Fact: Even though the situation was terrible, the police performed its work extremely efficiently. The police force was woefully insufficient, despite the deployment of the entire police force. India Today (18 March 2002) reported:
“Ahmedabad has a police force of 6,000, including 1,500 armed personnel. In addition, the entire state has just four companies (530 jawans) of the Rapid Action Force (RAF) of which only one company could be spared for Ahmedabad. Considering that the mobs that simultaneously surfaced at nearly half a dozen places numbered from 2,000 to 10,000, the forces proved woefully inadequate. At one point on February 28 there were at least 25,000 people targeting the Muslim localities in Ahmedabad alone.”
Actually, more than 50,000 people and not 25,000 people, were targeting Muslim localities in Ahmedabad alone at one point of time on 28 February. The mob at Ehsan Jafri’s house in Chamanpura was 20,000+ [Zakia Jafri, widow of Ehsan Jafri herself said as reported by India Today dated 18 March 2002 ‘I have never seen such a huge mob, they burnt alive my husband’], the mob at Naroda Patiya was 17,000 strong [as per the statement of the then Police Inspector of Naroda K K Mysorewala to the Nanavati Commission on 19 August 2004, reported by The Hindu the next day, weekly India Today too said in its issue of 18 March 2002 that ‘there were at least 3 mobs of 4 to 5 thousand each in Naroda Patiya’ and the SIT in its final closure report too said on page 491 that the mob attacking Muslims in Naroda Patiya was between 15,000 to 17,000], the mob at Naroda Gram numbered between 5 to 7 thousand [as per the final SIT report, page 491]. The strength of the mobs at these 3 places itself gives a total of around 42,000 people at least and there were mobs at various other places in Ahmedabad too.
Even in its infamous article misquoting Narendra Modi as having said “Every action has equal and opposite reaction” (Which Narendra Modi never did), The Times of India reported, “…(on 28 February) the mobs had swelled to enormous proportions. The sparse police presence looked like a drop in the ocean of violence.” This despite the deployment of the entire police force. The Hindu also reported the next day that on 28 February “Mob fury reached its crescendo” and “The situation seemed to slip out of hand” and “Police were outnumbered by the rioters“. Same was the report of The Telegraph, The Tribune.
Let us compare the violence in Ahmedabad on 3 successive days- namely 28 February (Thursday), 1 March (Friday) and 2 March 2002 (Saturday). On February 28, the situation was out of control and the police were massively outnumbered, as we have seen. As per the SIT’s final closure report [page 210], there were 182 deaths in Ahmedabad city on 28 February 2002- 151 Muslims and 31 Hindus. This does not seem to include missing people. If so, then total of 225 people would be killed in Ahmedabad on that day, since 30 Muslims were missing in Gulberg Society [Ehsan Jafri case] and 11 in Naroda Patiya and 2 in Naroda Gram, that would be 194 Muslims and 31 Hindus.
The Hindu reported on 23 April 2002 that: “After the Gujarat bandh day on February 28, the first day of the post-Godhra violence, the Ramnavami day on Sunday [21 April 2002] accounted for the highest number of deaths in the city in a single day: nine persons succumbed to injuries in hospital late in the night, in addition to the nine killed earlier in the day. The casualty figure may go up as the condition of at least 18 injured was still critical (at least 3 more died immediately within 1 day, as the report of rediff.com said ’21 lives lost on this day’)”.
This shows that the number of people killed in violence on the 2nd day, i.e. 1 March 2002 (Friday) was lesser than 18 [though more may have been killed in police firing], since The Hindu said that after 28 February, the highest single day deaths in Ahmedabad were on 21 April 2002 (Sunday) Ramnavami Day and the deaths on that day were only 18 till that time.
See the contrast in the extent of violence on 1 March and 28 February 2002. On 28 February the situation was out of control, the police were heavily outnumbered and overwhelmed, the Ahmedabad Fire Brigade which had the capacity to handle 100 calls received 400 calls, newspapers like The Hindu, The Telegraph, The Tribune, Times of India all said that the situation slipped out of hand. The deaths were at least 182 (and maybe 225) in Ahmedabad city. But the next day on March 1, the intensity of the violence was much lesser than 28 February and the number of deaths was less than 18 (in violence at least, more deaths could have been in police firing), as is known from the report of The Hindu. And even the Army and the shoot-at-sight orders could not prevent the violence of March 1, whose intensity by now we have conclusively seen to be much much lower than that on 28 February.
And on 2 March, the violence was even lesser, with the city almost becoming normal again. Ahmedabad was almost completely peaceful on 2 March (Saturday) with the major violence occurring in other parts of Gujarat. The Tribune reported on 3 March 2002 that: “(On 2 March) Ahmedabad, the worst hit by the communal flare-up in the wake of Godhra train killings, was virtually back to normal…” Reports of The Hindu and The Telegraph of 3 March 2002 also prove that. The Hindu reported that ‘(On 2 March) The situation, however, improved in Ahmedabad with no major incidents of arson reported’ and The Telegraph reported that ‘Riot spins out of Ahmedabad’.
The Times of India reported on 2nd March 2002 on events on 1st March (Friday)- “Neither the Army nor the shoot-at-sight orders given to Gujarat Police could control the mob frenzy in Ahmedabad as the city witnessed a total collapse of the law and order machinery for the second straight day taking a heavy toll of human lives…”
And this was on 1st March 2002 when the violence was much less than 28 Feb (Thursday). If even the Army and shoot-at-sight orders couldn’t stop the violence when it was much less, then what must have been the situation on 28 February when the Army was not present in the day and the violence was much more?
Despite this, the police fired more than 1000 rounds (exact official number given now is 1496) in the state, including 600+ in Ahmedabad alone, and burst 4297 tear gas shells on 28 February. More than 180 people were saved at Ehsan Jafri’s place and more than 900 out of the 1,000 in Naroda Patiya were saved. Total 5450 rounds were fired in the first three days alone and 6500 rounds of tear gas shells were burst. (Despite the presence of the Army for 2 out of 3 days ). As many as 98 people were shot dead by the police in the first three days, majority of whom are Hindus.
For the complete period of rioting, despite the presence of the Army for 73 out of 74 days, the police fired as many 15,369 tear gas shells and a total of 10,559 rounds. Out of the total people killed in the riots, about 20 % have been shot dead by the police. According to official records, 199 people were killed in police firing of whom 101 were killed in the first week.
Infact- the encyclopaedia wikipedia reports-based on sound sources-that as many as 200 policemen laid their lives trying to quell the violence during the riots. We feel this number is not possible.
Official records show that 83 officers, 419 men and 50 Home Guard were injured- total 552 injured. How many gave their lives is not told.
Out of the 25,486 accused, the Gujarat police arrested as many as 25,204 people. As of 28 April 2002, as per The Times of India there were 35,552 arrested including 27,901 Hindus. Finally there were 4274 cases registered, i.e. FIRs and the number of people arrested was 19,200 Hindus and 7,799 Muslims to get a total of 26,999 i.e. almost 27,000 arrests. This is slightly different from October 2005 when 25,204 were arrested. This clearly shows the efficiency of the Gujarat police. On March 1st and 2nd and afterwards, Muslims too rioted and they too were killed in police firing.
The Gujarat police saved as many as 2,500 Muslims in Sanjeli, a town in North Gujarat, 5,000 Muslims in Bodeli, in Vadodara and about 10,000 Muslims in Viramgam. A total of at least 24,000 Muslims were saved. Infact, some sources say that 24,000 were saved in the first three days alone and the total number is even higher. Police officials themselves suffered injuries in trying to save the Muslims, as reported by the weekly India Today.
There are many other instances as well of people being saved- as per official records. Some of them are:
a) 5,000 people from the Noorani Mosque area were saved by Ahmedabad Police
b) 240 people were saved at Sardarpura of Mehsana district and shifted to safer places
c) 450 were saved in Pore and Nardipur villages of Gandhinagar district, and shifted to safer places
d) 400 were saved in a Madrasa at Bhavnagar
e) 1,500 people were saved from Fatehpura village of Vadodara district
f) 3,000 people were saved and shifted from Kwant village of Vadodara district
Hindus were also saved from violent Muslim mobs in places like Modasa, Bharuch, Jamalpur area of Ahmedabad etc.
On February 28, the police shot dead 10 Hindus in Ahmedabad alone. The leading most English daily from South India, and an extremely anti-Hindu newspaper, ‘The Hindu’ reported this on 1st March 2002. By 1st March, the police had shot dead ‘at least 17 people’ in Ahmedabad alone-as reported by The Hindu dated 2nd March 2002.
On 2nd March 2002-police firing resulted in 47 deaths-as reported by The Hindu the next day-i.e. 3rd March 2002.
See link: https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/86-killed-in-fresh-incidents-in-gujarat/article27834261.ece
The Indian Express dated 3rd March reported that 77 people were killed in Police/Army firing by 2nd March 2002.
The steps taken to control the violence were-
1-The Indian Express dated 28th February 2002 reported that the State Government had deployed the Rapid Action Force in Ahmedabad and other sensitive areas and the Centre sent in CRPF personnel on February 27 itself even before a single riot had taken place. This was also reported by Mid Day dated 28 February and also The Times of India.
See link: https://web.archive.org/web/20130816004650/http://www.mid-day.com/news/2002/feb/21232.htm
This is mentioned in 3rd catagory- 7th paragraph
2- The Hindu reported in its issue dated 28th February 2002 that “Shoot-at-sight” orders had been given in Godhra on February 27 itself. And so did ALL the English dailies that day. Also read the sentence ” the state government has appealed to the people to maintain peace.”
3-The Hindustan Times reported in its issue dated 28 February 2002 that the entire police force of 70,000 was deployed in Gujarat on 27 February itself after the shocking massacre in Godhra- in view of apprehensions that riots might break out. This was also reported by British daily The Telegraph the same day.
Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/1386341/Hindus-massacred-on-blazing-train.html
See second last paragraph of this report.
4-827 preventive arrests were made on the evening of February 27 itself on Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s orders on his return to Ahmedabad from Godhra. This was reported by weekly India Today dated 18 March 2002 which did not give the number (827 arrests) but mentioned preventive arrests. The SIT too admitted 827 preventive arrests.
5-On February 28, despite the deployment of the entire police force, the CRPF personnel and the Rapid Action Force, the situation slipped out of control, according to The Hindu dated 1st March 2002.
See link: https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/140-killed-as-gujarat-bandh-turns-violent/article27833900.ece
6-Despite the fact that the situation slipped out of control, the mob sizes were unprecedented and the police were overwhelmingly outnumbered, the police did its best. The police fired more than 1,000 rounds on the first day of the riots-i.e. February 28, exact number 1496 (including 600+ in Ahmedabad city) and burst 4297 tear gas shells throughout the state.
Link: Same as Number 5′s link- but this doesn’t mention 1000 + rounds which were fired that day- including 600 in Ahmedabad.
7-The Hindu reported in its issue dated 1st March 2002 that at least 10 persons were believed to have been killed in police firing in Ahmedabad alone by evening of February 28. (https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/140-killed-as-gujarat-bandh-turns-violent/article27833900.ece See paragraphs 2 and 9 from the top).
5 Hindus were shot dead outside Ehsan Jafri’s house on Feb 28, according to India Today weekly dated 18 March 2002 and also from The Times of India‘s online report on 28 February. The SIT final closure report says on page 1 that 4 Hindus were killed and 11 injured in police firing outside Jafri’s house on that day.
8-Curfew was clamped in Godhra on 27 February itself-as reported by The Hindu dated 28 February 2002. Also reported by all English dailies- such as Times of India, dated 28 Feb.
Link: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-2256789,prtpage-1.cms or
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20020228/main1.htm
9-An indefinite curfew was clamped in 26 cities and towns in the State, including parts of Ahmedabad, Surat, Baroda, Rajkot, Nadiad, Anand and Kaira on February 28 in addition to the indefinite curfew in force in Godhra since February 27-according to The Hindu dated 1st March 2002 and every English daily the next day and also weeklies, like India Today and Outlook which covered events till Feb 28 in their issues dated 11 March 2002.
10- The Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, frantically called the Army units to Ahmedabad on February 28-as reported by the The Hindu dated 1st March 2002.
See 8th paragraph from the top.
11-The Indian Express and The Hindu both reported that Army units started arriving in Ahmedabad on the night of February 28-in their issues the next day-i.e. 1st March 2002. This shows that the Army units reached Ahmedabad so quickly-that the newspapers had the time to report their arrival on February 28 itself itself and publish it on 1st March!
(Same link as number 5- 8th paragraph from the top)
12-The Army staged a flag march in Ahmedabad on 1st March 2002 at 11:30 AM-as reported by weekly India Today in its issue of 18 March 2002. The Hindu and The Indian Express and all major dailies also reported that the Army staged flag marches in Ahmedabad and also Vadodara on 1st March 2002.
13-The Army began flag marches in the worst-affected areas of Ahmedabad, Baroda, Rajkot and Godhra cities and the `shoot at sight’ order was extended to all 34 curfew-bound cities and towns in Gujarat on 1st March 2002-as per The Hindu dated 2nd March 2002.
14-The Gujarat police fired a total of 5450 rounds in the first three days alone. This-despite the presence of the Army for 2 out of the 3 days. The police also arrested more than 4,000 people in the first 3 days alone, majority of whom are Hindus. As on 6 May 2002 as many as 35,000 people had been arrested by the police- the highest ever in Gujarat, not even in 1969 and 1985 were so many arrested. On 28 April 2002 The Times of India reported that 9954 Hindus and 4035 Muslims were arrested by police as substantive arrests and 17947 Hindus and 3616 Muslims were arrested as a preventive measure. This gives a total of 27,901 Hindus and 7651 Muslims arrested as on 28 April 2002, a total of 35,552 arrests- the highest ever in Gujarat.
15-The Gujarat police shot dead 98 people in the first three days, majority of whom are Hindus.
16-The Hindu reported in its issue dated 4th March 2002 that only 2 deaths were reported on 3rd March in the entire state and the violence has ended on 3rd March 2002. Thus the Gujarat government managed to control the situation in 3 days even after the shocking massacre in Godhra- while it took previous Congress governments 6 months to stop the riots in 1985 and curfew was imposed in the 1969 riots for 65 days in row, even without any cause as Godhra.
In an interview given by Narendra Modi to Outlook magazine in its issue dated 18 March 2002–
“Were you playing the fiddle while Gujarat burned?
No. Contrary to what is now being projected, I brought sanity within 72 hours of the violent outbreak…”
Note Narendra Modi’s sentence “No. Contrary to what is now being projected, I brought sanity within 72 hours of the violent outbreak.” In other words, the projection against Modi started AFTER the riots. We have already seen the reports of the newspapers like The Hindu, The Telegraph to note that there were no allegations against Narendra Modi or the Gujarat Government at the time of the actual riots. They started much later. Doordarshan news said on 3rd March 2002 (Sunday) at night in the English bulletin: “Violence has ended in a record time in Ahmedabad…Only 3 days…In the past it would take many weeks… Today (Sunday) curfew was relaxed, people bought items from bazaar…”. No allegation against the state government but praise of controlling violence in just 3 days!
All accusations on Narendra Modi and demands for his resignation, dismissal started AFTER the riots. This was because, the media wanted some scapegoat to be made for the riots. It wanted Modi to sack a few police officers, drop a minister or two. But Modi did nothing of the sort. He did not blame anyone, did not make anyone a scapegoat.
Even the SIT appointed by the Supreme Court said that ‘All efforts were made to save Ehsan Jafri’. It is common sense that if even the Army and the shoot-at-sight orders given to the Gujarat police could not control the violence on 1 March, Friday, when it was much less, the situation on 28 February, Thursday, must have been far worse when the violence was much more and the Army was not present in the day. Since this argument could not be refuted, some biased people resorted to tricks and theatrics showing two police officers unable to reach Chamanpura from Revdi Bazaar, hiding completely the fact that reinforcements arrived, district police personnel rushed to the spot, and the Fire Brigade too.
They also hide the fact that the police killed 5 people outside his house, saved 180+ people out of 250 in Jafri’s housing complex, saved 900 out of 1,000 in Naroda Patiya. This Times of India report POSTED ONLINE at 2:34 PM of 28 February also says that police fired on the crowd injuring 6, who were taken to hospital where 3 were critical at that time, and ultimately 5 died. They also hide the fact that the Police fired 1000+ rounds on 28 Feb, including 600+ in Ahmedabad. 10 Hindus were shot dead and 16 injured on 28 Feb and 2 were killed in police firing in Nadiad and Godhra on 28 Feb. There were 4297 tear gas shells also fired on 28 Feb, and suppressing and concealing all these facts, some claim that “Police did total inaction”. If all these facts are not police action, we wonder what can be termed as police action.
Theatrics and lying to delude people are being practiced by people who have no answer to the site’s arguments on merit.
A must read article on the role of the Gujarat Government in controlling violence is:
Chapter 02: Role of the Government in controlling violence
Copyright © Gujaratriots.com
_____________________________________________________________________________________
You can follow us on twitter at https://twitter.com/Gujaratriotscom
After numerous requests from readers, we have opened a Facebook page as well, on 17 Feb 2014. You can ‘like’ our Facebook page here:
https://www.facebook.com/gujaratriots2002?hc_location=timeline