Godhra verdict travesty of justice: SDPI

Submitted by admin4 on 25 February 2011 - 11:58am

 Indian Muslim

By Pervez Bari, TwoCircles.net,

Bhopal: The Social Democratic Party of India, (SDPI), while welcoming the acquittal of 63
accused, including the main accused, Maulvi Umarji, has termed the special court verdict in the
Godhra train carnage case as travesty of justice. The court on 22nd Feb convicted 31 others in
the case.

E. Aboobacker, the SDPI national president, in a statement said the verdict in the case coming
nine years after the incident was a "travesty of justice". The judgment speaks poorly on India's
judicial system that most of the 63 acquitted people were in jail for all these years who were
denied bail and spent all these years behind the bars. Nine precious years of their lives were lost
just on suspicion, they added.

The judgment has established a conspiracy angle on the part of Muslims to burn down the rail
coach based on police reports. However, it may be noted that Gujarat police force which is part
of a so heavily compromised system that even the Supreme Court deemed it fit to have certain
cases transferred out of Gujarat. It is believed that the police and administration in Gujarat, on
whose inputs the justice delivery system based its conclusions, was still adversely disposed
towards Muslims, he added. Mr. Aboobacker pointed out that two inquiry commissions viz.
Banerjee Commission set up by Indian Railways and Nanavati Commission set up by Gujarat's
Modi Government were established which came out with dramatically contradictory conclusions.

The Banerjee Commission ruled out any "conspiracy theory" in burning down the coach of
Sabarmati Express. It rejected the "petrol theory" of the police, saying it was not possible to pour
60 litres of petrol or other inflammable substance on the floor of the coach from outside when
the train did not stop, and was in motion. It ruled out the burning of coaches as an ''activity of
miscreants''. It maintained that since 90 per cent of the passengers were "karsevaks with trishuls'',
they would not have allowed themselves to be set on fire "without a murmur". It was also not
possible to enter the S-6 coach as it was locked from inside, the commission had ruled. While the
Nanavati Commission was categorical that the carnage was a "pre-planned conspiracy" and a
deliberate attempt was made to burn coach S-6 of the Sabarmati Express and cause harm to
karsevaks travelling in that coach. This view was propagated by the Gujarat police after
investigation. It supported the police theory that petrol was used in setting fire S-6 on fire. It said
the incident was planned by Razzak Kurkur and Salim Panwala and others. It said the blaze was
not caused by an accidental fire but was part of a "larger conspiracy to create terror and
destabilize the administration". It gave a clean chit to Chief Minister Narendra Modi and his
council of ministers in the Godhra incident.
Mr. Abubacker said looking at the Nanavati Commission findings one can conclude easily that
the purpose of setting up the Commission by the Bharatiya Janata Party ruled Gujarat
Government was served as it gave clean chit to Chief Minister Modi while blaming Muslims of
hatching a conspiracy. The presiding judge also seems to have been influenced by this report.
The judge totally ignored the Banerjee Commission findings before pronouncing his judgment.

Another serious omission by the Special Court of not taking notice of CM Narendra Modi's
immediate dash to Godhra and his instruction to the district authorities to transfer the dead
bodies to Ahmedabad forthwith, where they were paraded to incite communal passions and to
launch the infamous Gujarat pogrom, the statement said. Mr. Aboobacker asserted that there was
a conspiracy but not by the Muslims of Godhra but by the VHP and its associates to put into
effect their plan for massive attacks on the Muslims of Gujarat and thus to find an excuse for the
Genocide. The judgment is faulty in a sense that many of those convicted were not physically
present in Godhra on the said date of the horrendous incident and Gujarat police has implicated
them on false evidence and extracted confessions by way of torture. They should appeal to the
High Court against their conviction, the statement added. (pervezbari@eth.net)