The Study of the Status of Rehabilitation of Victims of Communal Violence in the 2002 Gujarat Riots

                                                                                                                                       February 12, 2010

Gujaratriots took place from 28th February 2002 and continued till May 2002. There was massive destruction of property and thousands of lives were lost. As usual women and children suffered the most. There was widespread public outrage over atrocities against women. The Narendra Modi led state government was reprimanded even by the Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee for failing to prevent the riots.

On March 6, 2002 the Gujarat government set up a Commission of Enquiry headed by retired High Court Judge K.G. Shah to enquire into the Godhra train burning and the subsequent violence and submit a report in three months. Following criticism from victims' organisations, activists and political parties over Justice Shah's alleged proximity to the BJP, on May 22, the government reconstituted the commission, appointing retired Supreme Court Justice G.T. Nanavati to head the commission. In 2008, the Nanavati Commission came out largely in favour of the Gujarat government.

The Banerjee Committee setup in September 2004 by the Central government to probe the Godhra train fire concluded that the fire was accidental. Its findings were challenged by the BJP and the Gujarat Inspector General of Police. In October 2006, the Gujarat High Court ruled that the panel was set up illegally, in violation of the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952 which prohibits the setting up of separate Commissions by state and Central governments to probe a matter of public importance.

A group of non-governmental organizations responded to the acute humanitarian crisis. Activists from these NGOs worked to provide immediate relief to the riot victims. Many of the NGOs are still actively in working for the people in the resettlement colonies. Some Muslim religious groups had come forward and built resettlement colonies for the victims. But, such organisations are dictating terms in the matter of education of Muslim children, their dress code etc.

The facilities which the state government is expected to provide are not adequately in place. The primary schools available in the colonies provide education only up to standard 7 and schools are not accessible for further education, resulting in a high drop-out rate among the children. The opportunities for earning are poor in the colonies, making their survival very difficult.

The students, from cities like Mumbai and Madurai (Tamilnadu), who had never had such exposure to violence-affected victims, posed probing questions to the affected families to understand the situation. They saw for themselves the poor sanitary conditions under which people were living in the colonies. At the same time they found that the Muslim community had no leadership that would effectively fight for the community’s welfare. The community also lacked initiative and the urge to improve its lot through self-help.

The study made the students understand that there is no alternative to peaceful living, which is possible only through understanding each other and communal harmony. The students also felt that the Muslim community should try to take the initiative to come up in life through education and self-help. They could, for instance, keep their colonies clean instead of blaming that no conservancy staff was visiting to clean. The women in the colonies could start small businesses like setting up small kiosks to sell the needs of the colony inhabitants or prepare and sell food from home to the factory workers of the locality etc.

The students were moved beyond words at the calamity that had befallen the minority community, understood the nefarious designs of the politicians and pliant bureaucracy and resolved to do their best to prevent such incidents in their areas and try to help the victims if such incidents happen. They could not have understood the situation by merely reading media reports. From this point of view, the programme organised by the CSSS could be said to have achieved its aims.

Download the entire report as pdf file ( 28 pages, 1.40 MB)

The Centre and the participating students are grateful to the Heinrich Boll Foundation for supporting the activity.