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home > News/Analysis > News Archive
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News : Archive (July 16-31, 2002)
- We want food not poll, victims tell EC team
HT Correspondent, Ahmedabad, July 31, 2002
The nine-member team sent by the Election Commission on Wednesday morning began their fact-finding mission in Gujarat amid slogan shouting by camp inmates who demanded ‘food and shelter’ instead of elections.
- City dressed up, fear shows through
Express News Service, Ahmedabad, July 31, 2002
A nine-member team from the Chief Election Commission today visited some of the riot-affected areas in the city to assess whether the situation was conducive for elections.
But when the team got there, residents of Naroda Patiya surrounded them and pleaded for CRPF security and rehabilitation to be expedited. The team had a hard time explaining they had come for a different purpose.
- Anti-poll protests mark EC team's Gujarat visit
Times News Network, July 31, 2002
AHMEDABAD: The Election Commission of India team which is visiting the state to assess the situation for conducting elections, visited number of relief camps and riot affected areas amid anti-poll protests by members of the minority community.
- Bad blood
By Sudhanshu Ranade, The Hindu, July 31, 2002
There seems to be a general agreement about two things. That the Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, will win the elections if they are held in the near future. And that his doing so will represent a victory for him in particular and for Hindutva hardliners in general.
- EC team meets Gujarat electoral officer
PTI, July 31, 2002
AHMEDABAD: The nine-member Election Commission team, which is in Gujarat to assess the situation for holding early assembly elections in the state, on Wednesday met the state electoral officer.
- Off the topic, on with the killing
Dilip D'Souza, Rediff.com, July 30, 2002
Here's a theory I nurse along from time to time: one reason we suffer a steady stream of episodes in which Indians murder other Indians -- Gujarat, 2002; Mumbai, 1992-93; Delhi, 1984; Bhiwandi, 1969, to pick just four -- is that we are so ready, so quickly, to look upon them as "old and outdated subjects." We don't care to punish the men who instigate and cheer on these bouts of bloodletting; far from it, we instead call them patriots and confer on them such titles as the Emperor of the Hindu Heart. Or hail them as the next Vallabhbhai Patel, may the Iron Man of our freedom struggle be spared turning over in his grave.
- One more camp likely to close
Express News Service, Ahmedabad, July 30, 2002
REFUGEES at relief camps in the city are slowly but steadily returning to their homes. The Dariyakhan Ghummat Relief Camp, with almost 2,500 beneficiaries, was shut down last week while one more camp is expected to close on Thursday. Currently, there are only eight relief camps across the city with 10,500. ‘‘Last month, more than 15,000 people were living in camps but today, only 10,500 are left,’’ said one of the officials at the collectorate.
- People's groups oppose early Gujarat polls
By Pradeep Mallik, Indo-Asian News Service, July 30, 2002
Ahmedabad, July 30 (IANS) People's groups, rights workers, academics and artists have opposed Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's call for early polls in the state as thousands are yet to recover from the trauma of sectarian violence.
- Monster’s ball
Amulya Ganguli, The Hindustan Times, July 30, 2002
Has Narendra Modi found a sure-fire way of winning elections? At least the Gujarat chief minister and his mentors at the Centre seem to think so. Otherwise, the party would not have preferred early polls in the state.
- Modi’s claim faces EC test on the ground
Express News Service, July 29, 2002
Ahmedabad, July 29: THE Election Commission has deputed a nine-member team to the riot-hit areas of Gujarat to assess whether the law and order situation is conducive and the state machinery prepared for early elections.
- Hindu Divisions Rise to Surface
By Arun Venugopal, Special Correspondent, NewsDay, July 29, 2002
Tensions among Hindus have broken into the open in Queens, coming to a head at a protest outside a prominent Flushing temple where about 50 protesters decried the appearance of a right-wing Indian activist.
Sadhvi Ritambara of New Delhi - well-known in India for calling for the notorious 1992 destruction of a Muslim mosque in Ayodhya, in the state of Uttar Pradesh - arrived in New York Thursday, her first stop on a five-week tour of the United States and Great Britain.
- Sporadic outbursts of hate keep Gujarat smouldering
By Indo-Asian News Service, July 29, 2002
Ahmedabad, July 29 (IANS) The government might claim normalcy has returned to Gujarat, but sporadic communal violence continues to rock the state still struggling to shake off the bitterness from three months of sectarian bloodletting.
- Times of India gets awards for Gujarat coverage
Times News Network, July 30, 2002
NEW DELHI: The Times of India received recognition on Monday for its coverage of the recent communal violence in Gujarat, with the resident editor of its Ahmedabad edition, Kingshuk Nag, and the edition’s assistant editor (news), Bharat Desai, winning the Prem Bhatia Award for Excellence in Political Reporting and Analysis for 2001-2.
- Gujaratis queue up for gun licences
Times News Network, July 29, 2002
AHMEDABAD/VADODARA: Former MP Ehsan Jafri had a licenced gun. But that couldn’t save his life when a 5000 strong mob attacked Gulbarg Society in Ahmedabad on February 28. If anything, his alleged gunshots at the mob only infuriated those who were baying for blood, according to the police chargesheet.
- Don’t let Modi put violence to vote
Tavleen Singh, The Indian Express, July 28, 2002
How disappointing that nobody during last week’s Parliamentary debate on Gujarat raised the one question that is more important than any other when it comes to Gujarat: Should Narendra Modi be allowed to ask people to vote on his pogroms?
- Camp closed but they are still camping here
Rohit Bhan, The Indian Express, July 27, 2002
Kalol (Panchmahals), July 26: RELIEF coordinator Mukhtar Mohammad has no answer for Ruksanabi when she asks him for medicine for her ailing two-year-old son. Nor, he says, does he have enough stock of medicines for the other 700-odd Muslim refugees staying in Kalol.
- These are no revolutionaries
The Hindu, July 28th, 2002
Behind the doubt that Islamic fundamentalists, Hindutva supporters and national socialists try to express in different ways lies the reality of a world in flux ... a world in which all that is solid melts into air, says TABISH KHAIR.
- Religious Riots Loom Over Indian Politics (Requires free registration to read online)
Celia W. Dugger, The Ney York Times, July 27, 2002
AHMEDABAD, India — Here in the adopted hometown of Mohandas K. Gandhi, the great apostle of nonviolence, Hindu mobs committed acts of unspeakable savagery against Muslims this spring.
- Jamiat dares Govt over madrassa links
Prabin Kalita, The Hindustan Times
Guwahati, July 24, 2002 - The Assam unit of the Jamiat Ulema has asked the Union Government to come out with specific information on madrassas that have been charged with fanning Muslim militancy in the state.
- Modi-fying democracy How ‘normal’ is Gujarat anyway?
Pamela Philipose, The Indian Express, July 25, 2002
Narendra Modi's juggernaut moves on. He now wants to ‘‘go back to the people’’ to gain their approval for his distinct brand of politics. His supporters in Delhi, as they prepare the legal and political ground for early elections in Gujarat, appear to be the very paragons of democratic practice.
- Hell is empty
Mukul Mangalik, The Hindustan Times, July 25, 2002
More and more people, young and old, of different skin colours and cuts of face, believers and non-believers, speaking as many different languages as this country has to offer, need to get on to trains heading for Gujarat.
We should go alone or in groups, whenever we can, for as little or great a while as possible, again and again, over at least the next one year.
- Amnesty and Indian diplomats trade blows
Rashmee Z Ahmed, Times News Network, July 24, 2002
LONDON: Just days after the London-based human rights group Amnesty International went public with criticism of the Indian government for failing to grant visas for its researchers to visit Gujarat, Amnesty has accused India of trying to "cover up state terrorism" and covering its tracks by "making up stories".
- Hint of delayed Gujarat polls? EC calls for intensive revision of rolls
Kota Neelima, The Indian Express, July 24, 2002
New Delhi, July 24: The Election Commission today told the chief electoral officers of all the states heading for elections, including Gujarat, to undertake an ‘‘intensive’’ door-to-door revision of electoral rolls.
- All eyes on the EC
President’s rule is the best option till Gujarat poll
Editorial, The Indian Express, July 24, 2002
The important question then is, should the nation allow a man who stands discredited for his government’s complicity in the worst riot in India’s history to get away with this audacious strategy? The answer is no. Not only will this affect the credibility of the election process it could ratchet up the levels of tension in the state.
- State in poll mode but nothing’s changed here
Shefali Nautiyal, The Indian Express, July 23, 2002
Ahmedabad, July 22: CARETAKER Chief Minister Narendra Modi and his party may have gotten into election mode, trying to put forth the image that all’s right as rain in the State but a visit to Gulbarg Society, the site of one of the worst carnages, belies this. Forget right as rain, this is a picture of abject ruin.
- Sahmat Swats Modi Claim
From Special Correspondent, The Telegraph, July 24, 2002
Sahmat will give the Election Commission a detailed report based on interviews with people in relief camps.
Releasing the report at a news conference this afternoon, Sahmat activists said: “The situation in Ahmedabad may look normal, but all you have to do is enter the villages and they look as devastated as before.”
- India rejects Amnesty's criticism
PTI, July 23, 2002
LONDON: Brushing aside Amnesty International's criticism for not allowing it to visit Gujarat, India on Tuesday said events in the state were already under independent scrutiny of its own organisations like the National Human Rights Commission and other national commissions and NGOs.
- Amnesty to come out with riot report
Robin David, Times News Network, July 23, 2002
AHMEDABAD: The Amnesty International has said that their team of researchers not being allowed to come to Gujarat will not hamper their efforts in keeping the communal violence in the state on the international agenda.
- HC admits petition against Justice's appointment
Times News Network, July 23, 2002
AHMEDABAD: Gujarat High Court has admitted a petition challenging appointment of Justice GT Nanavati as chairman of the commission of inquiry into the riots, but refused to grant a stay against the same.
- Media should play peacemaker: Justice Reddy
Express News Service, July 23, 2002
Ahmedabad, July 22: WITH media’s role questioned extensively during the communal riots worldwide, many among the audience at the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce (GCCI) expected an informative lecture by chairman of the Press Council of India (PCI) Justice K Jyachandra Reddy on Monday. He spoke on the ‘Role of media in preserving National solidarity.’
- Amnesty International Denied Access to Gujarat for Investigations
Press Release, Amnesty International, July 22, 2002
Amnesty International expressed its deep regret at the de facto refusal of the Indian government to allow its delegates access to the state of Gujarat. The delegation planned to carry out investigations into recent massacres and other human rights violations, and monitor the progress made in bringing perpetrators to justice.
- Riot panel is inching ahead: five sittings in four months
Nanavati Commission He says he will take a year
Stavan Desai, The Indian Express, July 22, 2002
Ahmedabad, July 21 Lost in the din over the dates for elections in Gujarat is the fact that the commission to inquire into the Godhra carnage and the riots that followed is over four months old but has
worked for just five days. And Justice G T Nanavati, who heads the
commission, says it will take another year.
- 12,229 riot victims still living in relief camps
Times News Network, July 22, 2002
AHMEDABAD: "There is a face behind every file", said SMF Bukhari, special officer for relief, appointed by the state government, at the weekly meet of Nagrik Sangathan here, on Monday.
Speaking on the occasion, he said, "The state machinery could achieve
relative success in rehabilitation with the unprecedented support from
the NGOs." Giving an account of the rehabilitation work, he said, of the
1,33,000 refugees who had taken shelter in the 110 camps across the
state, 12,229 are still living in the camps.
- EC yet to decide on Gujarat polls
PTI, July 22, 2002
NEW DELHI: The Election Commission appears to be in no hurry to decide on the dates for Assembly elections in Gujarat where the House was dissolved on Friday.
- Roshan Baig decries VHP propaganda against Muslims
By Staff Correspondent, The Hindu, July 22, 2002
BELLARY JULY 21. Roshan Baig, Minister for Small-Scale Industries and Haj, today decried the "propaganda by the VHP and the RSS that Muslims are terrorists".
- The Gujarat gamble
Modi’s unholy hurry to hold the assembly election is disturbing
Editorial, The Indian Express, July 22, 2002
How far the ground situation justifies Modi’s enthusiasm for an election is a matter of conjecture. Obviously, he presupposes that a majority of Gujarat’s voters approves of his total failure to prevent Godhra and the organised violence against the minorities that followed.
- Profiting on carnage
AG Noorani, Hindustan Times (New Delhi), July 22, 2002
Narendra Modi has, with the full backing of his mentors in Delhi, carried out his cherished desire to profit by the pogrom by deciding to hold early elections.
The Chief Election Commissioner, J.M. Lyngdoh, rightly asserts that "the people who talk of early elections (in Gujarat) have no authority". It belongs entirely to the Election Commission.
- Deflections To The Right
A few fund-raising organisations come under the scanner for diverting overseas charity money into RSS propaganda activity
A.K. Sen, Outlookindia.com, July 22, 2002
Kanwal Rekhi has been facing the ire of right-wing Hindus across America. This is because in a recent article in The Wall Street Journal , Rekhi, global chairman of The IndUS Entrepreneurs, an organisation of South Asian businesspeople, claimed that money collected by Indian Hindus in America and sent to religious groups in India was being channelled to target minorities.
- A Sinister gameplan
Editorial, The Hindu, July 22, 2002
The Presidential election over, Mr. Modi and his party central leadership lost no time in making the first moves to operationalise their gameplan of exploiting for narrow political gains the sharp and animus-driven communal divide (engineered by the likes of the VHP and the Bajrang Dal post-Godhra) before it lost its `cutting edge'.
- Bail to Visnagar carnage accused challenged
Times News Network, July 22, 2002
AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat High Court has issued show-cause notices to the state government and the police inspector of Visnagar police station, following a petition challenging bails to 43 accused for the death of 32 persons on February 28, 2002, in the Dipda Darwaja (Visnagar) carnage.
- VHP flexes muscles as British MPs plan visit
Rashmee Z Ahmed, Times News Network, July 21, 2002
LONDON: In an indication of their intense and continuing interest in the aftermath of the Gujarat violence, eight MPs of Britain's governing Labour Party have said they will visit the state to get "a clearer picture of the situation on the ground", even as a ding-dong battle has begun between Muslim organisations and the VHP for Labour's heart and soul.
MPs, who include some from Muslim constituencies, such as Terry Rooney of Bradford and Fabian Hamilton of Leeds, have dismissed the Indian government's oft-stated concern that British politicians are making domestic capital out of foreign issues, with one eye on the Muslim votebank.
- List of Godhra victims still a secret
Rajesh Ramachandran, Times News Network, July 21, 2002
NEW DELHI: Five months after the S-6 compartment of Sabarmati Express was set afire at Godhra, the Railways is yet to make public the list of reserved passengers travelling in the ill-fated coach in which 58 persons died and scores were injured.
- Police divided over using truth serum on rioters
Sourav Mukherjee & Raja Bose, Times News Network, July 21, 2002
AHMEDABAD/VADODARA: The Ahmedabad police would like to emulate the investigators of Godhra massacre in use of modern methods to get the truth out of those accused for heinous offences during the riots. The question is whether they will be allowed to do so.
- Gujarat a blot on Hinduism: Puri Acharya
From L K Sharma, Deccan Herald News Service, Washington, July 19, 2002
The growing conflict between Hinduism and "Hindutva" in India was dramatically illustrated here when the Shankaracharya of Puri appeared in his religious robes on a secular platform denouncing the misuse of religion for political purposes and calling the Gujarat tragedy a blot on Hinduism.
- ‘We are still homeless and they’re playing power games’
Palak Nandi, The Indian Express, July 20, 2002
Ahmedabad, July 19: IT was expected but still took them by surprise. Even as Chief Minister Narendra Modi called an emergency Cabinet meeting, and handed over his resignation and the cabinet’s resolution calling for dissolution of the House to Governor S S Bhandari, the mood at the many relief camps was sombre. ‘‘We are still homeless but they’re doing nothing but playing power games,’’ say inmates of relief camps.
- EC to meet today on Gujarat elections
Times News Network, July 20, 2002
NEW DELHI: With the Modi government dissolving the Gujarat assembly in order to precipitate early elections, the spotlight is now on the Election Commission of India. Though the BJP is keen for an October poll, the Constitution grants sole authority to schedule elections to the Election Commission (EC).
- BJP decides to cash carnage cheque
Darshan Desai, The Indian Express, July 19, 2002
Gandhinagar, July 19: The decision might have come today but Chief Minister Narendra Modi has been preparing for polls ever since he returned from Goa, triumphant that he had withstood pressure to quit. Not only has he travelled across the state harping on ‘‘Gujarati pride,’’ he also opened the floodgates of the State Treasury for a string of populist schemes.
- Forensic report puts Centre in spot
Express News Service, Juy 19, 2002
New Delhi, July 18: The Gujarat government and Centre came under attack in the Lok Sabha for blaming the Godhra train incident on the minority community. Demanding an explanation from the Centre, Opposition MPs said that Ahmedabad forensic laboratory report had established that the fire in the train compartment had been fuelled by combustible material kept inside. This debunked the theory that the train had been set on fire from outside.
- Suicides among riot-hit on the rise
Times News Network, July 19,2002
AHMEDABAD: The situation in the state might have returned to normal, but the death toll is still ticking.
In the past 45 days, 18 suicide cases have been reported in the city and a majority of these cases are directly related to loss of business in a riot-torn city.
- U.K. groups to highlight crimes against Gujarat women
By Hasan Suroor, The Hindu, July 18, 2002
LONDON JULY 17. A number of South Asian women's groups in Britain have launched a joint campaign to highlight the atrocities committed against women during the recent violence in Gujarat, and press for action against those responsible for it.
- Why no Muslim is cheering on Kalam
Kalam appears to have avoided associating himself with any Muslim cause
Syed Shahabuddin, The Indian Express, July 18, 2002
Muslim Indians have taken note of the jubilation in the sangh parivar at the projection of Kalam as a Ram Bhakta. That explains the eloquent silence among Muslims: there’s no euphoria nor even cheers. No reputed Muslim organisation, no institution of eminence, no community leader of significance has welcomed his nomination.
- Modi opting for early elections?
By Manas Dasgupta, The Hindu, July 18, 2002
GANDHINAGAR JULY 17 . The Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, has convened a special meeting of the Cabinet at his official residence at 8 p.m. tomorrow, presumably to discuss the dissolution of the Legislative Assembly to pave the way for early elections.
- Bajrang Dal to launch awareness campaign against Jihad
Deccan Herald News Service
CHIKMAGALUR, July 16 -- Bajrang Dal will launch a month-long awareness campaign against terrorism being carried out in the name of Jihad throughout the country.
Addressing a press conference here, Bajrangdal State Unit Joint Convener Sunil Kumar said terrorism was not only limited to Kashmir, but it had spread throughout the country. To make the public aware of terrorist activities Bajrang Dal would organise public meets and distribute pamphlets, he added.
- ‘Tribals didn’t even know what to do with loot after Godhra’
Jayshree Bajoria, The Indian Express
Mumbai, July 15: Activists across India met at a convention in the city over the weekend, where they discussed more than just peace, secularism and democracy. They talked of how to prevent a Godhra-like situation in Maharashtra. They also stressed on how many of those involved in the violence were used by fundamentalist elements. Above all, they said, there is hope for reforming misguided sections. Our correspondent recounts the experiences of 4 participants.
- BJP to dissolve Gujarat House, force early polls
Shekhar Iyer, The Hindustan Times, New Delhi, July 17, 2002
The BJP wants to hold assembly elections in Gujarat in October, even though the tenure of the present House expires in February next year. The Narendra Modi ministry is expected to dissolve the House shortly, according to sources in the BJP and the government.
- Violence has ebbed, not their woes
Times News Network, July 17, 2002
VADODARA: The memories of the riots that shook the state are fading with the terror that stalked the streets receding. Even supercop K P S Gill left the state after being "convinced that law and order is back on track".
But for the handful of riot victims still languishing in hospitals, the nightmare is yet to get over.
- LPG blasts baffle Gujarat riot investigators
Times News Network, July 17, 2002
AHMEDABAD: Whether the recent riots in Gujarat were pre-planned or spontaneous is a debate which will go on for a long time, but investigators probing the riot-related cases are struck by the widespread use of cooking gas cylinders in blowing up places of worship, factories, houses and other business establishments throughout the state.
- HC issues notices in rights violation plea
Times News Network, July 16, 2002
AHMEDABAD: Five members of a family from Aslali belonging to the minority community have accused the Aslali police of communal bias, torturing and undressing them in front of women family members and keeping them illegally in a lock-up for five days, despite not being involved in any crime.
More - Archive One (July 1 - July 15, 2002)
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