Manoj D. (Mayur) Antani (born June 7, 1954), is a retired Indian Police Service officer for the Indian government. [1] In 2011, he was appointed Home Secretary of Gujarat. [2]
Prior to that he was the Regional Passport Officer since 2004.Times of India (2) Antani, the former SP of Bharuch, was transferred out of Bharuch to Narmada district in March 2002 for taking action against some BJP/VHP supporters creating political turmoil in Bharuch. [3] He was later given the rank of deputy superintendent (DSP). DSP Antani became a public figure in India shortly afterwards, as he was the most senior ranking officer during the Godhra train burning [ citation needed ]. The train burning led to significant rioting, resulting in the death of over 100 people. Antani played a role in maintaining law and order throughout the riots. [4]
Since his time in Godhra, Mr. Antani has received several awards regarding his performance; however, has also received much controversy for his stance against prominent political figures. His most recent award is the Manager of the Year Award in 2007 presented by Uday Kotak, vice-chairman of Kotak-Mahindra Bank at IIM (Indian Institute of Management). [5]
Godhra is a municipality in Panchmahal district in Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Panchmahal district. Originally the name came from gou which means "cow" and dhara- which have two meanings depending on how you pronounce the word: 'dharaa' means a feminine thing or person that "holds" something and it usually means"land", and the other pronunciation is 'dhaaraa' in which means "flow". However, the second pronunciation is not popular nor is usually associated with this word. Hence, 'Godhra or Godharaa' means the Land of the Cow.
Teesta Setalvad is a controversial Indian civil rights activist and journalist. She is the secretary of Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), an organisation formed to advocate for the victims of 2002 Gujarat riots.
Saravanan Sivakumar, known by his stage name Suriya, is an Indian actor and film producer. He primarily works in Tamil cinema where he is one of the highest paid actors. He has received numerous accolades including two National Film Awards, six Filmfare Awards South and five Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. Suriya has featured six times in the Celebrity 100 list of Forbes India, which takes into account the earnings of Indian celebrities.
Trisha Krishnan is an Indian actress who works predominantly in Tamil and Telugu films. She gained prominence after winning the 1999 Miss Chennai pageant, which marked her entry into Cinema. Often referred to as the "Queen of South India", Trisha has received numerous accolades, including five Filmfare Award South, one Tamil Nadu State Film Award, one Nandi Award and eight SIIMA Awards.
Ramanathan Sarathkumar is an Indian actor, politician and former bodybuilder who works predominantly in Tamil cinema in addition to Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films. He has acted in more than 145 films and won two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and three Filmfare Awards South.
Siddharth Suryanarayan, known mononymously as Siddharth, is an Indian actor who primarily works in Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi language films. Apart from acting, he has also been involved in films as a screenwriter, producer and playback singer. He has also been featured in many advertisements. He is a recipient of three Filmfare Awards South and a Tamil Nadu State Film Award.
The Godhra train burning occurred on the morning of 27 February 2002, when 59 Hindu pilgrims and karsevaks returning from Ayodhya were killed in a fire inside the Sabarmati Express near the Godhra railway station in Gujarat, India. The cause of the fire remains disputed. The Gujarat riots, during which Muslims were the targets of widespread and severe violence, took place shortly afterward.
The 2002 Gujarat riots, also known as the 2002 Gujarat violence or the Gujarat pogrom, was a three-day period of inter-communal violence in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The burning of a train in Godhra on 27 February 2002, which caused the deaths of 58 Hindu pilgrims and karsevaks returning from Ayodhya, is cited as having instigated the violence. Following the initial riot incidents, there were further outbreaks of violence in Ahmedabad for three months; statewide, there were further outbreaks of violence against the minority Muslim population of Gujarat for the next year.
Vishweshwar Nath Khare is a retired Indian judge who served as the 33rd Chief Justice of India, from 19 December 2002 to 2 May 2004. He also served as the Chancellor of the Central University of Jharkhand from 2017 to 2023. He was a judge of the Supreme Court of India from 21 March 1997 before he was elevated to the post of Chief Justice.
Religious violence in India includes acts of violence by followers of one religious group against followers and institutions of another religious group, often in the form of rioting. Religious violence in India has generally involved Hindus and Muslims.
Nammalvar Lingusamy,, is an Indian film director, film producer and screenwriter who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. He made his directorial debut with Aanandham (2001). He went on to direct Run (2002), Sandakozhi (2005), Paiyaa (2010) and Vettai (2012). He and his brother N. Subash Chandrabose have also produced films through his production company, Thirupathi Brothers.
P. B. Sawant was an Indian judge of the Supreme Court of India.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee was an Indian politician who served thrice as Prime Minister of India, first from 16 May to 1 June 1996, and then from 19 March 1998 to 22 May 2004. A member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Vajpayee was the tenth Prime Minister. He headed the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in the Indian Parliament, and became the first Prime Minister unaffiliated with the Indian National Congress to complete a full five-year term in office. He died at the age of 93 on Thursday 16 August 2018 at 17:05 at AIIMS, New Delhi.
Manmadan Ambu is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film directed by K. S. Ravikumar and written by Kamal Haasan. The film stars himself, Trisha and R. Madhavan in the title roles, while featuring Sangeetha, Oviya, Ramesh Aravind, Usha Uthup, Manju Pillai and Urvashi among others in supporting roles. The film features music composed by Devi Sri Prasad, with several songs written and sung by Kamal Haasan himself, while Manush Nandan and Shan Mohammed made their debuts as cinematographer and editor.
The Gulbarg Society massacre took place on 28 February 2002, during the 2002 Gujarat riots, when a crowd started stone pelting the Gulbarg Society, a Muslim neighbourhood in the eastern part of Chamanpura, Ahmedabad in the Indian state of Gujarat. Most of the houses were burnt, and at least 35 victims, including a former Congress Member of Parliament, Ehsan Jafri, were burnt alive, while 31 others went missing after the incident, later presumed dead, bringing the total deaths to 69.
Sanjiv Bhatt is a former Indian Police Service officer of the Gujarat-cadre. He is known for his role in filing an affidavit in the Supreme Court of India against the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, concerning Modi's alleged role in the 2002 Gujarat riots. He claimed to have attended a meeting, during which Modi allegedly asked top police officials to let Hindus vent their anger against the Muslims. However, the Special Investigation Team appointed by the Supreme Court of India concluded that Bhatt did not attend any such meeting, and dismissed his allegations.
Javed Anand is an Indian journalist and civil rights activist who founded the Mumbai-based Sabrang Communications in 1993. He is married to Teesta Setalvad and they co-edit the monthly Communalism Combat.
The Naroda Patiya massacre took place on 28 February 2002 at Naroda, in Ahmedabad, India, during the 2002 Gujarat riots. 97 Muslims were killed by a mob of approximately 5,000 people, organised by the Bajrang Dal, a wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad, and allegedly supported by the Bharatiya Janata Party which was in power in the Gujarat State Government. The massacre at Naroda occurred during the bandh (strike) called by Vishwa Hindu Parishad a day after the Godhra train burning. The riot lasted over 10 hours, during which the mob plundered, stabbed, sexually assaulted, gang-raped and burnt people individually and in groups. After the conflict, a curfew was imposed in the state and Indian Army troops were called in to contain further violence.
The Nanavati-Mehta Commission is the commission of inquiry appointed by the government of Gujarat to probe the Godhra train burning incident of 27 February 2002. Its mandate was later enlarged to include the investigation of the 2002 Gujarat riots. It was appointed on 6 March 2002, with K. G. Shah, a retired Gujarat High Court judge, as its only member. It was later re-constituted to include G. T. Nanavati, a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India, after protests from human rights organizations over Shah's closeness to then-Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Akshay H. Mehta, retired judge of the Gujarat High Court, replaced Shah when the latter died before the submission of the commission's interim report.
Rahul Sharma is an ex Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the Gujarat cadre turned practicing lawyer with Gujarat High Court. He was inducted into the service in 1992. He played a crucial role in policing operations during the 2002 Gujarat riots. He was seconded to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2004, and served there for the next three years. Later, he served as the DIG at Rajkot, Gujarat until seeking voluntary retirement from active service in 2015.