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 Rural
Several villages around Vadodara city were targeted on March 1, 2002. The Tribu-nal received statements and testimonies from 66 victims living in relief camps whoare originally from these villages.
A mob of between 500 and 1000 people attacked Muslim villagers in Atladra onMarch 1, 2002, after which 60-65 people took shelter at Saudagar Park (Tandalja).According to testimonies received by the Tribunal, the mob came at around 11.30a.m. and, after looting the shops near the bus stand, set them on fire. The mob thenbegan looting the utensils, grain and provision stores owned by Muslims. They evencarted away the windows and doors before setting the structures on fire. Sulemanbhaiof Patel Falia said that the shops were looted but the houses were not, because thereare Hindu-owned houses in the locality as well.
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According to Rehmanbhai, the aim of the mob was to cause economic damage exclu-sively to the Muslim community. So, for example, Sulemanbhai’s paan shop was moveda small distance to save a neighbour’s shop, and then burnt using kerosene torches.About five shops and one house were burnt, after which the mob went towards the postoffice and burnt Moosabhai Mohammad’s flourmill, two-wheeler and cycles.
That night the rampaging mob went to Kalali crossing. Ibrahimmiya of Kalali crossingsaid that by this time, it was 1,000-1,500 strong. Ibrahimmiya fled the scene, after whichhis house was looted by the mob. Victim-survivors say that Arunaben Pandya, the formerBJP corporator, helped the mob identify Muslim houses. Yogesh Patel of the village, HariKrishan Patel and Nikeshbhai G Patel were also responsible for inciting the mobs. Thevictim-survivors also stated that when the police came to the area to investigate, the verypeople who had abetted the violence plied the policemen with food and drinks. They alsosaid that when victims went to register an FIR, the police refused to cooperate.
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Bajwa village was targeted between March 1-3, 2002. Bajwa or Bajuwa is an oldvillage which is gradually being absorbed by Vadodara’s petrochemical complex. Italso has a few small industries. Rajasthan colony on Karachiya road comprises 150 to200 housing units, of which 12 to 15 belong to Muslims.
According to a witness whose statement was placed before the Tribunal, the attackin this village took place on the afternoon of March 1. The mobs started attackingMuslim shops and houses, and then setting them on fire. They reached Karachiyaaround 2.30 p.m., Dhankuva at around 4 p.m., and finally, Rajasthan colony at around7 p.m. Sajjak Ali’s house was the first one to be looted, even the ornaments for hisdaughter’s wedding were robbed and then the house was set on fire with petrol. Afterthat Saiyyad Sikandar’s house was burnt. A scrap dealer’s house was razed to theground and a Hanuman temple was built in its place.
At around 8 p.m., 35 Muslim men and women from Karachiya village finally ap-proached the army unit near Gujarat Refinery for shelter. By the afternoon of March2, the numbers had increased to 200, with other refugees having arrived from Dhankuva.All of them were fed, sheltered, given blankets, tarpaulin and utensils by the army fortwo or three days. On March 2 and 3, Jagdish Patel, Dhirubhai Patel and about 10others came and told the army men to expel the refugees from the camp and evensome police officials, including PSI Sarvaiya, asked the army to hand them over. Butthe army—including a commander called Jasvinder Singh, V.S. Reddy and Cdr. Javed—remained supportive.
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On March 2, the victim-survivors were informed that the mobs had looted theirbelongings and set fire to their homes. They repeatedly contacted the police commis-sioner through some prominent people from Maheshwari Society, but received nohelp. They requested police protection but the police bluntly told them, “If you arebrave, leave, since we do not have the manpower to provide you protection.” Afterthree days, the refugees were finally sent to Chistiya Masjid in Tandalja under militaryescort, and on March 4 they left Bajwa for Vadodara.
When the victims later contacted their neighbours, they were told that those involvedin the violence were still going around saying that no Muslims should be allowed backinto the village. The mobs were led, among others, by Jagdish Armanbhai Patel andArun Patel of Karachiya village, and Sampat Vadhri of Rajasthan colony. Mukesh Patelwas also a part of the mob. The victims stated that Jayaben Thakkar, BJP MP, incitedthe mob which included a number of women. A lot of the attackers belonged to theBajrang Dal unit of Chhani village. Others belonged to Karachiya village. At Bajwa,PSI Sarvaiya had apparently told the Bajrang Dal volunteers and Jayaben Thakkar thatthey should move on to other places and could do what they liked over there.
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Bhayli is a village on the outskirts of Vadodara on the Vadodara-Padra Road, whichwas attacked on February 28 and March 1, 2002. The people here make, among otherthings, mattresses for a living. On February 28, a mob of around 100 people came tothe village. About eight quintals of cotton belonging to one Muslim family were burnt,as was the mattress-making machine. The mob returned on the evening of March 1,took out all the family’s belongings from the house and burnt everything. Accordingto the family, the house itself was spared because it is adjacent to a Hindu house.
In Bhayli, the Masjidwala Falia was not damaged. There is a police chowki therewith four policemen. When the trouble started, there were two policemen present.The mob attacks took place in the presence of the police, who remained silent spec-tators. The victims suspected that the police had been bribed. Some of them com-plained, “If we go to tell the police they abuse us. ‘We’ll fire on you,’ is what they say.”The victims had to make arrangements for food, tea etc. for these policemen. Ev-ery day, IR Vohra had to give them grain, milk and cash. The police warned thatunless they were taken care of, they would no longer protect the victims and their property. So the terrorised Muslims took turns to get food on credit and give itto the policemen.
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The victims said that they were looted by people from the neighbourhood. Theysaid they were ready to identify their belongings and take them back if the policeprovided protection. The victims who came from Bhayli to the Saudagar Park Campin Tandalja said all their businesses had been destroyed. About 25 out of 70 houseswere damaged, four flourmills, two tailoring shops, and a flour-shop were broken. Ofabout 50 neem trees, half were cut down. The room attached to the cemetery wasbroken as well.
In Samiala, two houses, one shop and one tempo were burnt on March 1,2002.Although the driver of the tempo was a Hindu, the vehicle was burnt because itbelonged to a Muslim. The Muslim families staying in the village were not willing togive further details. The sarpanch, Bachhubhai Vaidya, said that all details regardingthe incident had been collated and were available with the talati. He also said that thepeople there lived peacefully and that there was a police point in the village.
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Laxmipura is a village near Samiala. On March 1, 2002, at about 10.30 p.m., a mobstarted burning the houses of Muslims in the village. PI PRGehlot of the VadodaraRural police was present during the attacks. All 38 Muslim houses in the village weredestroyed over several days, and the attackers, Hindus, told Muslim villagers not toreturn to the village. On March 1, all the Muslim residents had to flee Laxmipura withnothing but the clothes on their backs. They left for Padra, Samiala and other areas,but the looting and burning continued well into May.
An FIR was filed by PI Gehlot himself; victims said it was highly misleading. Aroundmid-March, panchnamas were made, but the attacks continued. The victims made sev-eral representations to the collector and DSP, but nothing had come of them,eventwo months later, and the attacks on the remains of the Muslim dwellings continued.The following is a list of those named by witnesses as persons responsible for theattacks. The victims had been demanding that these names be included in the FIR,which had not been done. None of these people had been arrested; on the contrary,some innocent Hindus from the area were arrested by the police.
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The names of the accused from Samiala are: Narendrabhai Gordhanbhai Vaid (sarpanch), KamleshGordhanbhai Patel (dy sarpanch), Bhogilal Mohanbhai Patel, Mahendrabhai HarmanbhaiPatel, Kishorebhai Laljibhai Baria, Natubhai Dayabhai Patel, Jagdishbhai Dayabhai Patel,Hiteshbhai Bacchubhai Patel. The names of the accused from Laxmipura are: BhagatsinhGaikwad (panchayat member), Labhubhai (gramsewak), Bharatbhai (Doctor), RameshbhaiBakorbhai Solanki, Chiragbhai Maganbhai Panchal, Narendrabhai Raojibhai Patel,Lakshmansinh Bodana, Poonambhai Solanki, Ranjitsinh Chatrasinh Gohil, UmeshbhaiNatubhai Rawal, Kantilal Bhatt, Shantilal Shanabhai Vaghri, Rameshbhai ChimanbhaiPadiyar, Punitbhai Solanki, Sukhabhai Vaghri, Dilipsinh Gaikwad, Sureshbhai Rajput,Chandrasinh Maganbhai Rajput, Dilipbhai Shantilal Valand.
Maretha village was attacked between February 28 and March 2, 2002.This villageis on the outskirts of Vadodara city, near Maneja. Out of a total of 400 houses inMaretha, 73 belong to Muslims and the rest to Hindus.
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According to residents, arguments between the two communities started on themorning of February 28, but were immediately resolved through talks. The shopswere kept closed on February 28 as well as on March 1. Threats to the Muslim com-munity started on February 28, and on the next day, 73 Muslim families left theirhomes and hid in different places. Only one family stayed back. Shops, dargahs andmosques were looted, and then the shops were burnt. Twelve shops and five flourmillswere destroyed. On March 2, at noon, some more shops were burnt. That night, allthe remaining Muslim properties in Maretha were burnt. Most of the fields had veg-etable crops. These were destroyed; the Hindu villagers let loose their animals in thefields. It was harvesting time, which meant a complete loss of income. Water pumpsand diesel sets were stolen.
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Victims said that the main person behind the violence was Sanabhai IshwarbhaiThakur, who called people from the neighbouring villages of Maneja, Tarsali andChappad to attack Muslim houses in Maretha. The mobs that attacked Maretha wereled by Bipinbhai Patel of Alamgar, Sukhdeo Thakur, the sarpanch of Talsat, Pramodbhaiof Chappad, and some others.
On March 2, 2002, at about 2 p.m., Maneja village was attacked. Nearly 100 houses werecompletely destroyed and 6 people were grievously injured. All the Muslims ran for theirlives. Between March 2 and March 12, the mobs looted all the Muslim homes in the village.On March 2, the mob started looting houses and shops. A police van finally arrived,but only after the houses and shops had been burnt. The police personnel said that theirnumbers were too few and they could do nothing. They refused to provide Muslimvillagers any protection. After three hours, at 4.30 p.m., five police vans arrived. Thepolice then told the victims that they had no vehicles and that they should arrange fortheir own transport out of Maneja. With great difficulty, a family managed to contactacquaintances in Gorwa. The people in Gorwa were ready to come there with a tempo,but said they would wait for the Maneja victims at a certain point since they could notmove around easily because of the curfew. The tempo was made to wait at that point fortwo hours, and the police even stalled all efforts to take a dead body to Gorwa.
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The mobs in Maneja village were led by Sanjay Chiman Thakur, Mahendra MaganThakur and Vishnu Raisingh Bhuria (all residents of Bhathuji falia), Sana Thakur (aresident of Santoshi Nagar) and Prakash Mulchand Wagh (a resident of Magan Park).All these are well-known members of the VHP and Bajrang Dal. Sarpanch KantabenSanabhai Vasava was also one of the leaders of the mob, which comprised of peoplefrom the backward castes and Thakurs. Nilesh Bhogilal Patel, Mahesh Haribhai Rabariand Raghubahi Bharwad, all Bajrang Dal leaders, also led the mob. In addition, Veenabhai Chagganbhai Patel, a former BJP leader, Govindbhai Ramsibhai Rabari,Haribhai Ichhabhai Rabari and Narayanbhai Chottabhai Thakur were also named.
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In Koyali village next to the Vadodara refinery, two laaris (handcarts) and one shopwere burnt near the masjid. According to newspapers (The Times of India/The IndianExpress), on March 3, 2002, two nitroglycerine sticks were found by the police in theKoyali mosque. A man had also received burns in a godown there in the first few daysof violence. In Sevasi village, one Muslim house with a shop attached to it was burnt.In Ashapuri, a hamlet in Sevasi, a shop belonging to a Muslim was burnt.
Sokhada village is situated 3 to 4 kms from the Gujarat State Fertilisers Corpora-tion (GSFC) plant near Vadodara on the Vadodara-Ahmedabad Highway. It is a pros-perous village, known as the headquarters of one of the Swaminarayan sects. Attackson Muslim homes and properties took place between February 28 and March 5, 2002.The refugees then shifted to Tundav.
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According to victims, they were aware that the Bajrang Dal had been holding meet-ings in Sokhada, but they had not viewed these as communal at the time. They alsoreported that they had heard that sadhus from the Hari Prasad Swaminarayan Mandirhad been using slogans to ‘awaken Hindus’, saying that the country belonged to Hin-dus not Muslims, that the Ram Temple had to be built, and so forth.
Fifteen days before the incident on February 28, one Hashubhai Patel, alias Tikka,had said that the Hindus would destroy the mosque.
There was tension on the evening and night of February 27, and there was a meet-ing of a few Hindus at the local Gujarati school. The trouble started on February 28at around 8 p.m. when a mob of between 500 and 700 people, all from Sokhada itself,gathered and started breaking the cabins and shops of Muslims. According to womenvictims in Tundav, at 8 p.m. the sarpanch had come and told all of them to have theirdinner. But then, a mob from the village (led by the sarpanch, Mahendrasinh Patel)attacked the dargah, masjid and then the shops through the night. The people watchedfrom their terraces and shouted ‘Har har Mahadev’, ‘Have Miyanbhai Ungo Tame’ (‘Nowyou Muslims will sleep.’) The crowd carried iron rods, dharias (sickles) and axes.
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About eight or nine shops were burnt that night. Later, another 19 shops were burnt andthe Muslims were threatened and told to leave their houses, or they would be killed. After theshops were burnt that night, the sarpanch told the Muslim villagers that they could return totheir houses as nothing further would happen. Nevertheless, the people could hear thingsbeing broken and see houses being attacked around them. They could not sleep that night.Those with children fled the village on the night of February 28. On March 1, themob attacked again between 8-9 p.m. Most of the 100-odd houses were destroyedand more people started fleeing the village. They hid in the nearby fields and watchedas the mobs looted and burnt their homes, workplaces and places of worship.
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The masjid in the central part of the village, which shares a wall with a temple, wascompletely damaged (including the first floor and roof of the semi-basement/groundfloor) over the nights of February 28 and March 1, 2002. The dargah and shrines wereall destroyed. It appeared that the masjid had been destroyed with the intention ofcreating a second entrance/pathway to the adjoining temple.
Almost all the 100-odd houses belonging to Muslims were looted, destroyed andburnt – in that order. According to eyewitnesses, the mobs broke down doors, tookaway all the vessels and other belongings in tempos. In most cases, the land waslevelled after ransacking and burning the houses. There were about 15 Muslim-ownedbig and small shops, all of which were looted and burnt.
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This continued for five days. There were, at most, a couple of cases where Hindushelped the victims, but these were in the poorest sections. The plight of the Muslim poorwas pathetic, with all their carefully accumulated possessions destroyed beyond use.For a few days, the Muslims of Sokhada hid in the fields around the village andsought shelter in nearby villages. According to Feroz Mohammed Malik, the Hindushad warned that they would be killed if they returned. Nathhubhai Chhottubhai andSalim Ashraf tried returning to Sokhada but were threatened by Jagdish Tailor (‘Mianke body ko kaat dalo’ -‘Cut the Mians up’ ).
In Sokhada, many women were brutally abused – both sexually and verbally. Onewoman victim was sexually assaulted by 10 Hindu men, another was taken away andphysically abused. The women found it difficult to describe the brutality and vicious-ness of the attacks. Many witnesses, Mehmooda, Bismalla (who had a baby with her),Mahmuda Badran, Madina, Mumtaz and Sabeera (also with babies), and AminaBadshah shared details of this.
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One witness, Roshanben, said that what they most needed at that point was some assur-ance of physical security. They also needed material to set up their homes again. “My twosons are in Shivam High School in Sokhada. We rang up the teacher (Sir). He told us to sendthe certificate (An application stating that they cannot do the exam, on the basis of whichthey would be promoted to the next class). They cannot do the exams. We have wasted oneyear’s fees. He says they will consider promoting them if we send the certificate.”
The brutal displacement of Muslims from Sokhada had an eerie postscript — thereported change of the village name to Hari Dham Sokhada. Apart from having losttheir property and livelihood, those displaced were afraid to return to an environ-ment of terror and insecurity. As one woman told the team, “We don’t want to goback, suppose they do this again. We heard the crowd say ‘Miyabhai ni chhokri ni izzatlooto’ (‘Rape the daughters of Muslims.’) If there is bandobast (police protection), wewill go back. If someone takes the responsibility (jawaabdari), we will go.” Ameena,an elderly woman, agreed, “They will burn us while we’re asleep. It is not worth goingback… the sarpanch came and told us don’t leave your homes, don’t go anywhere. Butthat night itself they burnt our houses…” The Sokhada women said that the sarpanchand the Patels of the village had said that if they came back, “we will looto their izzat(rape them); we will force them to flee without their clothes.”
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The Sokahada sarpanch has held office for nine years and the people cannot getover what he did. “We’ve lived here for generations, never before has something likethis happened.”
According to victims, a mob of 500 from Patelgaon caused most of the dam-age. Motiya Pura, Lalji Pura and Vashna have also been named – they apparentlydistributed alcohol to the villagers who went on looting and burning sprees afterdrinking. One Madhusudhanbhai Muljibhai Amerikawala from the USA, who waspresent during the initial days of the looting/burning, reportedly encouraged andurged the mob to go ahead and make a good job of it. One of the victims,Nizambhai Abbasbhai, saw and heard Amerikawala saying that he was preparedto spend about Rs. 1 crore for this. Other prime instigators were the sarpanch,Mahendrabhai Ramanbhai Patel and Jagdishbhai Mohanbhai Tailor who, the peoplesay, was drunk most of the time. According to eyewitnesses, those actively in-volved in the destruction of the mosque were Hiteshbhai Purushottam (STDPangallawalla), Manojbhai Thakorebhai Patel (newspaper dealer) and SanjaybhaiThakorebhai. Hydermiya Chandmian testified that he had given 12 names to thepolice, but FIRs had been lodged against only 6 of them. The victims also said thatthey had repeatedly tried to contact the police (562600). Each time they were toldby one Leelaben that the police van would be sent, but the police never arrived.
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One woman victim told the team, “Three policemen came, roamed around andwent away. On the afternoon of February 28, the police was there, they were there atnight. We couldn’t see them around – they ran away. With a mob of 1000-2000, whowould remain present?”
FIRs were filed at Badarpur, but the police did not come to take statements. Copiesof the FIRs were also submitted to the Tribunal.
Tundav has a population of 800 (50 per cent Muslims and 50 per cent Hindus).Almost 90 households of refugees came here from Sokhada village to stay with rela-tives and friends. But in May there were only around 50 people from Sokhada stillliving there – half the original inmates had moved to Gothada, and some others toSavli and Bena.
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The Tundav population, both Hindus and Muslims, hosted a kitchen run on localdonations for about 300 persons every day. The women told the team, “We live inharmony, our village is our family. No one from outside can come and take us awayfrom here. If anyone dares to come, they won’t be able to go back.” The sarpanch ofTundav village is Pratapsingh Bharatsinh Rathore. The ex-sarpanch is Chhatrasinh.
The population of Asoj is 5500. There are about 120 Patel and 30 Muslim familiesin this village. A Shanti Sabha (Peace Forum) was formed in Asoj and there was noproblem there.
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The population of Manjusar village is around 5000, with about 400 Muslims.Manjusar was affected in the violence and about 20 cabins belonging to Muslims wereburnt. The 40-50 Muslim households were generally undisturbed, except for the houseof Syed Hussain Mian Bapu Mian (loss of Rs 1-1.5 lakh), who did farming.
Asraf Malik, Mir Sahab Goram Khan Pathan and their two brothers, all long-term employees of Vadodara Tiles, were dismissed by their boss on March 3, 2002,because he did not dare face the wrath of the mob because of their presence.Vadodara Tiles is jointly owned by Maheshbhai Govindbhai Patel (from Morbi)and Dineshbhai Patel. Sadduben Ashrafbhai worked as a plasterer for nine years inVadodara Tiles, before being fired on February 28, 2002. Ten other workers of thecompany were also dismissed on February 28. Some then went to Khamba, Khanpurand elsewhere.
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Rabiaben Mirsab Pathan, 35, has a 10-year-old daughter, Shabana. She and herhusband both worked for Vadodara Tiles and they lived on the factory premises.Her daughter studied in Class 4 in a school in Manjusar. Her brother Zakir Hussainworked in the neighbouring company (Jagadamba Tiles). He also fled the villageafter violence broke out. Rabiaben said, “They (people from the village) came to hitus on February 28, 2002. The Seth (boss) told us to leave...We didn’t recognise thepeople in the mob because we are pardesi (from another area). When the mob came,the Seth threw us out in half an hour. We couldn’t even collect our things. We walkedall the way here, eight of us, we left at 2 p.m. on March 1. We reached here (Tundav)around 4-5 p.m. We stayed in a school in Tundav for 15 days, and have now shiftedto a rented house in the village (Tundav). We have not found any work as yet. Theytook away our four goats…” The family hailed from Kanba in Borsad taluka. Theycould not go to Kanba because Muslims had fled from there too. They did not knowwhere to go. They could not even phone and find out where the Muslim villagersfrom Kanba were.
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There are 200 Patel families in Chappad, which is close to Bhayli village. YakubbhaiRehmanbhai Mustafa, grain kirana (provisions) shopkeeper, was the only resident ofChappad whose house was burnt, along with his shop on February 28, 2002. Hismother, Doriben Rehmanbhai, 60, was widowed ten years ago. She has two sons,Yakubbhai (30 years), who is an epileptic, and Mafatbhai (40 years).
At 9 p.m. on February 28, the dairy horn/whistle was blown as a signal for thePatels to gather. The mob surrounded the Muslims. There were 60 persons, all fromthe village. They shouted, “Kill the men, leave the women.”
Doriben said that they hid for a couple of hours in their Waghri neighbour’s housebefore going into the fields. They then phoned her son-in-law, who came and tookthem away. They walked 15 kms to Sarsavni and spent two nights there. The moblooted Doriben’s house and then burnt it. They took away her goats and chickens.
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They suffered losses amounting to around Rs. 1-1.5 lakh. While the mob burnt downDoriben’s house, they managed to save the Waghri neighbours’ house from burningdown. The family had been told not to return to Chappad.
The perpetrators of the looting and arson were: The sarpanch, PramodbhaiShankarbhai Patel, Rajubhai Shankarbhai Patel, the sarpanch’s daughter-in-law(whowas seen sitting behind him on the scooter when the mob came), Pradipbhai TarjabhaiPatel, Manojbhai Laljibhai Patel, Somabhai Himmatbhai Patanwala, Pramod Thakkar,Pradip Patel, Jyotishbhai Vasava and Kanu Ratilal Vasava.
Ranoli is located next to the Gujarat Refinery. Many of the residents are lower-level employees of the Refinery and of other petrochemical industries in the area.There are mixed bastis of migrant workers around Ranoli. Refugees from Ranoli werepresent at a relief camp in Tandalja, Vadodara.
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There are 25 Muslim families living in Ranoli, which is around 17-18 kms fromVadodara. The other residents are all Hindus, numbering 5000 or so. Some of theseMuslims had small shops, while others worked as daily wage earners or in the localcinema hall, Dawal Cinema. Stoning began on March 1, 2002, and the Muslims weretold by local people to leave the area. The local sarpanch, Chandrakant Patel, was themain instigator. The Muslims ran and hid in the fields “like animals, without anythingto eat for 2-3 days.” One of them had a mobile phone and kept calling the police,although they were scared to tell the police where they were hiding. But the controlroom repeatedly told them that there was no help for them. They made their way toVadodara, having lost everything.
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The mob comprised about 100 people and included the sarpanch of Ranoli and his sons(Kirti and another one). Kaushik Patel, an employee of GACL, also took part in the looting.Usmanbhai, an employee of Gujarat Dyestuff lived in Ishwarbhai Ni Chaali inRanoli. On March 1, at around 3.00 p.m., when mobs advanced towards his home, hefled with his family to Pharma SMX, Gujarat Dyestuff. Later, he found out that hishouse had been completely looted. The victim said the house had not been set on firebecause it belongs to a Hindu. The family went to the Jawahar Nagar police in Ranoliat around 10 p.m. on March 3, 2002. The police then escorted them to Musra Parkand sheltered them in a building under construction. By March 14, there were alreadyabout 40 people staying there and the kitchen fed about 180 people.
