The detailed report of a Special Investigations Team into
allegations that Gujarat Chief Minister ordered his police officers to allow
Hindu mobs to kill Muslims in 2002 has controversially claimed that even if
Modi gave such an order, it would not constitute an offense.
Here is the excerpt: "The interpretation made on alleged illegal
instructions given by the Chief Minister by [former DGP R. B.] Sreekumar and
[suspended police officer] Sanjiv Bhatt appear to be without basis. Further,
even if such allegations are believed for the sake of argument, mere statement
of alleged words in the four walls of a room does not constitute an
offense."
The detailed report was made available Monday to Zakia Jafri, the widow of
former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri who was burned to death with nearly three dozen
other Muslims on February 28, 2002 in his house by a Hindu mob.
The Supreme Court had appointed the SIT in 2008 on a plea by Ms. Jafri who had
contended that the Gujarat government was
deliberately sabotaging the investigations and prosecution into the killing of
her husband and others.
The SIT, led by former Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director, R. K.
Raghavan , has faced criticism for its "clean chit" given to Modi,
especially by Sreekumar and Bhatt.
In an affidavit submitted before the SIT, Bhatt had claimed that he was present
at a meeting that Modi had called at his official residence on February 27,
2002, and instructed his police officers to not intervene to stop the actions
of Hindu mobs the next day.
The meeting had been called in connection with a call by the Vishwa Hindu
Parishad (VHP), an affiliate of Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), to protest
the burning of Sabarmati Express train at Godhra railway station a day earlier,
on February 27. At least 58 people, including many VHP activists, were burned
to death in that fire.
The VHP-BJP blamed the Muslims in a locality of Godhra adjacent to the railway
station. The violence that began after Modi's meeting with the state's top
police officers saw more than 2,000 Muslims killed in hate violence in many
parts of Gujarat.
The SIT said it found no evidence to support Bhatt's claim that he was present
at the meeting.
In a separate affidavit filed before the SIT, Sreekumar had claimed that the
then Director General of Police K. Chakravarty had told him a day after the meeting
at Modi's residence that the chief minister had told them specifically not to
interfere in the work of the Hindu mobs.