A section of the media has always tried to equate the Gujarat riots of 2002 A.D., and the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in the aftermath of the then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination on 31 October 1984. Again, well-meaning people have fallen prey to the myths.

   B.P. Singhal’s   article   in   weekly Organiser   dated 9 October 2005 and in The Pioneer dated 28 September 2005 on this issue is very useful. URL: https://web.archive.org/web/20051216222540/http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=99&page=14

   Let us here see the contrasts in detail:

Godhra and Indira Gandhi’s Murder

   In 1984, Indira Gandhi’s assassination was the cause of the riots. Indira Gandhi’s murder was terrorism. It was done by two people, with bullets. It was a big human tragedy. But it was not like Godhra, where the victims were locked and burnt alive, and not allowed to escape.

   The Sikh community could not be blamed for that murder done by two of Indira Gandhi’s bodyguards. They were not ordinary people, but terrorists. It was not a communal act, but a terrorist one.

   The culprits were immediately brought to book. Two Sikhs killed one Congressperson. It was also more an attack on an individual. It was not an attack on a community, or a political party, i.e., the Congress. The attackers just wanted to kill an individual. They were given punishment later.

    On the contrary, Godhra was not really terrorism, even many claim so. It was sadistic barbarism, unparalleled in the history of independent India. The pain that Indira Gandhi suffered was perhaps momentary. In Godhra, the train was set on fire and not a single passenger was allowed to escape out, the train being surrounded by Muslims from both sides. The passengers, including 15 children, were burnt to death in a ghastly manner. The pain was not momentary.

   The attackers in Godhra were not terrorists, who had AK-47 rifles, guns and grenades. They were ordinary local Muslims. Local 2,000 Sikhs did not kill Indira Gandhi.  Out of the 2,000 Godhra attackers, even if one had called the police and informed them about such a conspiracy and planned attack much before 7:48 a.m., when the attack took place, the killings could have been prevented. Not even one of them did so. The killers were also not brought to book. Only 35 people were arrested for the carnage on that day, i.e. 27 February. An excerpt from India Today (18 March 2002) is:

   “The problem, according to the former Director-General of Police, M.M.  Singh, one of the finest officers Gujarat has seen, began in Godhra on 27^th February. He says the police should have immediately cordoned off the area from which the attackers came and taken strong action instead of allowing the culprits to flee. This, he says, would have pacified Hindu feelings to some extent right at the very outset. ‘Where any act is bound to lead to communal violence, the police should always take strong steps against the group, which has committed the act. That invariably has a salutary effect.’… There’s another story doing the rounds about which few are keen to talk about. According to it, Modi was given an ultimatum on 27^th February itself by the VHP leadership to act against the perpetrators of the Godhra carnage by evening or else face the music. By evening that day, the police had detained two of the six main accused besides 50 others. That was found to be inadequate by the VHP because the number of attackers in Godhra was over 1,000.”

   The culprits going scot-free in Godhra (most of the 2,000 attackers) was the main reason for the explosion on 28^th February.

   In Godhra, the attack was on a community, the Hindu community, and not on an individual as was the case in 1984. As a result, the retaliation was done by the entire community and not by any single organization.

 After Indira Gandhi’s murder, no one rubbed salt into the people’s wounds by blaming her or the Congress Party for her murder. On the contrary, after Godhra, the media-politician combine in India rubbed salt in the people’s wounds by blaming the Godhra killings on the VHP and arguing that the dead men and women and children had it coming to them e.g. Congress leader the late Amarsinh Chaudhary. Many accused the dead karsewaks of acts like taunting and harassing Muslim passengers, etc. This angered the people even more and resulted in the initial explosion on 28^th February 2002. Nothing of this sort was done in 1984 after Indira Gandhi’s killing to provoke and anger the people.

Difference between the rioters

   In 1984, the riots were not a ‘mass uprising’. They were killings by supporters of a single political party with alleged involvement of party leaders and workers. It is alleged that leaders of the Congress like the late Rajiv Gandhi (1944-1991), P.V. Narasimha Rao (1921-2004), Kamal Nath, Sajjan Kumar, Jagdish Tytler were culpable in the 1984 riots, though many of them had no cases against them, and out of those who have, only Sajjan Kumar has been found guilty in December 2018. In 1984, it was a political party that was enraged by the killing of one individual. The nation was also sad and angry, but did not have feelings of revenge. In Gujarat in 2002, it was the entire society that was enraged by the Godhra killings. India Today reports (18 March, 2002):

   “Says political analyst, Arvind Bosmia: ‘It is beyond the means of the Sangh Parivar to lead such an upsurge. It was largely a spontaneous reaction to the Godhra killings.’”

   This shows that the 2002 Gujarat riots were impossible to have carried out by the Sangh Parivar alone. While in 1984, only the Congress supporters were involved in the riots. The RSS cadres protected the Sikhs in 1984. Former National Minorities Commission chairman, Tarlochan Singh is on record saying this. (“Sikhs can never forget how RSS activists protected them in 1984 and in the Partition riots in 1947”— Tarlochan Singh on 26 July, 2003). But in the 2002 Gujarat riots, Congressmen were also involved, not only in Godhra, but also during attacks on Hindus, and also Muslims. The Times of India reported on 9   August 2003 that 25 Congress leaders were also accused of being involved in killing of Muslims in the post-Godhra riots. (URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com//india/Cong-silent-on-cadres-linked-to-Guj-riots/articleshow/122796.cms)

Past history of riots

    There have been hundreds of Hindu-Muslim riots in India since A.D. 1714. There have been conflicts between Hindus and Muslims right since A.D. 636. Gujarat saw many major riots in the 20^th century. Wounds of the past haunted the people.

    In 1984, the conflicts with Sikhs and the attackers, were the first case of clashes between the two communities. Sikhs had not terrorized Congress leaders in the past, right since A.D. 636. After independence, Hindu-Sikh conflicts were not seen even once, not to talk of twice, under the rule of the BJP (or, for that matter, even the Congress) in New Delhi. While in Gujarat, worse riots took place at least twice under the Congress rule, as compared to the riots in 2002 under the BJP rule.

Action against rioters

   In 1984, no action was taken against the rioters. Not many arrests were made, despite the fact that officially close to 3,000 people were killed. According to ex-DGP B P Singhal, ‘Not even one person was shot dead by the police or the Army. The police was conspicuous by its absence for three full days. The Army, even though available locally, was not called for three full days. But these riots escaped the media glare, because in those days, TV was barely in its infancy’. (Source: Article by B.P. Singhal in the Organiser dated 9 October, 2005).

   In Gujarat, as of October 2005 as many as 25,204 out of the 25,486 accused were arrested by the Gujarat police. As of May 2012, 26,999 were arrested. 20,000 people were also arrested as a preventive measure- more than 17,000 of them Hindus till 28 April 2002. The Times of India also reported on 9 August 2003 that nearly 30,000 accused in the riots have been arrested. In Gujarat, the entire police force of 70,000 was deployed on 27 February itself, along with all available units of the Rapid Action Force. The Army was called immediately on 28 February. We have seen the details of quick administrative action.

   Already, we have at least 488 people (including 114 Muslims) convicted for Godhra & post- Godhra violence in Gujarat in 15-16 years. On the contrary, only 27 people in 7 cases were convicted till November 2014 for the 1984 riots, as per a RTI (Right to Information Act) answer given in Nov 2014. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/1984-anti-sikh-riots-accused-in-7-cases-out-of-255-convicted/articleshow/45012289.cms?from=mdr

    In Gujarat in 2002, as many as 98 people were shot dead by the police in the first three days, and 199 were killed in police firing in the entire period.

    In 1984, there was not even an insurgency in Kashmir. There was no war-like situation between any of the neighbours of India with whom India has had wars before, neither Pakistan (wars in 1947, 1965, 1971 & mini-war in 1999) nor China (war in 1962). The entire military strength was not deployed on the border. The police did not kill a single attacker in firing in Delhi 1984 according to B P Singhal. This writer later read reports that one person was killed in police firing in Delhi. India Today (then fortnightly) dated 30 November 1984 said that 11 were killed in police or Army firing in Madhya Pradesh state in the 1984 riots. The Nanavati Commission which submitted its report on the 1984 riots mentioned on page 2: “It (Ranganath Mishra Commission appointed to probe these riots) also found that there was delay on the part of Delhi Administration i.e. the Lt. Governor and the Commissioner of Police in calling the Army, though about 5,000 Army men were available by mid night of October 31 [1984, the day Indira Gandhi was assassinated].”

   Not even a single preventive arrest appears to have been made in 1984 in the first 2 days at least, as against 827 made on 27 February itself in Gujarat. Many more preventive arrests were made after the riots had begun (20,000). Narendra Modi gave shoot- at-sight orders in Godhra on 27^th February. There were also similar orders in many other towns in Gujarat. No shoot-at-sight orders were given in 1984 on 31^st October or even 1-2 days later.

   In 2002, the Gujarat police saved lives of as many as 24,000 Muslims and many Hindus too (e.g., in Modasa, Bharuch, etc). There are no such available records for the 1984 riots at least in Delhi, where it can be said that Sikhs were saved and rioters were killed, though it may have been done at other places.

Versions of the Riots

   During the time of the 1984 riots, the versions of the riots were similar and identical in all sections of the press throughout India. Whether it was the national English dailies, the local English dailies, the local Hindi dailies, or the regional language dailies all over the country, the reporting on the riots was the same. The reporting of the TV news, radio news, was also the same. There was no difference in the reports of any section of the media.

   On the contrary, in 2002, there was a contrast of day and night in the versions of the riots as projected by the national English media and the local Gujarati newspapers. This was because the Gujarati media reported Muslim aggression, while the English media always took the side of the Muslims, even if they indulged in cold-blooded murder, or were at the receiving end.

   There was also a huge difference in the versions of the riots as projected by the same national English media, during the actual time of the riots in March-April 2002, and the reports by the same media months after the actual riots. These same dailies/weeklies ignored their own reports during the time of the riots ever after, and started reporting completely wrong.

 The TV channels also played a lot of mischief on the issue of the Gujarat riots. NDTV owners are related to the leaders of CPI (M) – the Communist Party of India (Marxist). NDTV boss, Radhika Roy, wife of NDTV Chairman, Prannoy Roy, and ex-CPI (M) MP and Politburo member, Brinda Karat, wife of ex-CPI (M) General Secretary, Prakash Karat, are blood sisters. Not just that, both Prannoy and Radhika Roy are staunch Communists. The CPI (M) party beliefs and ideology are staunchly anti-BJP. The CPI (M) states publicly that its biggest political opponent is the BJP. B.P. Singhal wrote in Organiser dated 9 October 2005:

   “On the other hand, a lot of mischief was played by the electronic media, which went on repeating some of the gory incidents of riots day after day. One channel repeated a particularly gory scene as many as 21 times. An image was, thus, created by the collaborating media that the massacre of Muslims was continuing unabated in Gujarat, day after day.”

People killed in the riots

   In 1984, as many as 3,000 people were killed officially in just a week for the deeds of two people. In actual, the number could be higher. According to the Ranganath Mishra Commission, 3,874 Sikhs were killed, out of which 2,307 Sikhs were killed in Delhi alone. The Ranganath Mishra Commission reported: “In the mobs attacking Sikhs, were people with sympathy for the Congress (I) and associated with the party’s activities.”

   On the other hand, in Gujarat in 2002, 790 Muslims (a number given by the UPA Government) were killed for the deeds of 2,000 Muslims in Godhra, in addition to as many as 254 killed after Godhra, plus the 59 Hindus killed in Godhra. A net result of deaths in Gujarat in 2002 would be 790 Muslims and 313 Hindus.  While in 1984, it was at least 3,000 Sikhs and one Congressperson. The sinner-victim ratio (of co-religionists) in 1984 was 2: 3000, while in 2002 in Gujarat, it was 2000: 790 and, in addition, at least 254 Hindus were killed.

  Congress members (or for that matter, other attackers) were killed in negligible numbers in 1984, while 254 Hindus were killed in Gujarat in 2002, after Godhra. It is on record that Muslims had started 157 riots in Gujarat after 3^rd March, 2002. Muslims attacked Hindus in Himmatnagar near Ahmedabad and killed a young Hindu after gouging out his eyes. In 1984, on the contrary, the Sikhs did not start any riots. No Congressman was killed after gouging out of eyes. The Sikhs did not attack any Congressman. Sikhs were poor victims in 1984, unlike the Muslims in 2002 in Gujarat, who were also on the offensive.

Riots’ Geographical Areas

   In 1984, the riots occurred not just in New Delhi, but also in many other places. Sikhs were attacked in as far off places as West Bengal and Tripura. Veteran CPI (M) leader, the late Harkishan Singh Surjeet (1916-2008) in an article in August 2005 accused Mamata Banerjee of being involved in the attacks on Sikhs in West Bengal in the 1984 riots, a charge from which the CPI(M) dissociated itself. (URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/oldStory/76644/)

   We certainly do not believe this charge against Mamata Banerjee at all, but merely use it to prove that anti-Sikh riots occurred in as far off places as West Bengal, Tripura, etc. In 2002, no riots took place outside Gujarat, not even in Mumbai. As B.P. Singhal said in his article in Organiser, “The Hindu community in the country ensured that the riots did not spread beyond Gujarat even though Godhra had severely outraged the Hindus all over the country.” If the VHP or the Bajrang Dal were hell-bent on creating riots, as a matter of policy, there could have been mayhem in almost every part of India.

   Even in Gujarat, no riots took place in one-third of the state, i.e. in Saurashtra and Kutch, even in the first three days. Riots were limited only to 50 villages and a total of maximum 90 places out of Gujarat’s 18,600 villages.

People rendered homeless

   We have seen that 40,000 Hindus were in relief camps in Gujarat in April 2002. In 1984, not a single Congressman or non-Sikh individual was rendered homeless. B.P. Singhal writes in his article, “On the other hand, no attempt was made to open even a single refugee camp for the hounded Sikhs at any point of time anywhere. Actually, as per the Nanavati Commission report, weapons of the Sikhs living in the Sikh localities were withdrawn with the promise of protection by the police, while the same localities were then attacked.”

   Far from non-Sikh people staying in refugee camps because of attacks by the Sikhs, not even all the displaced Sikhs were provided refugee camps to stay. This was in sharp contrast to Gujarat in 2002, when Hindus were forced out of their homes by Muslims and forced to stay in refugee camps. Some Hindus were forced to live in temples, since no relief camps were available for them.

Elections Held

   Though this issue is not directly related to the riots, a contrast here too is worth mentioning. After the anti-Sikh riots between 1^st November and 7^th November, 1984, the general elections of the Lok Sabha were held within 45 days. In these general elections, the Congress Party, riding on a sympathy wave generated by Indira Gandhi’s assassination, won more than 400 out of the 543 Lok Sabha seats. In the Gujarat Assembly elections held in February 1985, the Congress won a staggering 149 out of 182 seats (the last time it won an Assembly election in Gujarat, since then the Congress has lost every election held: in 1990, 1995, 1998, 2002, 2007, 2012, 2017 & 2022).

   While in Gujarat in 2002, the elections were held in December 2002, as many as ten months after Godhra, and a good eight months after the riots. Despite this, the BJP won a huge majority of 127 out of the 182 seats, with a huge 11 per cent difference in the vote share of the Congress (39 per cent) and the BJP (50 per cent). It needs to be remembered that while the entire anti-BJP establishment was baying for Narendra Modi’s blood saying “Modi hatao” (i.e. “Remove Modi”), they did not want elections to be held in Gujarat. That is, they did not want the people of Gujarat to have a chance to decide who should be the Chief Minister, something which only the people of Gujarat can decide. They got the elections delayed as well, and still lost by a huge margin.

   Those who are aware of the truth of the Gujarat riots seem to do nothing to educate the masses and the well-meaning leaders on this issue, barring exceptions. From the present situation, it may take nothing less than a miracle to blast the myths on the Gujarat riots, and let the truth triumph.