The post-Godhra riots have come to haunt Narendra Modi with a senior Gujarat police officer, who was posted in the Intelligence Department during the 2002 communal riots alleging that the Gujarat chief minister had allowed Hindus to “vent their anger” against Muslims to “teach them a lesson” during the 2002 communal riots. In the carnage that followed, more than 1,200 people were killed across the State.
Mr. Sanjiv Rajendra Bhatt, who is now posted as Principal of the State Reserve Police Training Centre, Junagadh, said in his affidavit filed in the Supreme Court in the Zakia Jafri case that he attended a meeting convened by Mr. Modi on February 27, 2002 and claimed that the effect of Mr. Modi’s instructions were widely manifested in the communal riots and orchestrated violence during the State-sponsored bandh on February 28, 2002.
Mr. Bhatt quoted Mr. Modi as saying: “This time, the situation warranted that the Muslims be taught a lesson to ensure that such incidents do not recur ever again. The Chief Minister, Mr. Modi, expressed the view that the emotions were running very high among the Hindus, and it was imperative that they be allowed to vent out their anger.”