145;Post-riots, cops closed 2,100 cases without probe146;

For Nampoothiri, the former special rapporteaur of the NHRC and ex-Gujarat DGP, the hurt got bigger on September 26, when the Nanavati-Mehta Commission of Inquiry submitted the first part of its probe report on Godhra and post-Godhra carnages. The Commission jumped the gun in the first part of its report, which according to itself was supposed to deal only with the Godhra train carnage and not the riots that followed, to say there was no lapse on part of the Gujarat government in complying with recommendations of the NHRC.

In a candid interview to Newsline, Nampoothiri rubbished the Nanavati-Mehta report8217;s claims. He pointed out that far from complying, the Gujarat government had almost completely scuttled the NHRC recommendations. The ex-top cop of Gujarat also spoke about the role the Gujarat Police could have played to contain the riots that left an indelible blotch on the state.

How do you see the Nanavati-Mehta Commission8217;s observation that the Gujarat government had complied with all the NHRC recommendations regarding the rehabilitation measures after the post-Godhra riots?
I think it would be only correct and true to say that the Gujarat government has complied with almost none, yes none, of the recommendations of the NHRC. All our reports are public documents and they are open to everybody to see and decide for themselves. Perhaps, the Nanavati Commission was not correctly informed or was misled into reaching such a conclusion. May be it did not fully appreciate the reports of the NHRC.

In part one of the report itself, which supposedly dealt only with the Godhra train carnage incident, the inquiry commission looked beyond and concluded that the government complied with the recommendations of the NHRC. Was it in too much of a hurry to do so?
May be at this stage, it need not have gone into that question. May be there was no need for those observations at this point. However, I hope the Commission will put things into perspective in the second part of its report.

What are the most important recommendations of the NHRC that the Gujarat government chose to overlook?
We had recommended that five specific cases of Godhra, Best Bakery, Sardarpura, Naroda Patiya and Gulberg Society be investigated by the CBI. For other cases, we had said that district magistrates should be made in-charge of the investigation team under the supervision of the ADG Crime. Over 4,200 cases were registered after the riots, and 2,100 were closed without investigation. Where is the question of compliance? There were other recommendations also.

Which were the other recommendations?
We had said that all religious places that were broken or disfigured during the riots should be restored by the government. There are nearly 400 such places. The government agreed in principle, but never restored even a single one of them. We had also said that none of the relief camps for the riot victims should be shut down till it was ascertained that the situation is fit for people to go back. No such thing was done and all relief camps were closed on June 30, 2002.

Speaking from your experience, has any other state government shown such complete disdain and disregard to NHRC recommendations?
I don8217;t think so. Generally, what the NHRC says is taken very seriously. Its reports are tabled in the Parliament. It is a body that is known internationally. Also, NHRC reports have credence and once they are out, public pressure mounts for their implementation. In fact, the situation in Gujarat had so anguished Justice J S Verma, who was the chairperson then, that he wrote a letter to the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee about it. But all that we got in reply was the standard acknowledgment of its receipt from the PMO.

Do you think lack of public pressure in Gujarat is a major reason why the NHRC recommendations have been flouted so brazenly by the government?
It is one of the reasons, definitely. In fact, in Gujarat, the NHRC team was greeted with protests wherever it went. There were even petitions filed in the High Court appealing to bar the entry of the NHRC team into the state.

Hypothetically, if a majority of the riot victims were from the other community, would the way the state government responded to the NHRC recommendations have been different in Gujarat?
I certainly think so. The NHRC report, though, would have been the same. The community of the victims would have made no difference to it.

The manner in which the post-Godhra riots took place, their ferocity and the lame response from the police made its role to be alleged as being dubious. What do you feel about it?
If the police had done its duty, which is to follow the law, the magnitude of the events that unfolded would have been far less. The police should have arrested a good number of people before all hell broke lose. There would have been no need even to call in the army. I believe the police have all the powers to deal with any law and order situation. They could have used them.