By
IOL South Asia Correspondent
NEW
DELHI, October 15 (IslamOnline) - More evidence has now emerged to
show that the Gujarat anti-Muslim pogroms were preplanned. Indian
daily Asian Age Tuesday, October 15, quoted leading social activist
Shabnam Hashmi, that strikingly similar combustible chemicals, both
heavy-to-medium petroleum distillates, were used to burn the S-6 coach
of the Sabarmati Express at Godhra and later during the Naroda Patiya
massacre.
The
train tragedy on February 27 this year was used by Hindu extremists to
burn thousands of Muslims alive, loot and burn their houses, shops and
factories and drive over a hundred thousand refugees to relief camps
where some of them still live.
The
“riots” which continued unabated for the next two months, with
official support, have still not fully died down. Every now and then
there are fresh incidents of stabbing and burning of houses. Many
refugees are still prevented from going back to their villages which
now have been proclaimed “Muslim-free.”
Ms
Hashmi, secretary of Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust, made findings of
California-based testing laboratory, Technical Support Services,
public in Ahmedabad on Monday. All ignitable liquids were confirmed by
gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy, according to the report.
Ms
Hashmi demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into
the Godhra train incident and post-Godhra riots, saying, “there is a
striking similarity between the analysis of the sample taken from S-6
coach of Sabarmati Express and Naroda Patiya.”
“Both
the samples tested showed trace levels of a heavy petroleum distillate
consistent with diesel fuel or a fuel oil,” she emphasized.
Ms
Hashmi said she had collected samples from the two places and sent
them to the California-based forensic agency, which in its report said
“petroleum distillates” were used in both the incidents. “The
findings definitely raise some questions,” she added.
Ms
Hashmi stressed that perhaps the “official” version that the S-6
coach had been set on fire as a pre-planned conspiracy by Muslim
fundamentalists was cooked up. She added that the fact was further
corroborated by reports in some national dailies that most of the
karsevaks (Hindu volunteers) had safely reached their homes.
Serious
doubts were raised about the “Muslim conspiracy” when an official
report by Gujarat state’s Forensic Science Laboratory indicated that
the fire was ignited from inside the coach using 60 litres of petrol
stored inside.
Ms
Hashmi said she would courier a copy of the report from Technical
Support Services’ chemical laboratory manager David J. Brien to the
judicial commission probing the Godhra mayhem.
She
added that despite the Modi government’s claim that normalcy had
returned to Gujarat, hundreds of Muslims had not yet returned to their
homes.
Citing
examples, she said that only 40 families have been able to return to
Ode village of Anand district where 27 people were burnt alive on
March 1 and 270 houses were looted and demolished.
“The
house in which 23 people were burnt alive is a heap of rubble. While
those 23 people were declared missing, and are missing till date, the
villagers do not know whether their bodies have been removed or are
still trapped under the rubble,” Ms Hashmi said.
She
also said that 64 families of Mogri village in Anand district had not
been able to return home, adding: “Some people who tried to repair
their houses met with strong resistance and their houses were
demolished again.”
It
has been reported that 74 families from Delol village of Panchmahal
district have not been able to return to the village due to threats on
their lives.
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Gujarat
Muslims: still living as refugees in their homeland
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Ms
Hashmi said that she along with some local residents visited Ode
village last Sunday and found on her return that the windscreen of her
car had been smashed, all the shops in the area were shut and the
lanes wore a deserted look. “All this happened within 10 minutes.
How can anyone expect Muslim residents to return to the village
ever,” she added.
“The
certificate of normalcy in the state given by the Modi government and
the Center is merely to facilitate early elections in Gujarat,” she
said. Ms Hashmi demanded that the Modi government be removed and
exhorted the people of Gujarat to vote it out of power.
Meanwhile,
Hindu-Muslim communal clashes occurred today, October 15, in Zalod
town of Dahod district of Gujarat in which one person was injured.
According to the police, twenty seven people have been arrested in
connection with the clash.
Gujarat
Muslims observed Tuesday a strike against the American Christian
preacher Jerry Falwell's outpouring against the Prophet of Islam. The
strike call was given by a relatively unknown Mustafa Raza Academy.
Stray
incidents of violence were reported from Bharuch district when a mob
was trying to force shop-owners to shut. Police dispersed the mob with
baton-charge and lobbed a tear-gas shell.
In
Ahmedabad, police chased groups that had tried to down shutters in the
Karanj and Shahpur areas. While most minority-dominated areas of the
city remained closed, Bharuch witnessed a total strike.
Minority-dominated
areas of Mehsana, Kheda, Anand, Sabarkantha, Junagadh, Nadiad and
Patan also remained closed.
According
to intelligence reports, the strike was near-total in the Vijapur,
Kasba and Haideri chowk areas of Mehsana. In Junagadh, the Prabhas
Patan area was completely closed, while Nadiad and Kheda towns along
with the Khambhat and Mahudha areas heeded the call. The strike was
total in Anand’s Petlad town.
The
Sarkhej area of Ahmedabad observed a complete strike, while there was
a partial response in the other minority-dominated areas of the city
with shops remaining closed. Trade in the Walled City areas of
Ahmedabad came to a standstill
