The Truth: Gujarat 2002

Last updated

The Truth: Gujarat 2002 (also called Operation Kalank) was an investigative report on the 2002 Gujarat riots published by India's Tehelka news magazine in its 7 November 2007 issue. [1] The video footage was screened by the news channel Aaj Tak. The report, based on a six-month-long investigation and involving video sting operations, stated that the violence was made possible by the support of the state police and the then Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi for the perpetrators. The report and the reactions to it were widely covered in Indian and international media. [2] [3] [4] [5] The recordings were authenticated by India's Central Bureau of Investigation on 10 May 2009. [6]

Contents

Contents

A November 2007 report by the investigative news magazine Tehelka used a video sting operation to record a number of Sangh Parivar activists describing the riots from their perspective. Taking over six months, the reporter pretended to be an author interested in writing a book with a Hindutva point of view and interviewed the key accused. [7] The report's table of content reads:

  1. "First-hand accounts from the men who plotted and executed the genocide in Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Sabarkantha. Mayhem was meticulously planned and carried out by Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal cadres across Muslim localities." [1]
  2. "The VHP and the Bajrang Dal manufactured and distributed lethal weapons across the state, often with the connivance of the police." [1]
  3. "Shocking accounts of how the guardians of the law colluded with the outlaws to make Gujarat’s horror even worse." [1]
  4. "Key Bharatiya Janata Party, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, VHP and Bajrang Dal activists speak openly of how Narendra Modi blessed the anti-Muslim pogrom." [1]
  5. "How public prosecutors ran with the hare and hunted with the hound, keeping their sympathies strictly for the accused. Government Counsel Arvind Pandya on how he hopes to subvert justice by manipulating the Nanavati-Shah Commission, set up to ascertain the truth." [1]
  6. "The truth behind Naroda Patiya, the grisliest massacre of 2002. Ahmedabad police’s collusion in the pogrom and its cover-up. Gory details of how former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri was hacked limb by limb at Gulbarg Society, in the words of those who did it." [1]
  7. "How spontaneous mob fury was shown as a premeditated conspiracy by the police who produced fake witnesses by bribing, coercion and torture." [1]

There was substantial media interest in the report's description of Narendra Modi's role in the riots, based, for example, on video footage of a senior Bajrang Dal leader saying that at a public meeting on the day of the fire, "he had given us three days to do whatever we could. He said he would not give us time after that, he said this openly." [8]

Key people accused

The recordings show 14 main characters, with seven being accused in the main riot cases. [9]

Authenticity

Journalist B G Verghese described the report as "nothing short of a bombshell ... too well-documented to have been faked, as alleged. The effect was numbing." [11]

There were two contradictions between the report and official records. [7] Bajrangi and Richard both claimed that Modi visited Naroda Patiya a day after the violence to thank them. Official records showed that Modi did not make any such visit. India Today called their claims as "boastful lies". [7] Also in the report, one VHP activist said a police superintendent promised to kill five Muslims and fulfilled it during the violence in the Dariapur area. Official records showed that the superintendent was not posted in the given location. [7]

On 5 March 2008, the National Human Rights Commission of India directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to authenticate the video evidence uncovered by the Tehelka report. The CBI investigated the raw video footage and the equipment used to create it, and interviewed 14 of 18 "persons belonging to different Hindu outfits like VHP, Bajrang Dal, RSS and Gujarat Police [who] have been shown making revelations." [12]

In October 2009, the CBI responded to the NHRC by issuing a report stating that "No Evidence of editing, alteration and tampering has been detected in the audio video recordings and their respective voice track recorded in the DVDs" and that "[Forensic Science Laboratory staff] have stated that on the basis of the result of the examination of the exhibits by them, it is clear that the recordings in the Sting Operation are authentic." After interviewing the subjects of the videos, the CBI reported, "Most of the above mentioned persons have stated that they were approached by some person / persons and that they have talked on the subject of Gujarat Riots which is the subject matter of the sting operation." [12]

One video showed Babu Bajrangi saying that he and his men killed 91 Muslim men and women at Naroda Patiya. He further said that they raped a pregnant woman, slit open her womb, and threw her and the foetus into a fire. Bajrangi denied these charges. In 2010, the doctor who performed post mortem on the bodies at the time during the violence, testified before a special court. The court identified the deceased woman and found only evidence of 100 percent burns on her body during the post mortem. [13] [14]

Journalistic ethics

The sting operation raised questions regarding journalistic ethics. [15]

Arthur Dudney, a South Asia scholar at Columbia University wrote,

"From the perspective of squeaky-clean journalism, Khetan has broken two rules: Firstly, misrepresenting his identity as a journalist and secondly, making false promises about confidentiality." [15]

Considering that the issue was implicating a sitting chief minister, Dudney seems to suggest that a method other than duplicity was probably not available:

"When a subject hesitated during an interview, Khetan said: 'I won't quote it anywhere ... For that matter ... I am not even going to quote you' and immediately after the reporter promised that, the interviewee made a chilling admission: Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister of Gujarat, had given the Hindu chauvinists three days to do whatever they wanted without government interference. Obviously the fact that the sitting Chief Minister of a state participated in communal violence is a matter that the public must know about, but I can see no way that the story would have come out had Khetan not bent the rules." [15]

Partisan criticism

The sting operation led to partisan criticism, both from Bharatiya Janata Party, as well as the Congress. Political activist Arundhati Roy described the range of critiques: "The overwhelming public reaction to the sting was not outrage, but suspicion about its timing. Most people believed that the éxposé would help Modi win the elections again. Some even believed, quite outlandishly, that he had engineered the sting. He did win the elections." [16]

Anti-BJP bias allegations

Indian journalist and Member of Parliament associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party, Chandan Mitra, described the timing of the report's release as being so transparently pegged to the Gujarat assembly polls that even breast-beating secular fundamentalists found it hard to defend. [17] It was pointed out that the report was released only a month before the assembly elections of Gujarat, [18] and some claimed the sting was only meant to bring the downfall of the Narendra Modi government. [19] Balasaheb Thackeray, the head of the Shiv Sena party termed the report a political conspiracy to defame the Hindus by the so-called secularists. [20] It was pointed out the Modi did not visit Naroda Patiya as the Tehelka report claimed, and that Aaj Tak coverage mixed Tehelka material with material from the movie Parzania, which Arvind Lavakare claimed was used to sensationalize the reports on the Tehelka findings. [21] The Bharatiya Janata Party claimed that Tehelka never conducted any sting against the Indian National Congress and alleged that the Congress-led government gave Tehelka tax exemptions. [22]

Pro-BJP bias allegations

Alternatively, some claimed that Narendra Modi himself orchestrated the sting to gain support in the 2007 Gujarat elections. [16] [23] According to The Economist , some senior members of the Indian National Congress accused Tehelka of being in cahoots with the BJP [5] as a tool to galvanize the Hindu vote. The bookies in Gujarat did respond to the report by shortening the odds on Modi, [5] indicating heavy betting for Modi's win.

Impact

The video reports were aired on Aaj Tak. [9] The media widely covered the sensational segments from the report, but in some places, such as Ahmedabad, Gujarat, the government banned coverage. [10] A group of editors criticized the Gujarat for banning cable from airing the reports. [24]

The reports were the impetus for further investigations. Mayawati, chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, called for new investigations as a direct result of the Tehelka report and the "fresh information" it had uncovered about the organized mass murder. [10] A spokesperson from Congress called on Narendra Modi to resign. [9] [10] [25]

Among the more reported segments of the report was video of Babu Bajrangi, the Bajrang Dal leader, describing the slaughter at Naroda Patiya and his reaction to it: "After killing them, I felt like Maharana Pratap." Maharana Pratap was a 16th-century ruler who was known for confronting the enemy at the Battle of Haldighati. [10] In the Tehelka transcript, Bajrangi is further quoted as saying, "(and we killed at will, turned the place into Haldighati)... And I am proud of it, if I get another chance, I will kill even more ..." [26] After he was charged, Bajrangi denied his involvement and said, "I never killed even an ant in my life". He also told reporters, "I did not lead any mob in Naroda Patiya. The sting operation shows me saying that I took a sword and cut open a woman's womb. But I was trying to explain that the FIR filed against me accuses me of that act and that I deny it." [9] He was later convicted by the riot court for 97 of those murdered at Naroda Patiya, which was one location among many in 2002 Gujarat riots. [27]

Some of those investigated in the report were sentenced by court, including two leaders and 30 others. Bajrangi was sentenced to life. [28] Parts of the report were used as evidence in court, [29] and Ashish Khetan, the author of the report who was deposed in court, writes that the evidence was crucial for the conviction of the accused. [30] The magazine called the convictions "vindication" for its 2007 report. [31]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bharatiya Janata Party</span> Indian political party

The Bharatiya Janata Party is a political party in India and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under the incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The BJP is aligned with right-wing politics and has close ideological and organisational links to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a far-right paramilitary organisation. Its policies adhere to Hindutva, a Hindu nationalist ideology. As of January 2024, it is the country's biggest political party in terms of representation in the Parliament of India as well as state legislatures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bajrang Dal</span> Hindu nationalist militant organisation

Bajrang Dal is a Hindu nationalist militant organisation that forms the youth wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). It is a member of the right-wing Sangh Parivar. The ideology of the organisation is based on Hindutva. It was founded on 1 October 1984 in Uttar Pradesh, and began spreading more in the 2010s throughout India, although its most significant base remains the northern and central portions of the country.

The Sangh Parivar refers, as an umbrella term, to the collection of Hindutva organisations spawned by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which remain affiliated to it. These include the political party Bharatiya Janata Party, religious organisation Vishva Hindu Parishad, students union Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), religious militant organisation Bajrang Dal that forms the youth wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), and the worker's union Bharatiya Kisan Sangh. It is also often taken to include allied organisations such as the Shiv Sena, which share the ideology of the RSS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teesta Setalvad</span> Indian activist and journalist (born 1962)

Teesta Setalvad is an 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pravin Togadia</span> Indian oncologist, activist

Pravin Togadia is an Indian doctor, cancer surgeon and an advocate for Hindu nationalism, coming from the state of Gujarat. He was the former International Working President of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and a cancer surgeon by qualification. He is Founder and Current President of Antarashtriya Hindu Parishad. He had a falling-out with the Sangh Parivar and is a vocal critic of Narendra Modi.

<i>Tehelka</i> Indian news magazine

Tehelka is an Indian news magazine known for its investigative journalism and sting operations. According to the British newspaper The Independent, the Tehelka was founded by Tarun Tejpal, Aniruddha Bahal and another colleague who worked together at the Outlook magazine after "an investor with deep pockets" agreed to underwrite their startup. Bahal left Tehelka in 2005 to start Cobrapost – an Indian news website, after which Tehelka was managed by Tejpal through 2013. In 2013, Tejpal stepped aside from Tehelka after being accused of sexual assault by his employee. Tehelka had cumulative losses of ₹66 crore (US$7.9 million) till 2013, while being majority owned and financed by Kanwar Deep Singh – an industrialist, a politician and a member of Indian parliament.

Naroda is a fast-growing area in Ahmedabad, northeast of central Ahmedabad in the Indian state of Gujarat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2002 Gujarat riots</span> Sectarian violence in the Indian state


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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Babu Bajrangi</span> Bajrang Dal leader convicted for massacre of Muslims during the 2002 Gujarat riots

Babubhai Patel, known by his alias Babu Bajrangi, was the leader of the Gujarat-wing of Bajrang Dal, a Hindu right wing organization in India. He was a central figure during the 2002 Gujarat violence. He was sentenced to life term imprisonment by a special court for his role in masterminding the Naroda Patiya massacre in which 97 Muslims were murdered including 36 women, 26 men and 35 children. The Supreme Court of India granted him bail on medical grounds in March 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ehsan Jafri</span> Indian politician

Ehsan Jafri was an Indian politician and former member of the 6th Lok Sabha for the Congress Party, who was killed in the Gulbarg Society massacre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gulbarg Society massacre</span> Massacre of a Muslim neighbourhood in Ahmedabad during the 2002 Gujarat Riots

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.

Maya Surendrakumar Kodnani is a former Minister of State for Women and Child Development in the Government of Gujarat. Kodnani joined the 12th legislative assembly of Gujarat after being elected to represent the constituency of Naroda as a candidate for the Bharatiya Janata Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naroda Patiya massacre</span> Massacre during the 2002 Gujarat riots

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.

Gordhan Zadafia is an Indian politician from Gujarat, India. He was a leader in Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) for 15 years before joining Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

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. Mehta was the same judge who had granted bail to Babu Bajrangi, the main accused of the Naroda Patiya massacre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mukul Sinha</span> Indian human rights activist (1951 – 2014)

Mukul Sinha was an Indian human rights activist and a lawyer at the Gujarat High Court in Ahemdabad. He was an active trade union leader and a trained physicist. He legally represented the families of the individuals who were killed in Gujarat following the 2002 riots and in Manipur, in which he secured convictions of the politicians and police officers involved. Along with his wife Nirjhari Sinha, he founded and served as the president of Jan Sangharsh Manch, an independent civil rights organization with the aim of addressing issues of labour and workers rights. He was also a vocal critic of erstwhile Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Jaideep Patel is a medical doctor who runs a pathology lab in Naroda, Ahmedabad, Gujarat in India. He served as the Gujarat state general secretary for Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), a Hindu nationalist organisation, during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 Kandhamal violence</span> Anti-Christian violence in Orissa

The 2008 Kandhamal violence refers to widespread violence against Christians purportedly incited by Hindutva organisations in the Kandhamal district of Orissa, India, in August 2008 after the murder of the Hindu monk Lakshmanananda Saraswati. According to government reports the violence resulted in at least 39 Christians killed. Reports indicate that more than 395 churches were razed or burnt down, between 5,600–6,500 houses plundered or burnt down, over 600 villages ransacked and more than 60,000 – 75,000 people left homeless. Other reports put the death toll at nearly 100 and suggested more than 40 women were sexually assaulted. Unofficial reports placed the number of those killed to more than 500. Many Christian families were burnt alive. Thousands of Christians were forced to convert to Hinduism under threat of violence. Many Hindu families were also assaulted in some places because they supported the Indian National Congress (INC) party. This violence was led by the Bajrang Dal, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the VHP.

Jyotsna Yagnik is a retired Indian judge and academic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chief ministership of Narendra Modi</span> Government of Gujarat (2001–2014)

The chief ministership of Narendra Modi began 7 October 2001 with his oath as the chief minister of Gujarat at the Raj Bhavan, Gandhinagar. He became the 14th chief minister of Gujarat, succeeding Keshubhai Patel of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Gujarat 2002: The Truth In the Words of the Men Who Did It". Tehelka. 7 November 2007. Archived from the original on 11 May 2013. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  2. ↑ Majumder, Sanjoy (26 October 2007). "BJP dismisses Gujarat riot claims". BBC. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  3. ↑ Lakshmi, Rama (October 26, 2007). "Hindus Detail Involvement In Deadly '02 Riots in India". The Washington Post. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  4. ↑ "Top RSS, VHP men behind 2002 riots". The Hindustan Times. October 26, 2007. Archived from the original on October 12, 2012. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 "Don't mention the massacre". The Economist. Dec 6, 2007. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
  6. ↑ Jaffrelot, Christophe (2012). "Gujarat 2002: What Justice for the Victims?". Economic and Political Weekly. XLVII (8): 78. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Mahurkar, Uday (1 November 2007). "Gujarat: The noose tightens". India Today. Archived from the original on 2014-12-07. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  8. ↑ Rajesh, Y.P. (Oct 26, 2007). "Hindu activists accuse Modi for Gujarat riots". Reuters. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Sting traps footsoldiers of Gujarat riots allegedly boasting about killings with state support". The Indian Express. October 26, 2007. Archived from the original on April 17, 2008. Retrieved 2013-05-30.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Tehelka expose: Modi should go, says Cong". NDTV. October 26, 2007. Archived from the original on June 3, 2008. Retrieved 2013-05-30.
  11. ↑ Verghese, B G (2010). First Draft: Witness To The Making Of Modern India. Westland. p. 448.
  12. 1 2 Central Bureau of Investigation (2009). "CBI Authentication of Tehelka Tapes Pursuant to the NHRC Order dated March 5, 2008" (PDF). Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  13. ↑ Sanjoy Majumder (26 October 2007). "BJP dismisses Gujarat riot claims". BBC. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  14. ↑ Manas Dasgupta (18 March 2010). "Foetus was intact in Naroda-Patiya victim: doctor". The Hindu. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  15. 1 2 3 Dudney, Arthur (October 31, 2007). "Media: The Gujarat Killings, and the Ethics of Tehelka". SAJA Forum. South Asian Journalists Association. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  16. 1 2 Roy, Arundhati (2009). Field Notes on Democracy . Chicago: Haymarket Books. pp.  158–159. ISBN   9781608460243.
  17. ↑ A Sting Without Venom Archived 2007-11-05 at the Wayback Machine Outlook India - November 12, 2007 issue
  18. ↑ Half-truths don't help Muslims - Kanchan Gupta [ dead link ]
  19. ↑ Gujarat has outgrown riot - Swapan Dasgupta Archived March 21, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  20. ↑ Tehelka sting a political conspiracy: Shiv Sena [usurped] The Hindu - October 27, 2007
  21. ↑ Who killed 254 Hindus in Gujarat? Sify - November 16, 2007
  22. ↑ Tehelka is Cong proxy: BJP Deccan Herald - October 27, 2007 Archived January 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  23. ↑ 'Is It For Another Riot?' Outlook India - November 12, 2007
  24. ↑ "Editors Guild condemns Gujarat action". The Hindu . October 30, 2007. Archived from the original on November 1, 2007. Retrieved 2013-05-30.
  25. ↑ "Modi sanctioned Gujarat violence: Tehelka probe". DNA. October 25, 2007. Retrieved 2013-05-30.
  26. ↑ "After Killing Them, I Felt Like Maharana Pratap". Tehelka magazine. September 1, 2007. Retrieved 2013-05-30.
  27. ↑ "BJP MLA among 32 guilty in Naroda Patiya massacre". Indian Express. August 30, 2012. Retrieved 2013-05-30.
  28. ↑ "Naroda Patiya riots: Former minister Maya Kodnani gets 28 years in jail". NDTV.com. Retrieved 2012-11-17.
  29. ↑ Express News Service (Dec 17, 2011). "Journalist who 'stung' Babu Bajrangi deposes". The Indian Express. Retrieved May 26, 2013.
  30. ↑ Ashish Khetan (Sep 8, 2012). "The Sting in the Story". Tehelka. Retrieved May 26, 2013.
  31. ↑ "Babu Bajrangi and Maya Kodnani convicted for Naroda Patiya massacre". Tehelka. August 29, 2012. Retrieved 2013-05-30.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.