A Commission Dismissed

Initially, when the government's response to Justice Srikrishna's application in December for an extension did not arrive, there seemed nothing amiss. For, governments are known for last-minute intimations. Back from lunch at 3 pm on January 23, a day before the Commission's term expired, the high court judge found Principal Law Secretary B.G. More waiting to convey the decision to end his task of probing the worst riots the city had ever witnessed. An hour earlier, at a routine briefing, Chief Minister Manohar Joshi had dropped the bombshell.

But those affected by the riots have not forgotten the dark face of Bombay. Official figures peg the number of people killed in the January bloodbath at 900, while civil rights group put the toll at 1,200 killed and several thousand injured. "There would have been some satisfaction at least if the culprits had been publicly named after three years of inquiry. Now they have stopped even that," says Haroon Rashid, editor of Inquilab. He can never forget the day his house was reduced to ashes in the riots. Along with it went a collection of 3,000 books and a diary recording a career spanning nearly three decades, including interviews with the likes of Saddam Hussein. "We were left with only the clothes we were wearing. And the culprits included those I had played with as a child. I saw a dark side of Bombay," says Rashid.

Back in his chambers, Justice Srikrishna had little to say. "Three years of my judicial career—very precious to me—are lost. Plus time, talent and money. Public money has gone down the drain. I feel very sad about this pathetic waste." This is the first commission in the state to be disbanded in such a manner. Perhaps figures speak better for the kind of effort that went into the three-year inquiry headed by the judge, with a team of four counsel and a staff of 21.

• 372 days, about 1,860 hours in sessions.
• 402 witnesses, including 160 policemen deposed before the Commission.
• 32 police stations—exactly half of those in Bombay—were shortlisted for inquiry into their dubious role during the riots. Only nine were left to be examined.
• Notices were issued to 17 police officials under Section 8(b) of the Commission of Inquiry Act, to explain their conduct during the riots.
• 2,119 affidavits were filed.
• After the government expanded the scope of the Commission to include the bomb blasts of March 1993, under pressure from human rights groups, six (blast-related) affidavits were also filed
• The voluminous paperwork—running into thousands of pages—in evidence recorded and documents submitted have not yet been compiled.

"A judge is trained to work in the manner he does. A case can be disposed of in 10 minutes or 10 days. It depends on the case," says Justice Srikrishna, who will now resume his work as a sitting judge of the Bombay High Court. Criticising the government move, Retd Justice B. Lentin noted that commissions had gone on for many years, like the Madon Commission which held a four-and-a-half year inquiry into the Bhiwandi riots of 1970. "Ultimately you can't fool all the people all the time. The decision is clearly political. I am more and more convinced that a sitting judge should not take up a commission. It is an onerous, time-consuming task," says Lentin, citing his own case. "Those I indicted have got away. This is an eyewash, leaving only a sense of frustration," he says, whose famous commission of inquiry into the misdeeds of the drug industry/Food and Drug Administration, in the '80s indicted top officials all the way up to the then health minister.

But for now, the argument that commissions don't result in much is being tossed aside. Expressing the prevailing sense of outrage at the manner in which the Commission was wound up, noted jurist Nani Palkhivala says: "It is a clear abuse of power. We are so used to abuse of power in this country that it doesn't make much of a dent in public opinion. A legal challenge to the government's move may fail but that doesn't make it right. There are a lot of wrongs in this world that have no legal remedy but that doesn't make them right."

Palkhivala alludes to steps being taken to challenge the government legally like the move being planned by Niloufer Bhagwat, counsel for the CPI. "It is malafide and against public interest. We are going to court," says Bhagwat. Initially, reactions from political parties were muted. Former chief minister Sharad Pawar condemned it and said he was "distressed", while his partymen waited for New Delhi to denounce the action. But across the city, civil liberties organisations, human rights groups, religious bodies and smaller political parties are planning demonstrations, legal action and demanding that the government resign.

"It's like the Nazis coming back to power and winding up the Nuremberg trial," says lawyer Navroze Seervai. Seervai described the government's move as the "single greatest indictment of the Shiv Sena". His reaction is shared by many across the legal and political spectrum, who observe that the Sena names cropping up and those likely to follow were proving uncomfortable for the party. "We all know where the trail could lead. These names will come out at the time of the Lok Sabha elections and create trouble for us. It was best to close it. This way, it will be forgotten by the time of the elections," a senior Sena leader explained.

The cross-examination of Sena MLA Madhukar Sarpotdar had been adjourned to February by Justice Srikrishna. In December, the judge rejected a Sena plea against cross-examining Sarpotdar. His track record during the riots of January 1993 is something Bombay has not forgotten. At 4 pm on January 12, 1993, Sarpotdar made an incendiary speech, outside the suburban Nirmal Nagar police station, telling his followers that not a single Muslim house should be left intact. Policemen applauded with the crowd and houses were looted, burnt and Muslims butchered. Sarpotdar, who was arrested and released subsequently, was again picked up on January 14 only to be released again.

Thereafter, another round of attacks on Muslims followed, including one where two Muslims were stoned and set afire. Both died. Sarpotdar was finally detained under the National Security Act. When he was caught by armymen who had moved in to control the situation, Sarpotdar and the seven men with him, including gangster Anil Parab, were carrying three revolvers, seven live cartridges, choppers, hockey sticks and stumps.

The list of rioters named by witnesses include Sena men in every assembly constituency of the city—six shakha pramukhs, five civic corporators, Sena MLA Kalidas Kola-mkar and leaders like Ramesh More, among others. Those protesting against the government's decision to wind up the Commission wonder how many more senior leaders could stand accused. Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray had gone on record at the time saying, "I want to teach the Muslims a lesson" and Manohar Joshi had tried to justify his partymen's conduct saying: "I will not call them Shiv Sainiks. They were all anguished Hindus who were spontaneously reacting to what happened in Jogeshwari." After a family was burnt alive in their dwelling here at night, riots spread across the city.

Sushobha Barve, a social worker whose basic effort has been to heal wounds since the riots, observes that a lot of issues have been left unanswered. For instance, while some 8,000 cases have been registered against people accused in the riots, the policemen have got away since it requires official sanction to prosecute them. "The cases already filed need to be followed up. The Commission had issued notices to many police officials, now some fresh effort has to be made," says Barve.

The People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) is determined to bring the guilty policemen to book. "It will be a herculean task to prove their complicity beyond all reasonable doubt in a criminal trial, but we will do it," says Yogesh Kamdar, all India vice-president of the PUCL.

The police constable reading Saamna, the Shiv Sena's mouthpiece, was a recurring image of the riots. Complaints of indiscriminate police firing were received after the December 1992 riots following the Ayodhya demolition. A month later, the police were accused of standing by or even helping rioters. One of the most incriminating pieces of evidence of the the presence of fundamentalist elements in the force came from messages over the police wireless, taped between January 10 and 18, by journalist Teesta Setalvad. She and her husband Javed Anand are moving the high court to retrieve the tapes that were submitted to the Srikrishna Commission, lest they fall into police hands.

The tapes serve as a fresh reminder of the way law and order went. Excerpts from the transcripts:

Dongri1 to Police Control: Two military trucks have come carrying milk and other rations, led by Major Gen (Retd) Syed Rehemtullah. Therefore, a crowd has gathered at IR road near Bhendi Bazar, please send some more men.

Voice: Why the f..... are you distributing milk to them laandyas (abuse for circumcised males)? Do you want to f... their mothers? Miyan bastards live there.

V.P. Road to Control: A mob has gathered outside the Maharashtra garage, Ghasgalli, Lamington Road with the intention of setting it on fire. Send men. 

Voice: Must be a laandya's garage. Let it burn. S..., dont burn anything that belongs to a Maharashtrian. But burn everything belonging to a miyan...bastards.

A time when Muslims removed beards and name-plates; when Bombay's famous nightlife came to a grinding halt; a time when neighbours threw the first stone, and much of the police force turned saffron is something many people are not willing to let the Sena-BJP forget, let alone forgive the the state government for.