FACT: The Godhra carnage occurred on 27 February 2002 at 8 AM, when the Sabarmati Express train was returning from Ayodhya to Ahmedabad. After that, the bodies of the karsevaks killed in Godhra were brought to Ahmedabad. This was also necessary, because most of the killed karsevaks were from Ahmedabad and keeping the bodies in Godhra could have inflamed the situation there and Godhra was also under curfew. It would have been very inconvenient for relatives to come to Godhra which was under curfew! So, it was necessary to get the bodies out of Godhra as soon as possible.
The Supreme Court-appointed SIT said that the decision to bring the kar sevaks’ bodies to Ahmedabad was a sane and proper decision. Number one, the Sola hospital where the bodies were brought was on the outskirts of Ahmedabad city, the Godhra hospital had no facilities for DNA or other tests and, most importantly, most of the kar sevaks were from Ahmedabad and the train was returning to Ahmedabad, and hence it was not an option not to bring the bodies and hand them over to families in Ahmedabad.
Also, note that if the bodies had not been brought to Ahmedabad and been kept in Godhra and retaliation taken place in Godhra, political opponents and activists would have claimed that “Modi deliberately kept the bodies in a communally-charged Godhra so as to instigate Hindus to retaliate in Godhra and did not bring them to Ahmedabad though the relatives and victims were from Ahmedabad, and the passengers were returning to Ahmedabad”. It was plain common sense to bring the bodies to Ahmedabad. While bringing the bodies to Ahmedabad, care was taken to bring the bodies after midnight in a very somber atmosphere.
The bodies were brought to Western Ahmedabad’s isolated Sola Civil Hospital, where the Muslim population was negligible. Had the government wanted to instigate Hindus, it would have brought the bodies to Eastern Ahmedabad’s main civil hospital where most of the killed karsevaks resided and from where it would have been ideal to instigate violence against Muslims. The bodies were brought at 3:30 a.m. of 28th February in a sombre atmosphere (as reported by India Today dated 18 March 2002 and Times of India online on 28th February). The time 3:30 a.m. is very difficult or impossible to instigate riots with most people asleep and is also very inconvenient for the relatives. Had the government wanted to, it would have brought the bodies at 2 p.m. or 12 noon, which would have been convenient for relatives and easy to instigate riots. The government, thus, seems to have done 4 things right which are:
1. Bringing the bodies to Ahmedabad instead of keeping them in Godhra so as to calm matters in Godhra and for relatives’ convenience.
2. Bringing them to Ahmedabad at 3:30 am instead of in day-time so that chances of retaliation were negligible.
3. Bringing them in a sober atmosphere instead of ceremonial procession.
4. Bringing them to Western Ahmedabad’s hospital where the Muslim population was negligible instead of Eastern Ahmedabad.
The transport of these 54 bodies (4 had been identified and handed over in Godhra) was done inside five (5) closed trucks, and no one could see them, and it was also done from 11:30 pm – 12 midnight to 3:30 am, from Godhra to Ahmedabad per the report of the SIT which was appointed and monitored by the Supreme Court.
Even after coming to Western Ahmedabad’s isolated hospital, care was taken to send the bodies to the crematoriums (those which were not cremated at the hospital itself, 19 had been cremated at the hospital itself) in vehicles, not visible to anyone, while this could have been done on foot as well. This shows the sincerity of the government in preventing display of the bodies. The SIT appointed by the Supreme Court has said all this in its closure report on page 63 as well. The SIT has also said that the decision to bring the bodies was a collective one, taken by many Ministers, and with knowledge and consent of officials like the then Collector of Godhra, the Police Commissioner of Ahmedabad, the DGP of Gujarat, etc.
Despite this, several people have tried to spread outrageous lies that ‘the dead bodies were paraded by the Government’. The mainstream media has largely not told the truth of all the above facts to clarify things. As a result, many infuriated people continue to believe the lie that the bodies were ‘paraded’. Lies have also been tried to be spread that the then Collector of Godhra, Smt. Jayanti Ravi was against bringing of the bodies to Ahmedabad. The SIT report says on page 64: “The allegation that the dead bodies were transported to Ahmedabad against the wishes of Smt. Jayanti Ravi is proved to be incorrect.” and SIT says that she had infact supported bringing of the bodies to Ahmedabad. Narendra Modi in fact revealed that Jayanti Ravi had, on the contrary, insisted that the bodies be moved away from Godhra to ease the tension.
Despite this, several people have lied on this even after the SIT report became public in May 2012. (E.g. Gujarat Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil repeated this lie on Live National TV on 10 August 2013 in a debate with BJP’s Meenakshi Lekhi on India News TV Channel in the 8-9 pm show. See this video, time 35:26 to 35:56. Gohil also made numerous other false claims in that debate, e.g. claiming that ‘no riots took place in Gujarat for 3 days after 27 February 2002, and they started only after 3 days’, while in reality they ended within 3 days, starting on a large scale the very next day after Godhra, on 28 February. See time 35:56 to 36:32. Also see 13:47 to 14:12)
Besides, bringing bodies to Ahmedabad did not have the slightest impact on the riots. Bodies were brought after midnight on 27 February i.e. at 3:30 am of 28 February in Western Ahmedabad’s isolated Sola hospital (as reported by weekly India Today dated 18 March 2002 and Times of India online on 28 Feb 2002) while the riots began on 28 Feb at 11 AM and took place in far-off places like Naroda Patiya and Chamanpura (Ehsan Jafri case). And what about the riots that occurred OUTSIDE Ahmedabad- in Vadodara, Rajkot and 40 other villages and towns in the first 3 days? Did they also occur because bodies were brought to Ahmedabad from Godhra at 3:30 am on 28 Feb? How stupid, absurd and far-fetched is the allegation, that riots took place because bodies of the victims were brought to Ahmedabad from Godhra!
Far from the bodies being displayed publicly or ‘paraded’, extra care was taken by the Government to prevent display of the dead bodies. They were brought from Godhra to Ahmedabad inside closed trucks between 11:30 pm to 3:30 am, not visible to anyone. And even after that, the non-cremated bodies were taken to the crematoriums in closed vehicles, not visible to anyone outside.
The Supreme Court of India in its verdict on 24 June 2022 said (on pages 149-151 of its judgment): “As regards the allegation regarding dead bodies having been paraded, the same has been fully enquired into and the SIT was of the opinion that no such event of parading had occurred at any place…There is not even a tittle of material to indicate that the bodies were taken in open vehicles or so to say, paraded from Godhra to Ahmedabad or anywhere else by any group of private persons before cremation…. It was also decided to take the dead bodies during night time under police protection to avoid any untoward situation. Such being the material on record, the argument regarding the bodies being paraded, much less as a part of larger conspiracy at the highest level, is preposterous.”
More details of this issue are given comprehensively in the book, but not in this website. A special chapter on the SIT report is also in the book, which reveals the whole truth and the SIT’s observations.
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