The Safrees have since been seriously thinking of relo-cating to a Muslim neighbourhood.
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A large mob shouting “Maaro Mian ko!” (“Kill the Muslims!”) attacked theAshabibi Ni Chawl, a mixed locality of pardesis (outsiders, Hindus and Muslimsfrom UP). Despite frantic calls, the police failed to arrive. But residents of thechawl, both Hindu and Muslim, repulsed the attack. Witnesses deposing beforethe Tribunal named BJP councillor Joshi as the main instigator of the attack.Around 25 men from Ashabibi Ni Chawl suffered injuries; two with head injurieswere admitted to Narhari Hospital in Fatehgunj, where they were treated anddischarged. The 300 or so Muslim residents (40-odd families) fled the area andtook shelter in the Kamatipura area of Fatehgunj. At Ashabibi Ni Chawl, thepolice, when they did arrive, fired two shots at the residents who were underattack, rather than at the mobs. Mobs were allowed to disperse without any at-tempt to arrest any of the attackers.
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Sama area remained free from major incidents during the latter phase of violence.However, a certain level of tension was maintained for several weeks through thecontinuous circulation of rumours that armed Muslims were about to attack. In noneof the incidents of violence did the police intervene in time. Calls to the police sta-tion went unanswered, or callers were told that the police was unable to attend tothem, or, in one case, even that they must “reap the rewards of Godhra.” Where helpwas promised, it arrived late. The police were also seen hobnobbing with mob leaderssuch as the BJP’s Pradip Joshi.
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The Bajrang Dal and the VHP set up an office in Indira Nagar, a mixed settlementin the Makarpura area, on the evening of February 27. In the attacks launched onMuslims the following night, Hindu neighbours actively participated and the large-scale destruction of homes and properties was systematic and thorough. Attacks inMakarpura area continued for three days but the police did not respond to repeatedand frantic calls from the trapped Muslims. On the contrary, six Muslims were killedin police firing.
Later, when Muslims went to the Makarpura Teenlata police station to complain,they were told point blank that no complaints from Muslims would be entertained,nor any police protection be provided.
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The following night, even as a local social worker (who deposed before theTribunal requesting anonymity) was escorting Muslims out of Indira Nagar, oneFarroukhbhai Samoosawala was killed by the mob. On March 2, the Hindu resi-dents of Vanejagaon (where many Muslim residents of Makarpura had beenmoved) took the help of Hindus from the neighbouring localities to loot andthen burn down all 150 Muslim houses there.
Muslims fleeing Vanejagaon were walking along the Highway when they wereset upon by a mob in a nearby village. Those caught were killed and then throwninto raging flames to be burnt. According to the social worker, Bipin Patel, aresident of the village and a local Bajrang Dal/VHP leader, was instigating the500-600 strong mob. “If an investigation is carried out even now, the remains ofMuslim victims will be found strewn in the fields even now,” he told the Tribunalin the second week of May. In addition to the lives lost, about 500 Muslim houseswere looted and subsequently destroyed in the Makarpura area. Among those af-fected were several Muslim families, each of whom had lost properties worthseveral lakh rupees.
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The social worker, who deposed before the Tribunal, said that when he went tothe police station to lodge a complaint on February 28, he found two local BJPleaders, Lakhawala and Brahmbhatt, already sitting there. He was told in front ofthe policemen that the BJP did not want any Muslims in Vanejagaon and that theycould forget about police protection.
Whenever the social worker took the Muslims to the police station to lodgeFIRs, the police would say, “Why are you leading them, you just mind your ownbusiness.” When the Muslims go to lodge FIRs, they would be told that com-plaints would be lodged only if no names of the accused were mentioned. Mus-lims were also told that they would get no help in this connection, even if theywent right up to Delhi. Finally, they registered some complaints, keeping out allthe names of the accused. An assistant commissioner of police was named by thesocial worker for acting as an informant of Hindu aggressors and also gettinginnocent Muslims arrested.
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The victims of Audhootnagar, Makarpura who had taken refuge in a relief campwent to check out the state of their houses under the protection of PSI Varecha, twojunior officers and four constables on March 17. They were in their homes, trying toretrieve some of their belongings, when a mob of 5-6,000 set upon them. Witnessestold the Tribunal, “The police just sat there instead of defending us… PSI Varechaactually said to the mob, ‘Dus minute mein sab patado’ (‘You have 10 minutes to do yourjob’). He did not use any tear gas or fire to disperse the mob. The mob attacked uswith pipes, swords and dharias (sickles) but we received no protection from the po-lice. Munna Bhai (25-year-old) and Mushtaq Ahmed Nisar Ahmed (45-year-old) werekilled.” Niraj Jain (VHP mahamantri), Kaushik Shah, Shailesh Mehta (deputy mayor),Jatin Vyas (Bajrang Dal), Nagarjuna (from Ajwa Road), Jayesh Bhatt, Ajay Dave,Raju were identified as leading the assailants while PSI Varecha, two junior officersand four constables were blamed for their culpable negligence.
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Raghovpura is a village of about 100 families, Hindu and Muslim in almost equalnumber, about 12 kms from Tarsali, off the Vadodara-Mumbai Highway (NH 8). Outof a total of 41 houses belonging to Muslims, 36 houses and the masjid, along withtwo buildings belonging to the masjid, were burnt down by a 500 strong, armed moblate night on March 1. The families targeted were well-off agriculturists who collec-tively lost property estimated at Rs. 80 lakh.
The Tribunal recorded detailed evidence about this incident. In the afternoon ofMarch 1, Subhashbhai Mafatbhai Chota, a local Bajrang Dal leader held a meeting inhis village, Patarveni, adjacent to Raghovpura. A large number of villagers attendedthe meeting, including many from Raghovpura, Two of them, Hindu friends of Mus-lim boys from their village, returned to Raghovpura and warned Mubarak Bhai thatplans were being made to burn Muslim houses. When informed, PSI Vadalia fromVarnama who was posted in the village along with two police constables since thatmorning, told the Muslims, “Don’t worry, we are here.”
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But when a mob numbering 400-500 launched an assault later that night, Vadaliaand the two constables acted as their accomplices. Shouting slogans like “Miya nekapo!” (“Kill the Muslims!”; “Miya ne jalao” (“Torch the Muslims!”); “Unki auraton kiijjat luto” (“Rape their women!”), the mob ransacked the mosque, made a pile of allthey could find, copies of the Koran included, poured kerosene and chemicals over itand set it on fire. The mosque was destroyed along with two adjacent Muslim houses.It then looted the remaining Muslim homes after which they too were torched.Anticipating trouble, all the women and children were shifted from Raghovpura toDhaniyari village on February 27 itself. About 15-20 men, who had stayed behind,also fled to Dhaniyari when the attack was launched, except for Mubarak Bhai, whostayed behind and witnessed the destruction, loot and burning.
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The fire brigade, which arrived several hours later, refused to help in putting outthe fire, according to Mubarak Bhai. The PSI told him that if his people hadn’t burntthe train, this would not have happened.
The victims named the following: Bajrang Dal leader, Subhashbhai Mafatbhai Chota;Rabhipura village sarpanch, Deepabhai Patel; Raghovpura sarpanch, Shantilal Patel;Natwarbhai Naranbhai Patel, Mahendrabhai Patel, Bipinbhai Bhailalbhai Patel,Amitbhai Jashbhai Patel, Motibhai Gordhanbhai Patel, sarpanch of Megakui, SatishbhaiThakor, his brother Chandresh Thakor, and many others. PSI Vadalia, who said hewould register FIRs and complaints only if no names were mentioned and the twopolicemen on duty were also indicted for their non-action.
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The Tarsali area, in the south-eastern part of Vadodara city, has several pockets ofMuslim population: Noor Park, Vishal Nagar, Govind Nagar, Sharad Nagar, MotiNagar, Rajiv Nagar, Indira Nagar and Danteswar. Many of the people from Noor Parkare vegetable and fruit sellers at the Tarsali market. The Tribunal has evidence toshow that a meeting was held by the VHP around the end of January 2002, at the ITIgrounds. Praveen Togadia addressed the meeting and the cable operator telecast thison a local channel. Shamshersinh, one of the residents of Dadu Nagar in Tarsali area,reported that in this meeting Togadia incited Hindus to an economic boycott of Mus-lims, telling them not to even offer the latter any water if they came to Hindu homes.
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The various segments of Tarsali faced a similar pattern of attack. On March 1,Nasir Hussain Liaqat Hussain and his son were stoned, trapped in tyres and thenburnt alive. The accused in the murders are Narendrasinh Solanki (BJP, taluka panchayatmember), Sunil Patel (BJP), along with Sunil Bhoieto, Ajit Kalia (of Vishal Nagar),Sudhir Meldi, Pradip aka Padiyo, Kallo Jaiswal, Bhupendra, Ravi, Dharmendra,Kanchia, Manish Gurkha (all of Vishal Nagar). Jagdishbhai Shah, well-knownGandhian and resident of the Vinoba Ashram, testified before the Tribunal, givingdetails of the burning of the local mosque and other Muslim property in Gotri villageand on Gotri Road. The property destroyed included three tempos, a car and a three-wheeler that its Muslim owners had parked inside the Ashram compound for safety.
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The 10 Muslim families from Ramdev Nagar, Ghanchi Falia, Gotri Road, weregiven shelter by their Hindu neighbours for a while. But later, fearing imminent at-tack, they fled wearing the saris lent to them by their Hindu neighbours to disguisetheir identity. Rampaging mobs later looted and burnt all their homes.
On March 28, villagers of Gotri apparently attacked Muslim houses in nearby Umethaand burnt down 35 houses, 25 cabins and the standing crops on many fields. They also burntthe masjid. One of the local leaders telephoned the Tandalja relief camp. A truck came toUmetha with a police escort in the evening and Dilawarbhai and his family shifted to thecamp in Amir Complex, Tandalja. Many others went to Anklav under police protection. In Gorwa village, in the north-eastern part of Vadodara, where there are manypublic sector companies, Muslim slum dwellers were attacked on February 28 andtheir houses burnt down.
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Many houses in Karelibagh and surrounding areas were burnt and looted. Immedi-ately after the violence started, for about 10-15 days, many people from other areassought shelter in the Kasamala Kabrastan area of Karelibagh. Ghaghretia, a smallvillage near Dabhoi Chowkdi, had many Muslim houses of which several were burnt.The remaining were looted. Some of the affected families from Ghaghretia, who hadacquaintances in Kasamala, were sheltered by local people in their own homes. Somepeople fled to other parts of the country after the incidents.
Evidence recorded by the Tribunal showed an inspiring example of Hindu-Muslimsolidarity in Kasamala. One of the Hindu families in Kasamala was dependent ondaily wages. The Muslim households gave them food, as they could not go out towork during curfew. They would also tell them that they would protect them at night;because of these assurances, the Hindu families in the area said they could sleepwithout anxiety. Because of the assurance of safety, the Hindu families did not mi-grate from the area. A house belonging to a Hindu boy named Raju was burnt down inthe disturbances. His Muslim neighbours gave him food and shelter.
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There are more Muslims in Kasamala than Hindus, while Ramdev Pir, an areanearby, has more Hindus than Muslims. This entire part of Vadaodara has had a his-tory of peace and harmony. After the attacks, they resolved to be united and defendthemselves together from an outside attack, whichever religion or caste the attackersmight belong to. Because of this understanding between the two communities, thepeople could move around freely during the curfew with an assurance of safety.
The most ghastly incident from Vadodara district was the one that took place at BestBakery where fourteen persons were attacked with swords, trishuls, lathis and other weap-ons before being burnt alive. The Tribunal recorded the testimony of Shaikh ZahidaHabibullah one of the victims whose family members were killed. The witness told theTribunal that Jayanti Batija ‘Chaiwala’, Mahesh Munna ‘Painter’, and Sanjay and SantoshThakkar, led a mob of about 500-700 people that attacked the bakery at around 8 p.m.on March 1. “They were flinging petrol bombs on us and were shouting that they willloot and burn us. Our three trucks full of timber were burnt and destroyed.” The familymade repeated calls to the police control room and also the policemen at Panigate po-lice station. The police kept saying, “Hum aa rahe hain” (“We are coming.”) An hour anda half later, around 9.30 p.m., a police vehicle drove by the bakery, stopped briefly andthen drove away without doing anything to stop the mob.
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The most shocking aspect of this incident is that it was after the police had comeand gone away without any preventive stop that the mob started the loot and arson and subsequent massacre. There were shouts, filthy abuse and threats of rape, etc.from the crowd. The entire mob had surrounded the bakery, a multiple-floor struc-ture. They first looted and torched the ground floor storeroom and workers’ room.(Hanuman Tekri is located on Dabhoi Road, on the outskirts of Vadodara. It is alower middle-class and poor neighbourhood. Most of the residents are Hindus; veryfew Muslim families live there. The Muslim family owning the bakery had shifted tothis area only six months prior to this incident. All other Muslims staying in the areahad already left their houses on February 27. Only this family stayed on becauseJayanti ‘Chaiwala’, who is an influential person in the area, assured them safety).Twenty members of the Shaikh family, including an aging mother, remained trappedand terrified on the terrace, as the murderous mob burnt eight people to death on theground floor. Thereafter, the mob went after the people trapped on the terrace. Thewitness’ mother kept appealing to the better sense of the killers saying that she hadno support except for her sons. However, two of the witness’ brothers were burntalive. Two other brothers who received severe injuries were in hospital until earlyMay. Other family members who were seriously injured included the mother of thewitness and one sister. The uncle of the witness, her sister, Shabira and her maternaluncle’s (mama’s) children, Zainab and Shabnam (twins) were burnt alive along withthe workers in the bakery. The stomachs of the three Hindu employees at the bakerywere slit open before they were thrown into the fire. In all, 14 persons were killed andburnt in this incident of carnage.
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Even the domestic animals, like goats, were not spared. All the attackers were fromthe mohalla. This included four children and three women. The remains of two of thevictims could not be found. Jayanti Batija ‘Chaiwala’ is the main culprit. He firstreassured them of their safety and then led the attack at night. The assault went onfor a staggering 14 hours and yet there was no help from the police. A Hindu, whoowns the Phoolchand bakery, was also among the attackers and he took away theample stock of flour, ghee and other things. A copy of the complaint of the accusedhas been submitted to the National Human Rights Commission and other humanrights organisations, besides the collector and police commissioner, Vadodara. Theaccused here are Jayanti ‘Chaiwala’ and his sons, Mafat, Mahesh Munna ‘Painter’,Sanjay Thakkar, Santosh Thakkar, Jagdish Rattiwala, and Dinesh Bakerywala. Thepolicemen indicted are the Panigate police station
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Located in the south-eastern part of Vadodara city, the Baranpura locality hadaround 15 per cent Muslim households, flanked by Gujarati and Marathi-speakingHindus. There were two police points in the area, possibly because the locality hasseen communal riots in 1969 as well as in 1992. But residents say that the violencethen was not as severe as this time.
Between February 28 and March 1, an entire Muslim mohalla in Baranpura waslooted and burnt. A few houses escaped damage, probably because of their location next to Hindu properties. In Baranpura, a total of around 700 persons have beenrendered homeless. On March 8, when some victims went back to check their homes,they found them still burning. This is a shocking comment on the conduct of theVadodara police. When victim-survivors from 8-10 families went back a second time,on March 22, to record their panchnamas, they were attacked by a 500 strong mob andforced to flee. The mob set fire to the scooters on which they had come. Though thepolice were present they could not or did not do anything.
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Among the Muslim homes destroyed at Baranpura was that of Gaman, an inter-nationally renowned epigraphist who was formerly with the Archaeological Sur-vey of India. His collections of more than 200 rare manuscripts and hundreds ofancient coins were lost in the fire. Ganam’s wife (aged 75) shifted Ganam, whowas 90-years-old and paralysed, to a safer house, which was also later attacked.Ganam died in late April.
In all, 39 homes were looted and burnt. Three houses in the mohalla where therewere to be weddings had gold, expensive clothes and grain, which were all looted.One such family alone lost goods worth Rs 12-13 lakh. Besides homes, 19 shops, abakery and a coal depot were looted and burnt while the local dargah was damaged.According to statements before the Tribunal, the persons who came to attack onMarch 2, were from the neighbouring falia, several of whom the Muslims recognised.Those named are: Bhaya (Machi), Bhuriyo (Soni), Mochi, Ramesh, Dr. Thakor’s son,Hardik and Vimal, and Maniyo (son of Ranjeet from Chobdar mohalla).
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Tulsiwadi is the name for the whole complex of slums, including Sanjay Nagar,Roshan Nagar and others. The Tulsiwadi area is a mixed area, with almost equal popu-lation of Hindus and Muslims. However, Roshan Nagar is mostly a Muslim majorityarea. The Tribunal recorded testimonies from here too. There were intermittent at-tacks in the area between February 28 and March 31. Some major incidents are givenbelow.
On February 28, Tulsiwadi main bazaar was the scene of stone pelting and attacks.Witnesses said a mob led by Umakant Joshi (BJP’s ex-mayor), Kanubhai Panwala,Narendra Pandya s/o Parvati, Rajubhai Kuberbhai and Suresh Sharma STD walla ofTulsiwadi, burnt houses in Sanjay Nagar shopping centre. Hillayyabe, an ex-corpora-tor was also active in these attacks. Victims told the Tribunal that the police joined inthe attacking mob and broke up houses. In their combing operations they even tookaway the rods of a baby’s cradle saying that these were weapons. They made abusiveand sexually threatening statements like, “Tumhaare yaar ayenge, woh tumhe zinda maarenge”(“When your ‘lovers’ arrive, they skin you alive”), “We enjoy thrashing you Muslimwomen”, “We can rape you”, “Run away to Pakistan”. “Gandi gaali bolte the”(“Theyused filthy language”) was a widespread complaint.
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In Sanjay Nagar, on March 1 and 2, what remained of the mutton shops that wereset on fire on the night of February 27, was cleared out and a temple constructed on the same spot, blocking the lane leading to the Sanjay Nagar slum. On the evening of March2, prasad was distributed here and bhajans blared over a loudspeaker from the temple.From the testimonies recorded by the Tribunal and other evidence collected, it isclear that the police did not limit itself to offensive language. Among those who wereinjured by the police were:
- A pregnant woman injured by two bullets, who had to be admitted toSSG Hospital.
- Rubina, a 6-year-old girl, whose hand was injured and contused.
- Mumtaz Bano, who received a black eye in the beatings.
- A 9-month-old baby whose eyes were affected by a tear gas shell that burst at thefeet of the woman holding her.
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The women victims, whose testimonies were recorded by the Tribunal, were ex-tremely agitated and upset at this role of the police. They complained bitterly that thepolice, who were supposed to protect them, had instead used abusive language andtrampled on their sense of dignity. The women stated how, with their menfolk behindbars, the family members had been starving for days.
From the evidence recorded by the Tribunal, it is clear that many Muslims wereillegally arrested and detained by the Vadodara police. Eyewitnesses testified sayingthat the police came at the same time as the mobs. One such witness described howthey pulled her out of the house, dragged her in the mud, beating her all the while.When asked whether she had lodged a police complaint with the commissioner ofpolice about the atrocities, her angry response was: “What is the point of complainingto him when his men did all this to us? We need to complain to the chief minister orthe Prime Minister.” This witness has submitted her testimony to the NHRC.Mansuri Kabrastan was another area in this locality where women and young menwere brutally assaulted by the Karelibagh police on March 1. Many victims, agitatedat the illegal arrests of many boys, had registered a complaint that they were beingbrutally beaten by the police.
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On March 1, 2002 a big mob entered the Madarmohalla basti in Wadi, near Panigate inthe old city area of Vadodara and burnt down five Muslim houses. Residents told theTribunal that there were Bajrang Dal people in the mob. But instead of going after theculprits, the police, too, turned on the Muslims, most of them daily wage earners. TheTribunal found that this was a clear and sinister pattern to the violence in Vadodara, wherepoor and vulnerable Muslims were first attacked by mobs and then set upon by the police.They systematically dragged out men from their houses while families were sittingdown to dinner or watching television. Forcible arrests were then made from differentareas beginning with Wadi, Panigate. Seventeen-year-old Deewan, trying to flee fromthe police, was badly injured on her earlobe by shrapnel from a shell, causing her tofaint. She was hospitalised for 13 days, had been vomiting blood, and was still onmedication three weeks later.
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Other people related how the police went on the rampage, breaking down housesand everything that came in their way. Children were terrified and hid in all kinds ofplaces, but the police pulled them out while terrorising all the residents. Forty-twobasti dwellers were arrested that night, taken to the Panigate police station and de-tained for 13 days. The police continued to visit the area for days after the incident,threatening and intimidating the people further. Victims of Panigate had severe inju-ries inflicted on them by the assault. There were burn scars, multiple fractures etc.Almost all those affected were daily wage earners.
When the Bade Masdada Ki Chaali was attacked on the night of February 28 by alarge mob, there were police jeeps accompanying the mob. The attackers came armedwith swords and other weapons. When approached for protection, the police said,“Save yourselves, we cannot save you.” The people fled, leaving behind everythingthey owned. Their property was first looted and then their houses were burnt to theground. The police not only refused to protect them but also joined the mob in beat-ing them up. Some sustained injuries, including two with serious head injuries and hadto be hospitalised. The brutal police did not spare even the elderly. Young Muslimswere chased and beaten by the police during curfew while Hindu boys moved aroundfreely on scooters.
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The hapless Muslims took shelter in a nearby dargah, helpless witnesses to the nightlong burning of their houses and belongings. The worst part was the sense of betrayalby neighbours: they were being attacked by Hindus with whom they had shared meals,they had visited each others’ homes for 40 years. Ganibhai Qureshi said, “Hamaresaath salon se khane waale bhi hamen bhagaye us din. Aaj hamara kisi par bharosa nahin.Saara bharosa toot gaya hai.” (“People we shared meals with for years chased us off thatday. Today, we trust no one. All trust has been broken for good.”)
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The significance of the Machchipith violence in the second round of violence liesin the fact that by March 14, Vadodara was getting back to normal. There were manyareas where no untoward incident had taken place till then. The event at Machchipithwas used and reported by the media as an attack by Muslims on peacefully passing‘rambhakts’, an echo of the Godhra event. This was used to trigger the second roundof violence in Vadodara, which then spread to many areas.
Machchipith, in the old city area, is inhabited by middle and lower middle-classHindus and Muslims. Many of them run businesses and some are in the service sec-tor. About 40 Hindu families and 400 Muslim families reside in the area. In the after-math of Godhra, harmony had prevailed in Machchipith, despite instances of vio-lence in the immediate vicinity — Tulsibhai Ki Chawl, Salatwada, Haribhakti KiChawl — in which Muslim homes, shops, madrassas and mosques were looted or burnt.On March 15, The VHP and Bajrang Dal had given a call to Hindus to organise‘Ram dhun’ meetings all over India. In view of the prevailing tension, Tuteja, Vadodara’s police commissioner imposed section 144 in the city. In contravention of the aboveorder, a 500 strong rally, all outsiders, reached Machchipith naka at around 3.10 p.m.About 6-7 police personnel also accompanied the rally on foot, with a police vanbringing up the rear. The rally was quite unruly, with many Muslim-owned shops(including Indian Boot House and Tower Shoes) en route being looted and burnt.
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The moot question is: Why was a procession allowed in open defiance of curfeworders? What was the police doing when Muslim shops were being looted and burntby the processionists? However, these questions did not seem to trouble the policethen or later. The processionists reached Machchipith, raised provocative slogans,like “Bandiao (abusive word to refer to Muslims), go away to Pakistan,” “Babar kiaulado, Hindustan chhod do,” (“Babur’s sons, Quit India!”) and resorted to lewdbehaviour, provoking the Muslims to respond with stone throwing. It is only then thatthe police intervened and only Muslims were the focus of their wrath.
Apart from the municipal councillors and other local leaders involved, various po-lice personnel were explicitly named. They are
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- 1) MS Patel of Raopura police station;
- 2) Bhagirathsinh Jadeja, PI of Goonda squad;
- 3) PI Rao of Karelibaug police station;
- 4) Kanu Patel of Karelibaug police station; and
- 5) Fatehsinh Patel of Karelibaug police station.
No action has been taken against them.
Taiwada, a prominent but communally sensitive area of the walled city which has amajority of Muslim households, but also quite a few Hindu families, was among thetargets in the second round of violence that began on March 15. There were no seri-ous problems between the two communities during the worst phase of violence be-tween February and March 1. But the area was affected in the second phase and badlyso in the third bouts of violence. It was the police that was the source of the greatestharassment for Muslim residents.
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On April 20, the police killed two residents when they were on a night vigil outside one ofthe houses in the area. The police tried to justify the firing by manufacturing a scene ofrioting. Women were subject to physical assault by the police under the pretext of ‘combing’.On March 15, the date on which the ‘Shiladaan’ puja was scheduled at Ayodhya,there was a lot of tension in the area. The Muslims were repeatedly warned by thepolice to stay indoors, but Hindu boys were allowed to roam around freely. The arti inthe temple that day was very aggressive and provocative. Slogans were shouted andthreats issued but the police took no action. In the evening, the house of one Kalubhai,situated right next to the Gajrawadi Police Chowk, was set on fire. The police postedthere said that they could not do anything and the residents themselves doused thefire. A little later, Saiyyad Photo Studio was completely burnt. The owner, SaiyyadMasood, who lived in the vicinity, had no option but to watch his investment ofaround Rs.1.5 lakh go up in flames. “The police point was right next to the studio, andso was a temple. If they had wanted to, they could have prevented it… If we hadstepped out, we would have been killed that night,” Masood told the Tribunal.
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At night, ostensibly in response to stone throwing by members of the minoritycommunity, the police, led by police inspector PP Kanani of the DCB, entered thearea for a combing operation. They broke open doors of Muslim homes, beat up menand misbehaved with the women. Deposing before the Tribunal, one resident ofTaiwada said, “We were sleeping. They broke open our door, beat us and dragged usout. They used filthy language and openly leered at our women (‘ buri nazar’). I toldthem that we were businessmen, not trouble makers but they wouldn’t listen. Theydamaged the furniture in our house. They took all three of us brothers and thrashedus. A police officer leered at my wife. God forbid, even if he’d done something to her,I was in no position to do anything to protect her. I urged him to let at least one of usbrothers go. He replied, ‘No, we’ll burn you all alive.’ In the lock-up, too, the policesaid the same thing: ‘We will burn you Muslims alive.’ We were given neither food norwater in the lock-up. I heard them talking of slapping a murder case on us even whenno murder had taken place and no weapons had been found on us.”
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The conduct of the Vadodara police during combing operations needs special in-vestigation. These operations were arbitrary and brutal, with women being subjectedto highly abusive treatment. The Tribunal recorded the testimony of several witnesseswho had suffered in the police action.
Hamida Banu, (40) was arrested by around 15 policemen led by PI Kanani, on the nightof March 15, when she stepped out to go to the toilet just behind her house. She was sobadly beaten that she had four fractures on her right hand, for which she underwent fouroperations at SSG Hospital. She told the Tribunal, “The police have no right to lift a handon women. They should not be allowed to get away with this. Whatever happened to mehappened, but other women should never have to suffer this.” A police case was registeredin SSG Hospital against the erring policemen, but no action was taken.
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Apart from Hamida Banu, 13 other women were similarly injured in police attacksthat night in the Taiwada area, all requiring medical attention. One young woman had ababy born hardly a month earlier. The police smashed open the entrance door, which fellon her back. They smashed her foot with the butt of a gun. This witness has three smallchildren. She pleaded with the police not to take away her husband. They hit her on theback. They took away her husband after beating him up. Another Muslim woman, wholives opposite the mandir, said, “They beat my son-in-law a lot, upturned all the graincontainers (atta and rice) in the house, did a lot of nuksaan (damage). One of themstepped on a 6-month-old baby who was crying a lot and said, ‘Let them all die’.”
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Another victim lives in Raffai mohalla. She is a social worker who works with wid-ows and helps poor people get loans. “I tried to stop the police. Afterwards, they hitme, too, and used filthy language. I told them that I would register a case againstthem. We filed a report at Jamnabai hospital. But no enquiry has been held. Yesterday(the day before she testified before the Tribunal) I was at Bavamanpura. A kite landedat my feet. On it was written, ‘We will burn you, we will burn your houses and yourchildren. We will play Holi-Dhuleti with your blood.’ I showed it to the police commis-sioner. His response was, ‘This will go on. Do we focus on you people or focus on these people?’ I told him that we had no choice but to defend ourselves with stoneswhen they attack us with swords and the police does nothing. To this, the commis-sioner himself said, ‘Aap aamne saamne ladh lo’ (‘Fight it out among yourselves’).”Incidentally, women from Taiwada had played an active role in maintaining calm in thearea by forming peace committees (Shanti Abhiyan) and trying to dissipate tension soonafter Godhra. Even after the combing operations began, they continued to be vigilant.Sherbano from the Shanti Abhiyan, an initiative to promote peace in the area, told theTribunal, “The whole area was under curfew and it was these women who were more alertin preventing untoward incidents instead of the police.” Women kept vigil on terraces,balconies and verandahs to prevent trouble by the police. “We had to keep the men inside because they getbeaten more easily. If we women do not do it, who will?” asked one of the women. But trying to keep thesituation from going out of control was not easy. The area had continuously been under curfew and everyone wastense with lack of sleep.
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Witnesses from Bahar Colony on Ajwa Road testified at length about police brutality during the second roundof violence beginning March 15. There were continued attacks on the Bahar Colony for 72 hours. Large mobswould attack the locality even while police patrolling was on. On March 17, around 50 women from the BaharColony rushed outwhen there was an explosion from a hut that had been torched. They tried to stop a police van that was drivingpast. The police van drove a little distance, suddenly started revers-ing, and police started firing. One man was killed on the spot and another was injured.
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The FIR registered for this incident distorts the whole picture, the police claiming that theywere confronted by a mob of 1,500-2,000 when, in fact, there were only 50 women. The witness to this incidentwho deposed before the Tribunal, told inspector VMChauhan that if guns were targeted at the attackers, things would not be so bad: “The inspector replied,‘No, only you will be shot at. Bullets will be directed only at you.’ Heended with an order to the policemen, ‘Beat them with lathis, shoot them.’” The wit-nesses havesubmitted full details of all the police atrocities – photographs, FIRs, etc —to the police commissioner and the collector. On March 18, a meeting was held with the ACP in charge, PiyushPatel, at Farookbhai Boxwala’s house. They complained bitterlyabout the mistreatment of women but despite the promise, no action was taken. On the night of May 2, for noapparent reason, the police entered people’s homesand beat up women. So drunk that they could hardly walk straight, they entered homes forcibly and mercilesslybeat up women. Those named in this criminal action by theVadodara police were PSI Parmar of Panigate (in civilian dress) along with about 40constables in civvies and another 15-20 in uniform.
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Bawanpura in the old city of Vadodara, inhabited mostly by daily vegetable ven-dors and daily wage earners from both communities, was targeted on March 25(Muharram day) and again on March 28. The following account is based on testimo-nies gathered from women of the area:
Kagda Chaal in the old city of Vadodara is a predominantly Muslim area, with afew Hindu households and two temples amidst them, flanked by Hindu shops andhouseholds on two sides. Hindu residents said that they had faced no problems hereand that they felt totally safe in the area. People from both communities said that theyhad no problem with each other, the only problem being police atrocities againstMuslims.
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Even a 3-year-old boy, Arbaz, was beaten by the police. There were instances ofpregnant women being beaten on their stomachs. Most of the injuries were in thelower parts of the body, below the waist. A few women showed bruises in the groinarea. A woman, 9-months pregnant, told the Tribunal, “I told them that I was preg-nant (‘pet-se’). They said that they would beat me nonetheless. My mother-in-law pleadedthat I was pregnant. They said, ‘We have to kill it before it is born’.” Unwell andelderly women were not spared either.
Many witnesses said the police had not beaten and misbehaved with women inearlier riots. However, this time, women were being very badly treated, badly thrashedfor no reason. A 60-year-old victim was hit so hard on the stomach that the scars froman old caesarian operation almost split open. Others were dragged by their hair andbeaten. Another woman who had recently had a tumour operation was beaten on theback and legs. The policemen were all drunk. In many of these cases, FIRs have beenfiled but no action had been taken. Many women victims were refused treatment atJamnabai hospital where they were told that they had deliberately injured themselves.Although the people of the area had not suffered major losses and destruction inmob attacks, when the Tribunal recorded detailed testimonies, they were in a con-stant state of fear and apprehension and were bitter about the injury, abuse and hu-miliating treatment that they had to endure at the hands of the police.
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But it was the attack on April 19 that proved most brutal. A PUCL-Shanti Abhiyanteam submitted a report on police atrocities committed on March 25 and April 5 tothe National Commission for Women. They also appealed to the police commissionerto take strict action against these policemen for committing such atrocities. At thattime, the commissioner gave an assurance that such incidents would not recur. De-spite this, the police set upon the Muslims of Kagda Chawl on April 19.
On the night of April 19, sensing fresh trouble from the Panigate police station, themen folk of Kagda Chawl had left the area; only women and children were there whenapproximately 30 policemen, in both civilian clothes and uniform, forcibly entered theKagda Chawl area from three sides. They said that they were PI Parmar’s staff; thewomen easily recognised police constables Deepak and Mahesh Rabari in the group.The policemen, who were very drunk and armed with thick, metal-capped woodenlathis went on the rampage, attacking property and people for about one hour. Theybroke open the doors of the houses, smashed TV sets and furniture, scattered fooditems and other household effects. They beat up nearly 20 women, their lathis aimingparticularly at their breasts, thighs, hips and arms. They also beat up children andhousehold animals and caused extensive damage.
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Some women attempted to bar their doors from the inside, but the police brokedown the doors and started a lathi-charge. In one house, where there was only onewoman with her 8-month-old baby, the police beat the woman and flung the babyacross the room. Fortunately, the baby fell on a mattress. Filthy language accompa-nied the beating. “Itni gandi gali dete the police wale, ki hum aap ko bata bhi nahin sakte”(“They used such filthy language that we cannot repeat them before you”) thetraumatised women said. “If this is how the police are going to behave, where are weto go?” Medical examinations were conducted on the women at Jamnabai hospital.The women lodged an FIR at Panigate police station on the same night.The residents of Kagda Chawl submitted a written memorandum to the policecommissioner on April 20, a copy of which was submitted to the Tribunal. Subse-quently, a Muslim police officer called the women from Kagda Chawl and pressurisedthem to withdraw their complaint. The local media only helped fan the flames bymisreporting the incident.
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Muslims from this area felt deeply betrayed by the police. Despite all their efforts tomaintain peace notwithstanding repeated provocations, it was Muslim houses thatwere combed, and Muslims who were arrested and falsely charged under section 307(attempt to murder). Speaking before the Tribunal, Mustuffa Sheikh said that theywere the ones whose houses were combed, they were the ones whose shops werelooted and then they were the ones who were charged under sections 151 and 307.What were they to do? Who could they turn to for help with even the police conspir-ing against them? Their people were living in inhuman conditions with nothing to eat.They had left their homes with only the clothes on their backs. They were beingintimidated constantly.
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The police atrocities followed reports in The Times of India and Sandesh that a handi-capped Hindu boy had been stabbed in the area. It was later discovered that he hadsustained a self-inflicted scratch in a minor accident.
On the night of April 30, around 1.30 a.m., two men, Abid Ibrahimbhai Delawala (26)and Noorbhai Yaroobhai Karvania (40), were killed in police firing. The police claimedthat they were shot when police fired to disperse a mob which had attacked a temple, triedto burn a SRP tent, and was indulging in throwing stones, bottles, acid bulbs, etc. TwoGujarati newspapers, Sandesh and Gujarat Samachar carried this story in their morning issue.While correspondents of national newspapers who rushed to the area after receiving phonecalls from the locality were not allowed to enter the area, the local VNM and DEEPnetworks worked under police protection to trot out the police version.But according to the widows of the two victims who, along with other eyewit-nesses, had made a written complaint to the police commissioner and who also deposed before the Tribunal, the police shot the two victims in cold-blood, without anyprovocation. Both were shot in the head, indicating that the police were shooting to kill.
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They have named PI Parmar and five other policemen as those responsible for this.Family members were not allowed near the victims, who were dying and crying out forwater. The police burst tear gas shells near the two bodies. The police said ‘pati gayu’ (“itsall over”) and began dragging away the bodies as if they were dead dogs. Nobody wasallowed to accompany the bodies. The bodies were returned after the post-mortemexamination, but none of the personal effects were handed over to relatives.
Earlier, around midnight on April 26, the police forcibly entered Muslim homes, whereonly women and children were asleep since the men stayed elsewhere for their own safety.The policemen abused them in filthy language, “Where are your bhadwas?” “Where areyour hijdas?” and threatened to sexually molest them. A woman who deposed before theTribunal said that the police beat her as well as her 30-year-old sister. Her sister, who ispartially disabled and was recovering from a recent appendix operation, was beaten on herstomach, thighs and private parts. In all, the Tribunal has details of 13 women who wereassaulted by the police at Taiwada as well as a 5-year-old child who was hit on her backwith a baton. Women from Taiwada who were brutally assaulted by the Vadodara police,led by PI Kanani, have had to undergo prolonged sessions of physiotherapy.
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Raja Rani Talav a Muslim-predominant basti just behind the Panigate police stationwas completely peaceful all through the two months since the Godhra incident. Buton April 27, a mob numbering several thousand people from Bhoiwada attacked thebasti. All the homes were looted while 35 houses were subsequently burnt. Two dargahswere also burnt down and the madrassa, too, was destroyed. (Around 520 Muslimsfrom over 100 families took shelter in Doodhwala Hall in Moghalwada from April 28to May 5. A Hindu family, Dilipbhai Patel, his wife Kokila and their children alsotook shelter along with their Muslim neighbours.)
Even as they were under attack from mobs, the police unleashed terror on thevictims in the name of combing operations – hitting people, especially women, withlathis and rifle butts and smashing electric meters. Many women from the area, whosetestimonies have been collected, were assaulted and abused by the police. The pat-tern of brute violence against Muslim women by the police here is chillingly similar toother areas of Vadodara. It is clear that this was a strategy adopted by sections of thepolice to assault, abuse and terrorise the Muslim minority in this manner. Severalwomen have complained about police victimisation, harassment and violence. Atleast 25 women were assaulted by the police.
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Suleimani Chaal is a slum settlement at Ajwa Road that was apparently targeted bythe hired hoodlums of Shailesh Mehta, the deputy mayor of Vadodara who is also abuilder, keen on extending his neighbouring plot of land.
Apart from the looting and damaging of Muslim property, by the police, on the nightof April 30-May 1, the Tribunal recorded gross cases of violence against women.Pregnant women were threatened with rape. Thirteen women were physically beatenon all parts of their body, including private parts, and verbally abused in the filthiestfashion. All the policemen were drunk. Young children were also badly assaulted.
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An area in Vadodara that was in the news throughout the post-Godhra violencewas Tandalja. Even in places as far as 10 km away, like Gorwa, Manjalpur, Nizampuraand Sama, rumours were kept afloat by the VHP/ Bajrang Dal since March 1 aboutimpending attacks by Tandalja’s Muslims. The local press reinforced the baselessrumours. The Muslim-predominant village was painted as a hotbed of weapon-wield-ing criminals. A term widely used by outsiders to describe this area is ‘Mini Pakistan’,simply because it is a Muslim majority area. Systematic attempts were made to vilifythis area and thereby also further stereotype Muslims as bloodthirsty marauders. TheTribunal is happy to record its deep appreciation of the tireless work of people fromboth communities in Tandalja and its neighbourhood, to maintain peace, frustratingthe designs of the mischief-makers.
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Situated on the western border of Vadodara city, Tandalja is an area with about40,000 people, spread over some 50 housing colonies and slums. The Muslim popula-tion is about 80 per cent and Hindus constitute about 20 per cent. Besides Gujaratis,the Hindu population includes people from the Sikar district of Rajasthan and Agarwalsfrom UP. Tandalja also has a small Christian population.
The slums and some of the housing colonies in the area have a mixed population.After the 1969 riots, the area provided shelter to Muslim and Hindu refugees fromVadodara as also from villages like Jambusar. In the early 1980s, middle-class andupper middle-class housing societies came up in the area. Many of these societieswere developed through partnerships of Hindu and Muslim builders, partnershipsthat continue even today.
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There are a number of temples and mosques in the area. Ibrahimbhai, a Muslim, builtone of the temples, Shankar Ka Mandir; which shares a wall with a masjid. Another mandir,the Raneshwar Mandir, has been there for much longer. New temples have come up nearMuktinagar, Gautam Sarabhai housing colony and Mahabalipuram, predominantly Hinduresidential colonies. There are ten mosques in the area. After the1982 riots in Vadodara,the Dar-ul-Uloom was shifted from Mandvi, in the walled city, to Tandalja.
While Tandalja village has substantial mixed areas of Hindu and Muslim houses, insome of the newly developed parts, Hindu and Muslim areas are clearly demarcated.However, there is plenty of social interaction between Hindus and Muslims; theyvisit each other, are invited to each other’s weddings, and also eat together. Hindusand Muslims give gifts and sometimes perform ‘kanyadaan‘ at each other’s weddings.Muslim-and Hindu-owned shops are intermingled; not one of these was touchedthroughout the carnage.
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Until 1994-5, corporators from the area were always from the Congress. The pres-ence of the BJP in local politics is a post-Advani rath yatra (1989-90) phenomenon. Itwas only after the rath yatra that the BJP was able to win three out of four seats (theelectoral ward includes many surrounding Hindu societies as well). The BJP has alsowon a few supporters amongst the Muslims.
As soon as violence erupted in other parts of the city, residents of the area gottogether and formed peace committees. Muslims as well as Hindus reached out to asmany adjacent societies as possible to build an atmosphere of mutual trust. Thanksto this, there was no incident of communal violence, burning or looting in the area inthe two months following the Godhra incident, despite the violence raging in otherparts of Vadodara and the influx of thousands of refugees from affected areas.
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Often round-the-clock vigils were maintained. The strategy of the BJP-VHP wasto create insecurity in the minds of Hindus warning them that the other side wouldattack if they were not vigilant. While vigils help maintain peace, youth organised for‘self-defence’ can easily be given a different turn, with rumours flowing thick andfast. It is especially creditworthy that in this delicate atmosphere the residents ofTandalja kept in constant touch with each other and thus frustrated the designs of themotivated rumour-mongers.
During the first two days of violence, two laaris (handcarts) belonging to Muslimswere burnt in the adjoining Hindu area, allegedly by ‘outsiders’. Yet the Muslimsremained calm and did not allow their locality to be held to ransom. On the otherhand, some representatives from surrounding Hindu societies visiting Tandalja wereso moved by the condition of the refugees that they decided to contribute food grainsto the relief camp. With this gesture, mutual trust became even stronger.
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Some ground rules were set. If anybody had any suspicion about movements fromthe other side or any rumours were spread, they must immediately contact respon-sible persons from the other side and verify the facts. In this way, an active system ofcommunication was developed between the 50 housing settlements so that, within amatter of minutes, rumours were quashed. On at least two occasions, rumours weredispelled thanks to the swift system of communication that was evolved.
On one occasion, a Bajrang Dal-VHP mob of about 500-600 people from outsidegot as far as Ashwamegh society, a Hindu residential area adjacent to Tandalja. Themob had come to attack Tandalja. Ashwamegh was part of the peace committee.Local leaders from Ashwamegh stood between the mob and Tandalja. They did notallow the mob to cross the road. The masterminds of the mob later sent bangles tothe residents of Ashwamegh, to suggest that they were cowards for not supportingthe attack on Muslims for the cause of ‘Hindutva’. But the people of Ashwamegh saidthat their understanding of Hinduism was different.
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Other efforts were also made to generate fear and tension here. On March 19, ataround 1.30 a.m., Hindus from a small settlement of about 25 huts fled on being fedthe information that there was a plan to burn the huts at night. Witnesses who de-posed before the Tribunal said that they had learnt of a sinister plan to burn these huts at night with the connivance of the police and later blame it on the residents ofTandalja. A spotlight was quickly organised by the peace committees to generatesecurity among the slum dwellers. For three days and nights the entire neighbourhoodprotected the empty huts so that no outsider could come and burn them. After a fewdays the people of the slum returned to their huts.
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Early in the morning of April 19, one Chandrakant Patel, who managed a milk distri-bution centre on the main road outside Tandalja, was murdered by two unknown per-sons. According to police reports, two motorcyclists came from the direction of Atladraand shot him at point-blank range, killing him on the spot. Patel was politically con-nected with the BJP. Tension developed in Tandalja following the incident. Both Hinduand Muslim community leaders expressed their grief over the death. They condemnedthe attack and observed a spontaneous bandh for the same. According to preliminarypolice investigations, the assault may have been a case of personal rivalry.
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Both these incidents had the potential for sparking trouble in the area. But the peace-makers from both sides were vigilant and could check such elements from within as wellas outside the area. The role of the police, particularly in the second incident, was positiveand contributed to the peacekeeping efforts. The fact that this was a neighbourhood wherecommunities were mixed, could interact and thereby develop faith in each other and main-tain peace, only emphasises why the Sangh Parivar finds it critical to discourage socialintercourse across religious communities and enforce ghettoisation.
The first batch of victims of violence from elsewhere in Vadodara arrived here onthe evening of February 28. Thereafter, a continuous stream of refugees poured intothe area. Some came on their own because they had relatives here, others becausethey were aware that they could get support from their community members and stillmore were brought by police under police protection. Formal relief camps were func-tioning at four places in the area from March 1 and at one point as many as 5,000refugees were being provided shelter. To protest against the government and the police’sfailure to protect Muslims elsewhere in Vadodara, those in-charge of the relief cen-tres in Tandalja refused to accept relief material from the government when this wasoffered at a later date. That Tandalja both opened its heart to the victims of violencefrom other parts of Vadodara and simultaneously participated in keeping peace in itsown area makes their effort even more commendable.
