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Journalism of Courage
Are you a joker? You say only sporadic incidents took place here when 185 houses were burnt in a single locality (Noor Complex in Tarsali),’’ Chief Election Commissioner J.M. Lyngdoh inquired of District Collector Bhagyesh Jha. The latter had no answer.
Jha was not the only official who got a taste of Lyngdoh’s sharp tongue, as the CEC visited Vadodara today to assess the situation. At the Best Bakery site, where 12 persons were killed and two went missing following the Godhra incident, Lyngdoh was visibly angry for being wrongly informed that the bakery was set up just two months before the riots. Political leaders, representatives of NGOs as well as local residents maintained that it was over five years old.
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AHMADI HAULS PM OVER COALS ON GUJARAT RIOTS
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Bangalore: Former Chief Justice A.M. Ahmadi today criticised the PM for his ‘‘changing pattern of statements’’ on the Gujarat riots and Muslims and said these have only ‘‘added insult to injury’’ of the minority community. Justice Ahmadi said A.B. Vajpayee, after visiting relief camps, had ‘‘almost admonished’’ CM Narendra Modi and reminded him of his raj dharma. On the PM’s Goa speech where the media quoted him as blaming Muslims as a class, Ahmadi said: ‘‘That speech took away from what he spoke in Ahmedabad.” — PTI |
‘‘Are you not ashamed of yourself?’’ he told Jha, in the presence of civil and police officials. ‘‘You told me that the bakery was set up just two months before the riots but it is an old building,’’ he said.
Lyngdoh was also told that the bakery’s residents even had their names on the electoral rolls. The CEC’s team, armed with copies of electoral rolls, immediately checked the voters’ list and found the information to be correct.
He then asked Anjuman Imdad-e-Bahami representative Zubair Memon to bring Zahida, one of the four survivors, to meet him at the Circuit House. ‘‘Don’t be afraid. Give full information and depose before the commission,’’ one of the commission members advised Memon.
Later, at the Circuit House, Lyngdoh held an in-camera meeting with Zahida, the main witness and complainant in the Best Bakery murders.
Selectively talking only to riot-affected persons, the CEC cavalcade then moved to Kishanwadi slum, from where about 250 Muslim families had migrated. Only 35 have returned so far.
The CEC even waded through slush to reach a house belonging to Police Sub-Inspector Zafrullah Khan Pathan in Bavachawad which was demolished by rioters although it is located just behind Ganjkhana police outpost. Pathan is living in Pratap Nagar Police Lines at present.
People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) activist Hameeda Abdul Rahim Chandol told the CEC: ‘‘If a Sub-Inspector cannot muster courage to go back to his house, how can others take a risk. How can elections be held in such an atmosphere?’’
The next stop was Ajabdi Mill locality. Although all 46 families have returned, Roshanbibi told the CEC: ‘‘We are safe only because the police outpost is here. We won’t be able to sleep otherwise.’’
Another stop was Baranpura where all 39 houses were destroyed. No family has returned so far. A victim, Mohammed Hanif Ganam, was asked what would be the best time to hold polls. He said it should not be held before December under any circumstances. ‘‘What people want immediately are houses and a source of livelihood — not elections,’’ said another riot victim, Ghulam Mohiuddin.
Political party leaders and NGOs complained they had not been told about the CEC’s programme and were only invited by the Collector to meet the CEC at Circuit House.
