Nanavati's Godhra report in political tangle

After six long years, truth is still miles away as the first part of the Godhra report prepared by the Nanavati Commission tabled in the Gujarat Assembly on Thursday termed the 2002 Godhra train incident as a “pre-planned conspiracy”. The report which also gives a clean chit to Chief Minister Narendra Modi has now been caught into political tangle; the UPA and Left rejecting the report have dubbed it as politically motivated.

All people are now curiously waiting for the second report speculating what fact the Nanavati-Mehta judicial inquiry commission would unearth on the 'post-Godhra' riots that claimed lives of over 1000 people.

Meanwhile, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) had opposed the tabling of the report in the state assembly by filing a petition in the Gujarat High Court, which was rejected by the court.

The Commission in its first report, which deals with train fire, has said that the burning of coach S-6 of the Sabarmati Express on February 27, 2002 that killed 58 people was “pre-planned conspiracy” by local Muslims and not an accident.

The report, while supports Modi government's stand on the issue, contradicts the findings of the Justice (retd) U C Banerjee committee, appointed by the Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav in September 2004, which said the evidence suggested the fire was “purely accidental.”

The Banerjee report was made public but could not be tabled in Parliament owing to Gujarat High Court stay.

The first part of the report, which the Nanavati Commission had handed over to Modi a week ago on September 18, exclusively deals with the Sabarmati train carnage and not the post-Godhra communal riots, the report gave a clean chit to Chief Minister Narendra Modi, his government and police officers.

The Commission not only ruled out involvement of any religious or political organisation in the fire but also said that there was no lapse on the government's part in providing “protection, relief and rehabilitation to victims of the communal riots.”

The report says: “The incident is part of a larger conspiracy to create terror and destabilise the Administration.”

The Part-I report is based on the quotes, accounts of railway officers and passengers on how the mob of around 700 local Muslims near Signal Falia screamed “kill, cut, burn” before setting S-6 coach ablaze at Godhra railway station.

By the end of December, the Commission is likely to submit the second part of its report about their findings on the post-Godhra communal riots and the role of government in it.