GUJARAT CARNAGE WAS A POGROM, NOT A COMMUNAL RIOT

The carnage in Gujarat in 2002 cannot be called a communal riot; rather it was a pogrom, the State sponsoring violence to eliminate the Muslim

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August 17, 2022

The carnage in Gujarat in 2002 cannot be called a communal riot; rather it was a pogrom, the State sponsoring violence to eliminate the Muslim community on a large scale, Shakeel Ahmed Ansari, convener of the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) and the Islamic Relief Committee, Gujarat, said at Calicut on December 11. Dr. Ansari, who was in Kerala to attend a programme organised by the Solidarity Youth Movement on December 10, told presspersons that the BJP government in Gujarat had gone for such a drastic measure mainly to gain political advantage against the Congress, which had a strong presence in the six violence-hit districts. “The pogrom was well-planned and the Godhra incident was just an excuse. In addition, the government has shown no remorse over the tragedy and is not interested in rehabilitating the victims or punishing the guilty,” he said. Dr. Ansari said the Narendra Modi government was projecting a fake industrial-hub image of Gujarat and the economic development of the State had, in fact, been hampered during the 10 years of Mr. Modi’s rule.